How to get the most out of your dental practice software

More than likely, you invested a lot of money and time buying, installing, and learning your practice management software. Now it’s time to get some return on your investment by using every product feature to its fullest.

Here are five common features of dental practice management software and the benefits of maximizing the use of each one.

Scheduling

So much of your office workflow depends on scheduling. When your scheduling system runs smoothly, your other practice processes run smoothly. Most dental software allows you to see at a glance who is providing care, what treatments are taking place in what time slot, each patient’s status, and more about the day’s schedule.

Some software systems use color coding to extract information at a glance. Colors and other schedule elements can be used to show a patient’s appointment status, label providers, or even the type of treatment scheduled. Maximizing the use of schedule features leads to a more efficient practice. An efficient practice results in higher production and a much better standard of care delivered to patients.

Treatment planning

Your practice software can help you communicate, schedule, and document treatment for each patient. Everything you and your team need to know about a patient’s treatment history is easily accessible by logging into the system from any device.

Instead of digging through file cabinets full of paper charts, dental software lets you easily find patient files and quickly show patients their treatment history and plans for future treatments. Continued innovation has resulted in quicker treatment calculations, with more accurate estimation of insurance portions to be paid. Patients accept treatment more readily and leave more satisfied when their plan is well organized and they have fewer financial questions.

Charting

Looking at a patient’s chart is much clearer and more defined on a computer or tablet than on a piece of paper or an x-ray. Digital charts are more detailed with colors and numbers, and you never have to worry about the chart or X-rays ripping or fading. Digital charts also make it faster and easier for you to answer patients’ questions while they’re sitting in the treatment chair.

Note taking

Software solutions with a note-taking feature make it fast and easy to create, track, and locate your clinical notes. Plus, the software keeps all of your notes secure, legible, and organized in one location. Better note taking ensures that you are safely covered from a liability standpoint and providing a higher standard of care for patients.

Macs have a built-in speech dictation capability so you can add notes by voice. This keeps your hands free to continue working on a patient while dictating notes.

Billing and appointment reminders

Automation capabilities in your dental software can streamline several processes, freeing up more time for you and your team to focus on patient care. The most common are automated billing and appointment reminders.

Automated billing invoices patients after they receive treatment. Automated appointment reminders send email or text messages to remind patients of upcoming dental appointments. Both of these automated features require little or no human intervention, once your system has been set up. This saves hours of time manually billing and mailing statements or reminder postcards to patients each month.

In summary, taking full advantage of your practice management software, which allows you to simplify processes, improve in-office communication, easily access information from every office device, safely maintain patient records, eliminate handwriting and filing errors, save time and money, set goals and increase production, and improve the patient experience.

There’s no better way to be a more efficient, productive and profitable practice than by using every feature offered by your dental practice management software.

If you are interested in finding out more about a cloud-based dental management system, visit DentrixAscend.com, the system preferred in my practice. See how it offers all the benefits of the cloud in an interface that packs the most advanced capabilities into an easy and intuitive user experience.

J. Elliott Brennan, DDS, is owner and cofounder of Brennan Dental in Chandler, Arizona. Dr. Brennan grew up in Tempe and attended Arizona State University. After his studies in biochemistry he attended the Arizona School of Dentistry and Oral Health. Upon graduation Dr. Brennan was invited to stay on with the university as adjunct faculty, where he has continued to work part time. He is married with three children and continues to prioritize dental technology in his practice and teaching. Dr. Brennan volunteers his dental services at a myriad of community clinics in his area.