What to look for in dental practice management software

Choosing the right dental practice management software is a process that can involve a lot of trial and error. In this article, we will help you narrow down your options by considering your needs for functionality and cost.

We’ve also included some helpful questions to ask yourself when deciding what is most important to you in a dental practice management.

Practices of all sizes and types can benefit from some type of dental software to keep their operations running smoothly. The best dental practice management software will depend on the needs and preferences of the individual practice, but there are some basic features that most practices require.

Practical considerations: Integrate dental PMS into existing workflow

Before you purchase any practice management software, there are the practical considerations. This is especially important if your practice is already in either mid or full swing digital mode and you’re looking for a new PMS because your existing dental practice software is causing issues or your practice has outgrown its functions.

Can the dental practice software be seamlessly integrated into your current digital workflow? Will it work with your existing treatment plans? How about intra-oral cameras? X-ray sensors?  Panoramic and cephalometric units? 3D CBCT?

Once you have narrowed down a list of software that speaks the same language as your main digital equipment set-up, then you would in a better position to look into the practice management software‘s main features.

Is your practice management system intuitive?

Ideally, the dental practice management software should offer an intuitive graphic user interface (GUI) that makes it easy to use even for someone who has never used this type of software before. The user-friendliness of your practice management system usually says more about the developer’s mindset than it does your software-using experience.

An intuitive graphic user interface should be logically arranged and easy to navigate, devoid of any clutter or confusing buttons. This helps create what I like call “visual simplicity” – users don’t need help from manuals when they are simply trying out new programs because everything is obvious on first glance (and visually so).

A bloated and clunky user interface does not mean the dental practice management software has more features. Conversely, a clean GUI can allow for intuitive navigation between basic, intermediate and advanced features, so that the user isn’t overwhelmed at the outset.

Practice management features: How can they improve my workflow?

There are many practice management features that up-to-scratch practice management software should have.

A good software management system should be handling all the meticulous, menial and repetitive tasks that you would normally employ an administrative, bookkeeping or payroll staff to do. The time of your front desk staff and practice manager can be more efficiently utilised performing customer-oriented duties to make sure your patients are well looked after.

The main practice management feature for a PMS is its ability to grant easy access to patient records and charts. This may include a graphic or modelling software to plan and record treatments.

Other features include tracking patients’ visits by creating reports on patient demographics or treatment progress from day-to date summaries. They can easily churn out crucial reporting data such as treatment time per visit (overall), number of treatments completed, average elapsed duration in minutes/hours across all procedures performed.

This allows you to aggregate the supplied information within each procedure category without having any unnecessary duplicate calculations being made. It should also allow access control through user IDs and passwords. For example, only authorised users should be permitted full and exclusive purview of billing information.

The billing software section helps to record fees and track payment status in addition to automating billing reminders as needed. This makes it a breeze to process account statements and send them directly to insurance companies.

Some office management software even provide a self-service patient portal that features as a direct point of contact with patients, even including a paperless patient onboarding process that significantly cuts down on patient waiting time and front-desk duties.

A cloud-based practice allows for real time updating without being tethered by an internet connection at all times while others store data locally on internal disks/hard drives providing constant access when connected through Wifi networks such computers etc.

Mobile compatibility: Why should it matter?

A growing number of dentists have adopted mobile technologies in order that they can provide care from anywhere around town or even across state lines. This has made them more adaptable than ever before. Imagine sipping latte at a coffee shop and still being able to call up patient records on your tablet or access the day’s real-time patient appointments on the fly.

Smartphones allow you this flexibility while also giving practice owners additional revenue opportunities by allowing potential customers direct contact via personalised SMS and emails rather than relying on costly advertising campaigns to reach an audience.

Some dental PMS allow for seamless integration with mobile technology, making it easy for your patients to book new appointments, arrange follow up appointments, communicate with practice staff all through the use of their mobile devices.

Examples of PMS packages that allow unique mobile features for optimised connectivity include Centaur’s D4W, Core Practice, Carestream Dental’s WinOMS and Tab32.

Security benefits of Cloud-Based Dental Practice

Each new year brings with it a slew of new security breaches and hackers looking to make some easy money. With the advent of new technology, we are exposed to more risks than ever before. Still, there are steps you can take to ensure data security.

Since most practices can’t afford to employ a team of IT specialists to make sure their sensitive data remain safe in their onsite servers, the next best thing is to move your data from an on-premise solution to a cloud-based management software solution built on trusted platforms. When you do, you would have established what is known as a cloud-based practice.

Your cloud-based PMS are securely hosted on platforms managed by such corporate behemoths as Amazon, Microsoft and Google. They use a host of security features such as: encryption technologies which are based upon advanced mathematical algorithms; biometrics identity verification systems with user characteristics including fingerprints etc.

Unlike desktop-based software, these protective cloud-based management software systems are updated in real-time so there is no need to upgrade to the latest version of the cybersecurity encryption, because it is constantly updating in the background.

In short, cloud-based dental management software will help you lower your overhead expenses associated with maintenance, protect your network against cyberattacks, and avert costly data breaches.

Conclusion

Managing an online dental practice is filled with many tasks. While a dental practice management software can help provide solutions to run your practice more smoothly and efficiently, it does not in any way replace the need for an able staff team that know what they’re doing, communicates well with patients and are willing to work cohesively towards shared practice goals.

Nevertheless, a good practice management software can help a dentist’s office organise and streamline patients’ accounts, make the work more efficient, and cut down on errors. In terms of data security, cloud-based practice management solutions offer an extra layer of protection from hackers by locating your data offsite on a robustly secure and centralised server network.

While we hope that this article has shed some light on what to look for when searching for dental practice management software, keep in mind that each dentist’s office has its own needs. With so many dental software management options on the market, it is important to take inventory of your unique needs before choosing which one to use.

There is no substitute for doing a thorough research on what each of them offers before making a decision.