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

Does this blow your mind?! This postcard states that nearly half of all Nebraska taxpayers e-filed last year. Doctor do you even have a Web site? Are you completely paperless? Do you have a written down goal as to when you will be totally paperless? For awesome cash flow do you electronically send your claims each day? Do you send each patient out the door with a copy of their digital x-rays, charts, and notes so they can be reminded of their treatment plan! With their own x-rays, charting, and treatment plan, patients become educated and are able to thoroughly understand their own oral health concerns. Do you know how much this will increase your treatment plan acceptance rate if you implement this?

All of our insurance claims at Today’s Dental are sent electronically at the end of the day. We are able to send digital x-rays and perio charting by utilizing software from NEA called FastAttach. Their Web site is www.Fast-Attach.com or phone 800-782-5150. NEA charges a monthly fee, which includes training and technical support if needed.

Turnaround time on insurance payments will greatly increase by sending claims electronically. This technology greatly increases your Cost Productivity. Cost Productivity is the key to lower overhead. If you pay Jane Doe $1, and she produces and collects $1, you have 100% overhead. If you purchase technology to augment Jane Doe, you still pay Jane Doe $1, and now she produces and collects $2, you now have 50% overhead. Factor in postage, paper, wear and tear on your printer, the labor involved to manually send claims, and you will get digital religion.

Another remarkable benefit of electronic claim service is the ability to receive insurance denials, and requests for additional information from the insurance company at the time the claims are transmitted. You will receive information before your patient does, which if you have dealt with insurance companies, you know never happens!!

Are you ready for Motorola walkie-talkies?
Tired of getting up and running around your office all day? Are you tired of looking for your hygienist? Is your assistant on break? Is she even in the building? Where did the front office receptionist go? If you are tired of running around the office in circles all day long you are so ready for Motorola walkie-talkies!!

Communication is the foundation of easy, effortless, and efficient operations and logistics. Being able to run smoothly requires far more than our light box “The Director” from Novaplex which I still use and love. Communicating fast and exact is critical in any operation. Questions come up regularly that are beyond a light box. How many times does your front office staff walk back to find out exactly how many more minutes until the next patient can be seated?

Front Office: “Jan which room do you want your next patient seated in? Colleen can you take a phone call from the lab lady on line 3, or do you want me to take a message?”

Meanwhile, Cori has completed her perio patient and wonders if she can move him to room five for his MOD gold onlay on #19? Does she have time to numb him up?

Janet in Hygiene 1: “Can anyone record periodontal probing scores for me?”

Front Office: “Amy your boyfriend is on line 2, can you take it or should I take a message? Can Dr. Dominick do the exam in room two since Dr. Farran is running behind? Can Dawn do a FA (Financial Arrangement) in room 8?”

Every one of these questions is answered without anyone moving!

We chose the Motorola Talkabout walkie-talkies, Model #5720, with headsets. It has a 5-mile range. Each staff member is “wired up” and can easily communicate throughout the office. The walkie-talkie is attached with a belt clip and has a wire that connects to the headset. These walkie-talkies fit even better and sound even greater if you take a vinyl polysiloxane impression of your ear and send it to Custom Earpieces at www.CustomEarPiece.com.

It is a whole new world when your assistant, Jan, is at Macayo’s Mexican restaurant for lunch and still has her walkie talkie on and asks if Kim or Kristine who’re still back at the office if they want her to bring back a few tacos! Or for Kim or Kristine to tell Jan eating at Macayo’s that her one o’clock canceled and ask if she can go to Costco on the way back from lunch!