2016: Bring it on! An e-prescribing solution and salivary diagnostics to treat periodontal disease

What services and procedures are we still doing the same way we were in the 1960s? Are you still handwriting prescriptions on a pad of paper? Are you still tapping a keyboard to fill out the prescription and picking up the paper from the printer to give to the patient? Is this exactly or essentially the same way you were generating prescriptions since you were in dental school?

Would you like the ability to make a few keystrokes, have the prescription recorded in the patient record, and simultaneously be sent to the pharmacy electronically, and say to the patient: "The medication is at your pharmacy and is ready to be picked up!" How would your patients respond if you were able to say they did not need to make two trips—one to drop off the prescription and one to pick it up?

I can't reveal all of the details yet, but there are some leading-edge companies bringing an e-prescribing solution to the market along with some very advanced salivary diagnostic technology to prescribe the most appropriate antibiotics to treat periodontal disease with laser-like precision. But I'd like your feedback. Is this something you'd find valuable? Is it time we moved dentistry into the 21st century?

Post a response on my blog, and have a Happy New Year!