By: Howard Farran DDS, MBA, MAGD
Publisher, Dentaltown Magazine

A patient calls after hours wanting a prescription for pain. How do you find out if they are active patients in your practice? Do you call your staff members at home to see if they recognize the name? Do you simply say, “No! Call the office in the morning”? Every computerized practice should have the technology in place so the dentist and key staff can connect to the patient database from their home. There are many communication software packages available such as pcAnywhere at http://sea.symantec.com or www.GoToMyPC.com.

I absolutely love having SoftDent by Kodak in my kitchen for when that sweet little old lady calls my home and I see her name on my caller ID. I can type her name into SoftDent before I even answer the phone, “Farran residence Howard speaking.” A sweet and innocent voice says, “Dr. Farran, I am sure you don’t remember me, but I am a patient of yours named Rose.” I say, “Of course I remember you Rose, we did a root canal on your upper right tooth about a month ago. How is your husband Pat doing?” She nearly drops the phone in total amazement that I remembered her husband’s name. Next ask, “So, do you like living on 1000 East Anystreet Drive or do you find the street is too busy to live on?”

Another option available is to download your practice information into your Palm Pilot or PDA. SoftDent has the capability to download the patient database, daily schedules and financial information as do most other practice management software systems. Check out Dentaltown.com or your electronics hardware person for their recommendations.

In the operatory, we have awesome technology at our fingertips. Do your hygienists and assistants have easy access to an intraoral camera? Utilizing the camera during the appointment allows them all to do a virtual tour of the patient’s mouth. They are able to take photos of any problem areas or areas of concern and have them ready for the doctor’s exam. Enabling your patients to visually see their broken fillings and teeth will not only educate them, but also reinforce the need for treatment.

Link your camera to your practice management software so all of your photos can be stored in the patients’ charts for future use. Your front office staff will also be able to access the photos as needed for insurance. Best of all, when the case is being discussed and your mind simply can’t recall the patient you can pull up their digital photo and your brain will scream, “Now I remember!”

Scanners are another investment to be made in every practice. A scanner will allow the entire practice access to documents once kept in the individual paper charts. You will need this on your journey to becoming a paperless all digital dental office. Use a scanner to get rid of those “fat” charts you can’t access from home. Scan dental insurance explanations of benefits, referring doctor letters, records from previous doctors, and lab slips. There is no “thinner” file than a computer file!

Another area of technology that is of great benefit is electronic insurance filing. Even if the insurance company does not accept electronic claims, your claims can be sent electronically from your dental office and processed by paper at the clearinghouse. This will save your front office staff time and supplies when sending out your claims. Be sure to use the Internet for insurance claim follow-ups.

Most dental insurance companies have a Web site that can be accessed to find patient eligibility and the status of outstanding claims. For instance, MetLife’s Web site is www.MetDental.com and United Concordia’s is www.UnitedConcordia.com. This will save your front office staff so much time when working the outstanding claims reports. There is also software available that enables attachment of x-rays and perio charting to the insurance claims.

Can your patients contact you via your Web site? Today’s Dental’s Web site is www.TodaysDental.com. Our patients are able to contact our office for scheduling appointments, printing new patient forms and gathering information about our family practice in Phoenix, Ariz. They can also download our coupons and learn about our guarantees on dental work. Our front office also uses e-mail to confirm appointments with some of our patients.

Do you know how to get your Web site to show up first in a Google search? Google ranks Web sites democratically with one vote from every other Web site that puts a link to your site. So have your dentist friends put a link to your Web site on their site and vice versa. This will get your site from the middle of the pack to the first in line. (In fact, if you’d like to help a fellow dentist out, please add my Web site link, www.TodaysDental.com, to yours.)

In statistics, how you pick your sample is often more important than your sample size. So ask your next several patients in a row if they use Google to search for information. Keep asking until you get 10. Ask them what they would type into Google to find information for a dental office in your area where these patients already live or work. Most type in the name of the area and “dentist” or “dental”. I was surprised at how many said “orthodontics” or “wisdom teeth” plus the name of their area. Make sure those key words are in your dental office name and/or on the Web site. If not, change your Web site name. People who look for dental offices on Google are always the folks with plenty of insurance, a very high dental IQ, and always want to save the tooth!