Category: Software

Categories
Internet Management Mobile Software

5 Reasons You Should Be Sending Electronic Billing Statements

From Dentrix Magazine:

Most people have their phones with them all of the time, and they are constantly checking email and buying things online. Since patients are already doing that, why not send them their billing statement in a way you know they’ll see it and allow them to pay their balance online right then?

With electronic billing statements, patients can see their statement wherever they are and whenever it’s convenient for them, and the same thing is true of online payments. When patients can pay their bill right from the email message they receive, they don’t have to find time to write out a check and mail it or call the office during office hours to make a payment over the phone. They can pay whenever it’s convenient for them, which means you’ll get the payment faster than you would have if you were waiting on their check or their call.

Source: 5 Reasons You Should Be Sending Electronic Billing Statements – Dentrix Magazine

This one reason alone should be enough for you to start using electronic billing and online bill pay. Do you really expect people to write and then mail you a paper check? How 1980s. It baffles me how few dentists are using online bill pay…it is a no brainer.

Follow the link for the other four reasons to be sending e-statements. Then just do it.

Categories
Hardware Paperless Software

As Robots Fill the Workplace, They Must Learn to Get Along

From WIRED:

SO MANY ROBOTS work at Changi General Hospital in Singapore that until recently it wasn’t uncommon to find two delivery bots sitting in a hallway or outside an elevator in a standoff.

Source: As Robots Fill the Workplace, They Must Learn to Get Along | WIRED

I concede it will be necessary for robots to interact with each other.

MORE IMPORTANTLY I would like our applications to interact with each other. This is called interoperability. It is almost nonexistent in dentistry. It is outrageous that we can still not transfer an electronic dental record from one office to another.

Categories
Management Software

4 Tips for 2021

From  Dentrix Enterprise Blog:

1. UPDATE TO THE ADA 2021 CDT CODESStart the new year right by making sure your practice is using the latest 2021 ADA code changes. Keeping up with these changes can lead to quicker reimbursements and a more accurate list of current dental codes.

…

Source: 4 Tips to Help You Get Ready for 2021 | Dentrix Enterprise Blog

Enterprise is the version of Dentrix optimized for DSOs and other multilocation practices.

Categories
Digital Impressions Scanners Security Software

Latest Updates to CS ScanFlow Helps Makes Scanning Faster, More Secure and Sharable

Software update from Carestream:

Typically, shiny or reflective surfaces, such as metal, full ceramic brackets and crowns and resins, would need to be sprayed with powder or microetched so as not to interfere with the digital scan. However, the new anti-reflective mode optimizes scanning shiny or reflective surfaces, eliminating a step in the process,…

…security is a concern whenever working with digital files, so CS ScanFlow v1.0.3 includes access to secure digital impression file conversion tools via cloud-based Microsoft Azure.

Follow this link for the full press release.

Source: Latest Updates to CS ScanFlow Helps Makes Scanning Faster, More Secure and Sharable

Categories
Internet Management Software

Management in the Cloud

The cloud is the future of dentistry, and cloud-based practice management software offers practices a variety of benefits:

  • Data stored in the cloud is accessible 24/7, even when you are away from the office.
  • Automatic updates reduce maintenance because you always have the latest version of your software.
  • Automatic backups to the cloud help protect your practice data and keep it safe.
  • Practice data is available on the device of your choice—Mac, PC or iPad—because you access your practice management software through an Internet browser.

Source: Dental News, Dental education, Dental Social networking

The above comes directly from a Dentrix Ascend ad. Yes, it is a marketing piece, never the less the advantages to cloud based management systems are real and will change how we do the business of dentistry.

One of the primary after-effects of the Covid pandemic will be increased work from home and Tele-medicine. Cloud based management systems will simplify both of these activities.

Any change of the practice management system has multiple problems associated with it. At this time a practice that has been using the original server based Dentrix platform for many years and is using it effectively has little to gain by switching to the cloud based Ascend. Ascend is quite different from the original Dentrix. On the other hand a new practice or a practice upgrading from other less robust systems should consider a cloud based system.

Categories
Management Software

Inactivating vs. Archiving a Patient in Dentrix

From  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog:

If you’ve attempted to contact a patient who is due for Continuing Care, has outstanding treatment, hasn’t been seen for eighteen months, and they haven’t responded after multiple attempts, I would suggest sending them a letter and changing their status to Inactive in the Family File.

Source:  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog: Inactivating vs. Archiving a Patient

Year end is a great time to clean up your data base. You will get better performance from your software and better numbers to help you manage more effectively. The linked article will guide you through the process.

Do not do this when you “get around to it” but set up some dedicated time with a goal to be finished before year end.

