Part 4 - Integration
This is an important section, because it controls which options are available to you when wanting to add new functionality to your practice. The more open a software is, the more likely you are to find solutions. The more solutions exist for you, the more price competitive they become, and more motivated to enhance their services.
OpenDental was by far the easiest for us to connect with and start building solutions for right away.
Dentrix
involves a long application process, thousands of dollars for the
developer kit, and then a fee per customer every month, with a minimum
price per month to be able to set an appointment status confirmed – even
if you are still in development.
I
can’t tell you what it would take to get a developer kit from
Eaglesoft, I don’t know anyone who has done it. We worked for a year
without success to make it happen, always being told to call back later.
Other companies I have heard have been working for nearly 2 years
without success. What was told to me was that Eaglesoft and RevenueWell have some relationship that discourages Eaglesoft from working with any new vendors. Eventually we bypassed them and went straight to the
database, which works out better anyway.
Softdent
is going to be a challenge, but we know it can be done and have a plan
for implementation.
PracticeWorks uses Pervasive, waiting to hear back from DB Vendor
EasyDental and Dentrix Enterprise, uses a standard MSSQL DB, should
be easy.
Dentimax uses Elevate DB, not to bad, just need to get the
developer kit from the DB vendor.
Others we have had customers ask us
for are Denttio (Uses a Microsoft Access DB) and Denticon (Everything stored remotely, need API token)
For the most part, integrating takes a few days for each platform, once access to the DB is established. That can be simple with current mainstream products, or exceptionally complex, such as with Softdent.
I will share more thoughts as things progress.