How Dental Software Has Evolved in the last 10-20 Years

An Exciting Time for Dentistry Practices

The last ten to twenty years has been an exciting time in dental software. The days of a system based on paper, folders, and phone call reminders are fast disappearing. The dental patient of today has come to expect an online experience when dealing with their doctor and dentist. Not only that, but the patient also expects that experience to be user-friendly and specific to their needs. It is important for the patient to have a positive consumer experience in addition to good dental care. Dental management software, as well as patient management software such as what we offer at Intiveo, has evolved over the last two decades so that these consumer expectations are met.

Dental software is not only great for communicating with patients, as you will see below, but it also improves the daily workings of the office. As a dentistry practice, you want to be able to customize your software to exactly what you need and want. Today, this is possible.

Let’s consider different scenarios where this customization would be a benefit to a dentistry practice. Examples might include:

• A pediatric dentistry practice that may want to increase education messaging for both parents and children. This could take the form of an automated or personalized email depending on your office’s practices.
• A periodontic practice might prefer to create customizable, procedure-based messaging, as well as schedule automatic perio hygiene recalls.

Dental software allows you to get specific. Give your business practice that smooth flow so that your office can focus on delivering exceptional dental care to your patients.

A Note About Covid-19 Safety

Health care professionals are in a unique time. To maintain the health and wellbeing of your staff and patients, a thorough Covid-19 screening process needs to be in place. Folding this into your dental and patient communication software continues to be essential. At Intiveo, we have taken the initiative to create a screening form that you can send to a patient both before and after their appointments. In addition to asking those discerning questions about Covid-19 symptoms, this service at Intiveo includes:

• customization to tailor messaging to your business voice
• the ability to send the screening form over email, text, or SMS messaging
• multiple languages, depending on your location/needs

We encourage your dentistry practice to keep your staff and patients safe with a wellness screening form.

Connecting with the Patient through Communication Software

One of the most important elements of how dental software has evolved is the ability to streamline. We see great examples of this inpatient communication software. With this software, time is saved for both patients and staff. Instead of having to call to confirm or remind about an appointment, patient communication software allows patients to access the online booking system to confirm and reschedule at their convenience. In our busy world, the ability to do this after dinner, or in the moments before the kids wake up, makes a huge difference. We consistently see that this software also reduces the incidence of no-show appointments. Something every dentistry practice surely values!

Back at the dentist’s office, staff can set a good number of reminders for the upcoming appointment, keeping everyone on the same page. These reminders can be set to email, automated phone reminders, or text, depending on preference. From fasting reminders before surgery to post-op instructions, patient communication software keeps patients informed. This software also provides an amazing opportunity to connect with the patient on a more personal level. Some dentistry practices set up birthday reminders or holiday greetings to add that extra level of personalization.

A great example of patient communication software can be found at Intiveo. Our two-way chat offers your patients the opportunity to communicate through the channel of their choice. Your younger patients in particular will be more used to communicating in a text-based medium. As we say at Intiveo, don’t be the only monthly phone call that your patients in their 20s have to make!

Automate Feedback to Help Your Practice Grow

Your dentistry practice grows when people know your patients are happy! Collect a glowing review at the right time. Automate a request for feedback by text or email, to catch a patient fresh from a great appointment. Then, invite them to share on social. These customers become ambassadors for your business because the right message was sent at the right time.

It’s also important to know how your practice could improve. Whether you collect positive feedback, or useful feedback to improve your practice, it’s important to get specific. Reputation management software like Intiveo’s gives you those tools. This includes the ability to:

• automate texts to collect reviews
• track your reviews and see where you could improve
• send post-appointment surveys with more detailed questions
• send appointment-specific surveys with specific questions
• and more

Utilize reputation management software and watch your business grow.

Efficient and Customizable Electronic Prescriptions

The advent of electronic prescription writing services has saved a significant amount of time in dentistry practices. Staff can set a standard template. In addition, they can send several prescriptions at once. These are then delivered electronically to the pharmacy with immediate effect through a secure process. This secure process also allows the dentistry practice to monitor controlled substances.

Looking up a pharmacy has never been quicker! Connect your dentistry practice, your patients, and the pharmacy that’s convenient for them in seconds with electronic prescription writing services.

Electronic Payment Processing That Benefits You

Of course, an important part of every business is payment processing. Manually reconciling or processing payments used to be a part of any business’s daily practice, one that every staff member would be familiar with. Now, we streamline. We do things electronically. Timely payments promote a smoothly run business in any profession. Integrated credit card processing, for example, shortens the time between when the patient pays and when the dentistry practice receives payment. This process is a secure one. Your patients’ information stays protected.

Sending patients electronic statements also ensures that this process will be efficient. A common feature of many businesses, it can help with:

• patients and staff both retrieve the statement easily
• security of the document
• the convenience of the document being readily accessible

Providing electronic statements also prevents against:

• loss of statements by the patient
• excess paper and other clutter in the office
• delays in payments and payment processing

Give your dentistry practice the gift of a streamlined payment process, to save time for both your business and your patients.

A Faster Timeline for Insurance Claims

For many years, every dentistry office knew the drill: everything slows down when it gets to the clearinghouse. The process is time-consuming. Staff time is eaten away by telephone tag. Another document is suddenly needed, adding time. The money is slow to come.

Again, as an industry, we have streamlined. Not only does an electronic claim save time for staff overall, but it also reduces the incidence of errors in the document attachments themselves. This, in turn, saves time. Your staff can focus on the workflow of the dentistry practice itself. Attachment services also allow you to send pertinent information that the dental clearinghouse may need to process the insurance claim, such as:

• dental imaging information, including x-rays or photographs
• charts for a periodontic claim
• information about patient treatments
• reports or narratives

The dental clearinghouse streamlines the process of patient eligibility. Dental office staff now has the option to check out their patient’s eligibility at the desk when an appointment is being scheduled. This in turn gives the patient immediate, realistic expectations about the payments they will have to make.

Dental Imaging at the Cutting Edge

Dental imaging technology has evolved over the years. The x-ray is almost as old as modern dentistry itself. As in other scientific fields, tomography and MRIs allowed dentists to provide even more accurate diagnoses to their patients. Being able to give the patient a clear picture of what’s going on with their dental health is a key element of any dentistry practice. In this case, it is a picture, an image. Presenting dental x-rays with quality dental imaging software allows you to pull up the image and discuss everything thoroughly with your patient. It has also become an important diagnostic tool.

But what does that mean for your dentistry office? It’s important to keep in mind that this field of technology will only continue to evolve over the years to come. Preparing for these changes is key. Many dentistry practices choose to use an ‘open’ dental imaging software system in preparation for these changes. This allows your office the flexibility to adapt to new imaging equipment as it is developed.

Many dental imaging software systems can also be integrated with other software systems in your office. It makes it that much easier to, say, attach an electronic x-ray to an important email to a patient. Integrating dental imaging software with your dental management software promotes workflow that much more.

The Streamlined, Modern Dental Office

It’s a good time to be part of the dentistry practice. Despite the challenges of these current times, we also have access to innovative technologies. Promoting patient connection is at the forefront of these innovations. Dental software and patient communication software give you the tools you need to deliver a good consumer experience to your valued patients.

Modernize. Streamline. Customize. Software is looking good for your dentistry practice!