Dentrix

How Many Sensors do you Need?

by Larry Emmott on March 10, 2010

How many corded digital radiography sensors do you need? To understand the answer to this question ask yourself how many dark rooms or automatic processors did I need? The answer of course is one.

A corded sensor is not just a film substitute it is a processor substitute as well. Think of it as a reusable film that processes an x-ray in four seconds and then can be used again. If you could run your office with one automatic film processor you can run it with one corded sensor.

Oh, One last thought: If you start with just one sensor and it isn’t working out…they will sell you another one.

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Midwest Dental Conference March 19-20

by Larry Emmott on March 10, 2010

I will be presenting two sessions at the Midwest Dental Conference;

On-Line Registration has closed – you can still register for the meeting on-site

Download MDC 2010 Conference Handouts

Greetings from the Presidents
SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS – Thursday, March 18
SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS – Friday, March 19
SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS – Saturday, March 20
SCIENTIFIC SESSIONS – Sunday, March 21
Hotel Information
Conference Events
Kansas City Sites
Registration Brochure
Technical Exhibitors scheduled to appear at MDC 2010
Class Reunion Information

Pouring from the Heart Dinner and Celebration

As a participant in the 2010 Midwest Dental Conference, you can choose to stay in either the Hyatt Regency or Westin Crown Center Hotels. Registration Details here

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Dental mounting systems from ICW

by Larry Emmott on March 9, 2010

One of the best resources for accessories and mounts for computers, monitors and such in the dental office.

Dental mounting systems from ICW.

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The Cost of Recall

by Larry Emmott on March 9, 2010

Do high tech Internet based communications make sense economically? Here is a very conservative estimate of the costs of a traditional paper and phone system. This estimate does not include the time needed to prepare the cards and keep a paper system up to date when appointments and addresses change.

Recall Cards:

2500 patients, each gets a card twice a year = 5000 cards

Each card costs 18 cents and postage is 27 cents. = 46 cents each

5000 cards time 37 cents = $2,300

Phone Confirmations:

20 patients a day (12 DDS and 8 DH)

3 minutes per call (including re-calls and leaving messages)

3 times 20 = 60, 1 hour per day times 200 work days a year = 200 hours

Staff time at $16/ hr wage plus employment expenses of $4/ hr = $20/hr

200 hours at $20 = $4,000

Total annual Recall and confirmation costs = $6,300

Monthly cost = $525.00

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Kiosk Check In for Dental Practice Management

March 9, 2010

One of the most unappealing yet universal dental practice management techniques is the sign in sheet. Virtually every management consultant advises offices not to use a sign in sheet and yet we still find them all the time.
Of course the reason offices use them is they do in fact serve a purpose. On the other [...]

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St Clair District Dental Society

March 8, 2010

I will be presenting an all day program for the St Clair District Dental Society in O’Fallon, Illinois Friday March 12.

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BBC News – The web: vital statistics

March 8, 2010

Follow this link: BBC News – The web: vital statistics.
to an interactive BBC site that has some up to the minute Internet user stats. Like so far today there have been well over one  two Billion Google searches. While you are there check out the other tab that has an interactive map that shows Internet usage [...]

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The Rules

March 8, 2010

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency.
The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.
Bill Gates

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Bing Still Growing, Steals Market Share from Google

March 8, 2010

HT Mashable. Google is still the undisputed champ with almost 80% of the search traffic in the US. However Bing is gaining. It is probably a good time for Internet savvy dental practices to consider optimizing for Bing as well as for Google.
According to StatCounter, Yahoo and Bing combined now control more than 20% of [...]

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Grass on the Factory Floor

March 8, 2010

Andrew Carnegie said;
“Take away my people, but leave my factories, and soon grass will grow on the factory floors. Take away my factories, but leave my people, and soon we will have a new and better factory.”
Most people in dentistry realize that it is a very intimate profession. The very best technology, whether that is [...]

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20 Years of Photoshop

March 7, 2010

Hmmmm.
Such is the nature of how we see photographs in the age of Photoshop. Thanks to Adobe and the four employees who created the piece of software, we are able to become digital artists in almost no time flat; because of this amazing democratization of technology, though, almost nothing we see on the internet is [...]

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The Basis for Tort Reform

March 5, 2010

In my opinion any “reform” of the health care system that does not addess tort reform is not serious. The linked article from Dr. Peter Weiss is a bit dramatic, but it does make the case.
Physicians alone pay some 19 billion dollars a year in malpractice premiums. The argument …that the U.S. malpractice system is [...]

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Social Media ROI

March 5, 2010
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How Small Business Is Using Social Media

March 4, 2010

The study concludes that one nearly one in five small business owners are integrating social media into their business processes — Facebook and LinkedIn were the most popular sites.
via How Small Business Is Using Social Media [STATS].

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The Uneven Path to Windows 7

March 4, 2010

Most dental offices avoided Vista and are using Windows XP as their operating system (OS). If you are planning to upgrade to Windows 7 it represents the first OS upgrade in six or seven years. All indications are that the path to Windows 7 is littered with peril, especially for a dental office.
XP to 7 [...]

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Creativity…Risky Business?

March 4, 2010

More interesting thoughts from Seth Godin. What I got from this bit (you can follow the link for the whole thing) is that as employers we seek and reward staff who can follow the rules, show up on time and click the right icon.
That’s good…but really limited.
How about a team member that could see a [...]

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An Amazing 6X Increase in 3 Years

March 4, 2010

This is the kind of innovation Clayton Christensen discusses in his book The Innovator’s Prescription.

At the end of 2006, there were only 200 retail clinics in the United States. As of March 1, 2010 the number of retail clinics operating surpassed 1,200, which is an amazing 6-fold increase in just over 3 years for the [...]

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Close All

March 3, 2010

HT Lorne Lavine
Many of you have multiple programs and windows running on your computer. If you don’ close them all out at the end of the day, some backup programs won’t work properly or at all. Here’s a nifty free utility called CloseAll that does exactly what it claims…closes out all your open windows with [...]

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AADOM Job Board

March 3, 2010

Another online dental jobs site. This one from the American Association of Dental Office Managers
Jobs.

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Precautionary Principle

March 3, 2010

Thoughtful essay from a blogger called ShrinkWrapped. He is an East Coast Psychiatrist… Despite that  I often find his writing to be interesting and persuasive. Follow the link to the full essay. The connection to dentistry, technology and more directly health care reform is not in your face obvious, yet it is undoubtedly there.
Bureaucracies by [...]

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