Dental Services

To run a successful dental practice, you will need high quality IT infrastructure and cohesive dental IT services that enable you to stay connected and work more efficiently.

Blog By:
HannahBrown

To run a successful dental practice, you will need a high-quality IT infrastructure and cohesive dental IT services that enable you to stay connected and work more efficiently.  The right dental IT solutions and services can go a long way in streamlining, automating, and improving different aspects of your dental practice, including but not limited to patient management, HIPAA compliance and security, business management, and more. 

Outdated, poor-quality IT systems end up costing your business more than anything, and it’s vital that you keep your systems at par with the latest trends, upgrades, and practices in dental technology. 

However, investing in brand-new IT systems is overwhelming, and it helps to have an experienced provider offering IT Support for Dentists, dental surgeons, orthodontists, hygienists, and other types of practitioners. Foris IT Management is one such company that can help you upgrade your entire dental IT infrastructure while offering you a range of services. Here is a complete breakdown of their service provision and a complete guide to how they upgrade your system:

List down all your system requirements in depth 

Simple enough to do, this is the first step of your consultation and consequential system upgrade. As a dental practice owner, you need to identify your greatest IT needs and requirements, whether it’s solutions that improve billing and checkout processes or automate patient appointment scheduling. Knowing what you need is the first step to successfully beginning the upgrade process.  

Share your budget and timeline with their team

Additionally, you should be clear about establishing a budget and timeline for when you need the system up and running. This offers additional guidelines to your dental IT service provider and helps them strategize more effectively. A clear budget is necessary to filter out and decide on your most-needed services and is also necessary for long-term management. Without a budget, you run the risk of over committing financially.

Get a detailed network audit to identify gaps 

Once you’ve finished your consultation and shared your requirements, it’s best to schedule a complete network audit and have your dental IT services fully evaluated. Your service provider will most likely perform a network audit to identify gaps in HIPAA compliance, system maintenance, and where you run the risk of vulnerability, security issues, and other problems. 

The network audit is generally a great place to start because it covers everything, including hardware evaluations to determine which elements are out of date or will be soon, software inventory to examine all the programs that your system uses (antivirus, employee security, data protection software, etc.), and determine whether the elements you’re using are adequately supporting your system.  

You will then receive a complete, detailed report that includes recommendations for IT upgrades necessary to keep work efficient. 

Setting up a helpdesk and 24/7 monitoring for your practice

Your provider will then set up a helpdesk that allows you to manage your practice more efficiently, including through remote access. It’s an important feature in your IT support system for dentists, giving you access to business and administrative information and allowing you to make important decisions via email, phone, laptops, and more. 

Additionally, they will also begin offering 24/7 support and monitoring for your server, which will show them the status and performance of your IT systems, network, and servers and enable them to step up and take action when needed. IT support for dentists often includes administrative access and the ability to make changes and offer emergency repairs and restoration services in case of system failure. 

Furthermore, your IT provider will also set up workstation support to get started on offering services and help to each individual station, as well as VoIP phone support so your team can get in touch with them easily and quickly when an issue arises. 

Your software systems are upgraded and updated

The IT service for dentists will also be reviewing the current systems and software you have in place, upgrading and updating them as needed. This means performing a complete overhaul and reorganization of all your hardware and software components, including but not limited to monitors, cables, wires, modems and routers, hard disks, and the different kinds of dental software and programs you use. 

This is an important step in improving your IT infrastructure since outdated software and hardware are not only prone to poor, inefficient functionality but also security threats, system failure, crashing, and slowing down. This will inevitably disrupt service delivery and lead to lost revenue, data loss, and other unwanted effects, and hence, must be addressed from the get-go. 

Invest in backup and recovery services for your data

Dental IT services must include backup and recovery, especially as part of their regulatory policies and standards, and your dental practice should have a cohesive system in place. In case there aren’t proper measures for backup and recovery, your IT provider will implement cloud storage, backup, and recovery measures in line with HIPAA disaster recovery, keeping patient health information PHI) safe. 

Off-site backups are important in keeping data safe in case of accidents and emergencies, and any qualified service provider will be offering various types of backup solutions. You can learn more about Foris IT Management’s backup solutions here to get a glimpse of what to expect. 

You can schedule cybersecurity training for your staff

As part of your new strategy and IT infrastructure, you will need to improve security measures at your dental practice, especially to protect PHI and other sensitive data. In addition to implementing end-to-end encryption, end-point and restricted access, and other measures, you need to educate and train your staff too. Your IT support service for dentists will need to conduct a training to educate staff members on cybersecurity, identifying malware, and preventing data breaches and other problems. It’s a game-changer for dental practices and a must-have service. 

They offer annual IT assessments and evaluations

Once you’re all set up, and the systems are a go, you will need to ensure that your systems are up to date and efficiently functioning each year. Your IT provider should be conducting an annual assessment and evaluation of your systems, hardware, software, and other elements of your infrastructure and ensure that they are up to date. Fortunately, Foris IT Management offers comprehensive IT services, including annual assessments and audits for their clients. 

Dental practices across the board require extensive IT support and well-rounded IT structures to function efficiently and profitably. You can work with one of the leading dental IT service providers in Texas, Foris IT Management, and schedule a free consultation with their company. They’ll begin with an audit and make personalized recommendations for services based on your needs.