What should you look for in an ideal dental practice management software? Here are 10 features you should look for in dental software before taking the plunge. Dental practice management software is an efficient way to communicate with your patients, schedule appointments, track treatment plans and maintain financial records. Fortunately, dental practices are not short of options when choosing a practice management tool because there are so many different providers offering solutions for different needs.
To help you decide which dental technology services will best suit the needs of your business, here are ten things to consider as you search for practice management software.
1. Flexibility and Customizability
Most dentist practice management software allows companies to easily customize their practices. It would be best to have a tool that allows you to configure office hours based on different days of the week and time slots throughout those days. Your staff should be able to easily move around patients’ appointments if they cannot make it in the office or an emergency comes up without having to call someone else who is unfamiliar with how everything works within your system. If changes need to be made after hours, there must always be someone available so your team can rest assured that they have the support needed to keep the office running as smoothly as possible.
2. Mobile Accessibility
In today’s world, businesses need to be accessible from any device and location at any time. Look for dental practice management software that works on mobile devices like tablets and smartphones so you can check your schedule or update patient information while you’re away from the office- whether that is down the street at a restaurant or around the world on vacation. You should also be able to access essential patient data like insurance cards and photos of past procedures without having to wait until you return to your computer.
3. Ability To Integrate Other Software Systems
If you use an electronic health record (EHR) system, ensure your dental practice management software integrates. Having your patient data and appointment information in one place will save you time and reduce errors so you can focus on providing great dental care for your patients. You should also be able to work with third-party vendors seamlessly without manually entering data from other systems into your application, which is a common problem many businesses face today. Software that offers the ability to integrate multiple applications helps you get up and running faster while saving you time and money in the long run instead of paying extra fees or relying on another system to maintain records of your patient history.
4. Robust Customer Support
While technology continues to advance and bring new revisions and updates, companies that sell dental practice management software must provide great customer service to make the transition as smooth as possible. Before signing on with a dental practice management software, be sure to check out their customer support options and find out how long it takes them to respond if you get stuck along the way. If there is no one available for help when you need assistance, then that could prove problematic for your business in the future.
5. Easy Orthodontic Records Management
Provide orthodontics or any other variety of specialty care. It will help if you look for dental practice management software that makes it easy to keep track of all patient records and information specific to each specialty area. By keeping separate files for patients receiving treatment in different areas of specialization, not only do you protect patient confidentiality, but you also don’t have to worry about mixing up appointments because you won’t lose track of what needs to be done when.
6. Low-Maintenance
No one wants to spend countless hours learning how to use new software or figure out how something works when it should be simple and intuitive. Look for dental practice management software that is easy enough for your team members to learn without assistance so they can start using it right away instead of wasting valuable time in training sessions. Make sure you choose a system that takes care of updates instead of requiring you or someone within your office to manually perform them to avoid any interruptions when the company decides to release new features, updates, etc., which can lead you scrambling if no one is familiar with how it works.
7. Customer Data Retention & Accessibility
What good is all the data you collect if you can’t quickly access it or don’t know what to do with it? Dental practice management software that allows for easy customer segmentation based on specific criteria helps you organize your patient list and give them great care by providing discounts, coupons, newsletters, etc., instead of constantly trying to remember what treatment they received when, where they are in the process, etc…
This will reduce errors and make things easier for you long-term because now you can see at a glance everything about each person without making mistakes due to an overload of information. Dental practice management software that lets you access patient data quickly and keeps it organized will help you provide better dental care without any unnecessary distractions.
8. Support for Multiple Locations
If your dental office has multiple locations, then make sure the dental practice management software you choose is designed for this functionality instead of requiring you to switch back and forth between separate systems on each site. This allows you to view all patient information on one screen, which helps keep things organized and provides a central location where everyone can access patient information quickly to offer excellent service for every patient.
9 . Insurance Billing & Payment Management
Even if insurance isn’t your or your doctor’s primary concern when treating patients, it’s still important that you have dental practice management software that helps you manage the billing and payment process. This will save time by making it easier for patients to pay their invoices online at their convenience instead of having to wait until they receive statements in the mail or try to remember to bring them into your office, which could result in delays if they end up leaving without paying because they forgot. Dental practice management software with patient information accessible via mobile devices makes it easy for you (or someone else) to locate all pertinent insurance information before entering the examination room, so everyone is on the same page about coverage before treatment begins.
10. Software Upgrades & Support
Last but not least, make sure you choose dental practice management that offers excellent support when upgrading systems, which is especially important if you’re moving from an older version of their software or switching to a new provider altogether. Dental practice management software that provides excellent support for your practice saves a lot of time and helps reduce the risk of errors when making major transitions.