Categories
Future Tech General Management Software

Deleting your Facebook account permanently deletes your entire paid Oculus VR library

From CNET:

If you delete Facebook and have an Oculus VR headset, you’ll lose your entire paid gaming library. And you won’t be able to get your Oculus VR games back if you make a new account,

Source: Deleting your Facebook account permanently deletes your entire paid Oculus VR library – CNET

Another instance of the capricious nature of digital ownership and of the primary issue, “Who owns the data?

When you “purchase” a high tech device you never actually own the software you merely have a license to use it. What happens if you do not maintain the license? What happens if the vendor goes out of business?

You could end up not having access to all your patient and financial data stored on the cloud based system. Would it be OK if the software developer refunded a portion of your fee yet did not allow you access to the data?

You could end up having a useless $100,000 CAD CAM system.

The wonders of the digital age are manifest. However we do not yet have adequate legal and ethical standards to guide us.

Categories
Internet Management Paperless Software

New App Makes It Easier and Faster to Share Cases

The new Imaging Case and Collaboration (ICC) app from Carestream Dental is the easy-to-use platform that makes sharing cases more secure and straightforward. From the GP to the specialist to the lab—even practices within the same network, such as a DSO setting—ICC makes it easier to connect oral health care providers for closer collaboration, getting patients the answers and care they need sooner.

Source: PRESS RELEASE: New App Makes It Easier and Faster to Share Cases

Dentistry has needed an app like this for years. There have been many attempts but so far none has caught on.

This is from Carestream, follow the link for the full press release.

Categories
Internet Management Software

What Caused The Massive Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Outage? Here’s What We Know

From Forbes:

Cloud-based Microsoft applications, including Microsoft Teams, went down across a swathe of the U.S. yesterday.

Users of Microsoft Office 365, Outlook, Exchange, Sharepoint, OneDrive and Azure also reported they were unable to login. Instead, they were presented with a “transient error” message informing them there was a problem signing them in.

Source: What Caused The Massive Microsoft Teams, Office 365 Outage On Monday? Here’s What We Know

If this can happen to Microsoft it can certainly happen to a dental cloud based system. As much as I love high tech and marvel at the possibilities of cloud based systems security remains a disturbing issue.

Categories
General Management Software

 The Dentrix Office Manager Blog

A GREAT resource for Dentrix Users.

Source:  The Dentrix Office Manager Blog

Categories
Software

‘Sensei’ Name Introduced as New Brand Identity for Care Management Platform

Carestream Dental has rebranded “Care Management Platform” as Sensei Cloud.

Sensei Cloud combines powerful imaging, practice management, clinical workflows and intuitive design into one platform that offers anytime, anywhere access.

Source: PRESS RELEASE: ‘Sensei’ Name Introduced as New Brand Identity for Care Management Platform

Categories
Software

MD Fusion — Lyon Dental

MD FUSION is designed to help dentists properly document in order to meet medical billing and compliance standards. It will significantly reduce risk and time associated with charting on dental sleep cases. It is also conveniently integrated with our billing services to provide a comprehensive solution for all dental sleep documentation and billing needs.

Source: MD Fusion — Lyon Dental

A new web based software built on a medical EHR for dentists doing sleep medicine. The integration with a EHR  makes it easy to bill the patient’s medical insurance, which is usually a nightmare for dental offices not familiar with medical billing.

The system includes a telemedicine module that allows patients to have a medical consult with the sleep doctor right from the dental office. This is huge.

Categories
Management Software

Helping You Understand Your Practice Data

During this free, one hour webinar, you will learn about the following strategies for business analysis.Three steps to unlocking potentialWhat is baseline data?Hygiene and insurance realted dataDollar difference between gross and adjusted productionAdvanced level analysisLeveraging your dental software

Source: Event Registration

Most dentists have no idea how to use the wonderful data that they are collecting using a digital management system. This webinar presented by my friend Virginia Moore will help you collect, understand and utilize your data effectively. Virginia Moore, a graduate of ADA KEMP (America Dental Association, Kellogg School Executive Management Program for Dentists) with more than 20 years of impacting aspects of dental practices.

With business slow or shutdown now is a perfect time to master your data.

Categories
Corona Pandemic Management Paperless Software

The Number ONE thing you should do with your shut down down time: Create Clinical Note Templates

It is amazing how many dentists will spend enormous amounts of time every day writing, editing and reviewing poorly scribbled, hard to read handwritten notes but will not do a little planning and take a few hours to create digital notes so they never have to write in a chart again.

Digital progress notes are:

  • More complete
  • Easier to read
  • Take much less time to create than paper entries

Now is the time NO EXCUSES the dentist and the team members have time on their hands during the pandemic shutdown use it to complete all your note templates and set up the software to automatically enter the notes for each procedure. Follow the link below for a how to from Dentrix.

NOTE: be sure to set up codes and notes for procedures not covered with a standard ADA Code such as crown delivery, suture removal and the many steps involved in a denture fabrication. You need notes based on appointments not just procedures.

From Dentrix Tip Tuesdays:

Clinical note templates can save you a lot of time and can help you keep more accurate and detailed notes. Set up clinical note templates to help you document the procedures you complete regularly in your practice, like prophies, periodic exams, fillings, root canals, and crowns.Clinical note templates can include both the standard phrases you use to document these procedures as well as specific information like tooth number, surface, or treatment plan.

Source: Dentrix Tip Tuesdays: Creating Clinical Note Templates

Categories
Corona Pandemic Management Software

Another task to complete during the Shutdown – Purging Appointments

From Dentrix Tip Tuesdays:

The Appointment Book stores data for appointments as far into the past as you have been using Dentrix. After your practice has been using Dentrix for several years, you can accumulate a large amount of data stored in the Appointment Book. You can purge the Appointment Book of data from several years ago to decrease the amount of data being stored in the Appointment Book and speed up your system.

Source: Dentrix Tip Tuesdays: Purging Appointments

Categories
CAD CAM Future Tech General Internet Management Paperless Radiography Software

A GREAT new resource from Carestream Dental

Download free educational materials, infographics and more to share the Digital Dentistry Difference story, and see the difference it makes for your patients and your business.

Source: Home – Carestream Dental

Categories
Management Software

Dentrix Tip Processing Payments Promptly by Adding a Credit Card to a Payment Agreement

With Dentrix Pay, you can add a patient’s credit card to their payment agreement and use that card to process payments when they’re due.* You’ll be paid promptly, and your patients won’t have to remember to send you a check!

Source: Dentrix Tip Tuesdays: Processing Payments Promptly by Adding a Credit Card to a Payment Agreement

This also great for patients having a routine cleaning and exam. The patient does not need to stop at the front, the office will simply bill the credit card on file or submit a claim and then charge any fee that was not covered.

People routinely leave a credit card number with a hotel expecting to be charged later. Your patients have reason to trust you far more than they do a hotel.

Categories
Paperless Software

Number One Paperless Mistake

The biggest mistake dentists make with digital charting is they only go part way. For example: They use a paper chart in the treatment room during diagnosis to mark future treatment. Then they take the paper chart to the computer and enter everything again. They will use the computer to create an estimate, insurance forms and schedule. Then they will go back to the paper chart to enter procedure notes, back to the computer to take a payment, back to paper for a prescription, back to the computer for the next appointment then back to paper to check the x-rays.

What the office ends up with is a mess. Everything is done at least twice, the paper chart is still needed no one is ever sure if something is on paper or in the computer. As a result the computer chart doesn’t save time and money it makes things worse.

Once you have the process in place:

Stop Making Paper!

 

Categories
Cameras Radiography Software

DEXIS Smart Image

From Dentrix:

The much-awaited Dentrix® Smart Image connector for DEXIS is now available! This new imaging integration can mean unprecedented time-savings, clinical care enhancements, and revenue opportunities for Dentrix users.

Dentrix Smart Image expands your ability to provide quality care by connecting your clinical and financial process into one efficient workflow.

Source: DEXIS Smart Image | Dentrix

If you use DEXIS with your Dentrix system, it’s time to take the next step in imaging. When you make the switch to Dentrix Smart Image, you keep the basic functionality you have known and loved in the workhorse DEXIS Integrator for Dentrix™. Plus, Smart Image delivers new automated workflows and processes that simplify your imaging process:

 

1. Post images to the Ledger for payment
2. Update image dates in Continuing Care for future eligibility
3. Enter Progress Notes to support proper documentation
Categories
Management Software

Test Your Dentrix Skills

From Dentrix and Henry Schein One:

Want to test your Dentrix skills? Try it on us!

You’ve already done some online training in the Dentrix Resource Center. Why not take a few Dentrix Essentials tests and show your team what you can do with Dentrix?

When you pass a test, you’ll receive a certificate and some much deserved respect. The tests are short and you can take them anywhere you have a computer and Internet access. There’s no cost to you or your practice because Dentrix Essentials tests are included with your Dentrix Customer Service Plan.

Want to show what you know?

  1. Go to Dentrix.com/mastery and at the bottom of the page click Take a Test
  2. Log in with your practice’s Dentrix Customer ID and ZIP code.
  3. Create an account.
  4. Click the Take a Test tab.
  5. Select one of the Dentrix G7 Essentials tests.

Note: Make sure you start with the Dentrix Essentials tests. The Dentrix Mastery Tests are longer, more challenging, and they require an additional fee.