Implementing dental software, whether you’re buying your first solution or upgrading an old system, is vital to ensuring you have the tools to take care of your patients’ pearly whites. But how do you choose from the options out there?
Establishing your requirements for dental software is the first step to a successful purchase with all the features you need.
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What This Article Covers
Importance
Every software is different. Each dental solution offers unique features and functionalities catering to unique business requirements. Therefore, before purchasing dental software, you have to know what you need from a product.
Getting your hands on the right software is of paramount importance. A solution tailored specifically to your clinic’s needs will optimize workflows and increase overall efficiency. Make a list of all the needs the new software must address to determine the exact features you require.
Primary Benefits
Dental solutions can provide a myriad of perks for your practice. We’ve listed some of them below.
- Reduce Costs: Reduce operational costs with all-in-one dental software. It automates paper-based processes and takes the heavy load off of staff’s shoulders.
- Track Inventory: Maintain a well-stocked inventory with in-demand dental products. Make sure you have the in-house supplies you need as well as supplies for patients. Track incoming orders and goods.
- Maintain Accurate Records: Keep a well-organized system of documentation to manage all incoming and outgoing records. Further, keep dentists updated with the ever-changing government regulations with necessary documents.
- Minimize No-shows: Reminders are important to keep every appointment on track. Sending timely reminders to both staff and patients will ensure things run smoothly and limit forgotten or missed appointments.
- Centralize Data: Most dental software comes with intuitive, integrated dashboards to help staff monitor patient files, progress and list of administered medications.
Key Requirements
To get you up to speed, here is a list requirements for dental software you should look for in any product you consider implementing for your practice.
1. Appointment Scheduling
Scheduling software is a must-have at every kind of medical practice. Dental practices aren’t different. Good appointment scheduling capabilities saves tons of money and time. With automatic scheduling and cancellations, you will see lesser revenue loss due to no-shows.
In today’s era of online shopping and food ordering apps, patients are comfortable doing everything from home, including medical appointment bookings. Therefore, your medical software must possess an appointment scheduling feature that will increase patient satisfaction.
Create custom appointment lists with Dentrix.
Furthermore, appointment scheduling modules also provide additional capabilities such as reminders, physician scheduling and more. It saves valuable time for staff and helps them focus more on patients.
- Patient Appointment Scheduling
- Physician Scheduling
- Appointment Reminders
- Patient Intake Forms
2. Billing & Insurance
A secure medical billing system is a primary requirement of dental software. With the ever evolving cybersecurity threats, protecting financial transactions both with patients and in-house parties is a must.
Billing capabilities can automate calculations and reduce the time taken to prepare and dispatch invoices. Faster invoicing can lead to quicker payments from patients and alleviate insurance companies’ difficulties.
- Claims Management
- Electronic Remittance Advice
- Dental procedure Codes
- Patient Ledger
- Prior Authorization
3. Dental Charting
An efficient dental solution needs to have a good charting system. Providing patients with a clear, graphical representation of their gums and teeth health will help them better understand the treatment plan.
Create elaborate teeth chart to educate patients with Denticon.
Dental charting also helps dentists quickly access patients’ previous health histories and plan the most effective treatment. Further, charting is a good way of important information in one place, making it easier to update after every appointment.
4. Reporting & Analytics
AI is changing the way we perceive technology today. In the dental sector, AI in analytics is gaining significant traction and providing good results. That said, you should look for a dental application that has the capability of providing up-to-date analytics.
Grow your dental practice and increase revenue streams with Dental Intelligence.
Most solutions come with an integrated dashboard that helps medical professionals manage, analyze and extract actionable insights from data strings. AI integration also helps in simplifying complex administrative processes.
You can use analytics to create accurate forecasts and predict future trends. This gives you an upper hand over the competition and also establishes an oversight on revenue streams.
5. Electronic Prescriptions
E-prescriptions allow dentists to create and send prescriptions to pharmacies directly. It saves patients time as they can choose the pharmacy they want to get medicines from.
Send patient prescriptions directly to pharmacies using Open Dental.
In addition, digital prescriptions are easier for your office to store for future reference. Dental software also has a repository of drugs and raises an alarm if any medication errors happen. Further, dentists can look up past medications and suggest new ones accordingly.
- Benefit Verification
- Formulary Check
- Refill Requests
- Medication History
- Prescription Writing
6. Electronic Dental Records
Another important requirement of dental software is electronic dental records (EDR). It comprises several components, namely, the prescription system, scheduler, imaging system, dental record application and more.
EDRs help you break the traditional barriers between dentists and clinical offices. This enables dentists to exchange files, access patient medical histories and update patient files efficiently.
- Custom Notes and Templates
- Diagnostics Exams
- Patient Screen
- Perio Exams
- DICOM and PACS Standards
- Medical History Records
Technical Requirements
Apart from key requirements of dental software, you must also be aware of your technical needs such as licensing, integration capabilities and more.
Support & Scalability
Look into the type of support vendors provide. Enable an in-house support team to review the data migration and system installation. A proper installation is a must for enjoying all the benefits of an application.
Another important aspect to look out for in a dental solution is scalability. Make sure you have the ability to scale system connectivity and functionality up or down, depending on your practice’s needs.
- Custom Branding
- Hardware Support
- Data Migration
Security & Compliance
Furthermore, every medical software requires strong security. Look up the security procedures for dental applications available. Select the one that suits your practice the most. Ensure that the application is HIPAA-compliant.
- HIPAA-compliant System
- Audit Trail
- Custom Reports
- Secure Messaging
Integration
Today, businesses have diverse needs. According to a report published by MarketsandMarkets, the worldwide cloud-based applications market, valued at $368.97 billion in 2021, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15.7% from 2022–2030.
With the rise of cloud software all over the world, integrations are quickly becoming a key factor for success in software installations. Seamless dental software installation will improve communication and interoperability.
- API Extensibility
- Electronic Prescription Software Integration
- Hardware Support
- Patient Payment Software Integration
- Practice Management Software Integration
- Patient Engagement Software Integration
Needs Analysis
It is always a good idea to create a list of questions for the vendors and yourself. To start with, scope the facility properly to understand the gaps. Additionally, asking questions of vendors will help you clear out any queries.
Medical software may provide a steep learning curve for your team. Therefore, it is important to look for training options vendors offer.
- What kind of training support do you provide?
- How many pricing models do you offer? Can I avail subscription-based payment?
- What are the features and benefits your system offers?
- When should I expect updates? Will I see downtime while the system updates?
- Does the solution provide all the features I require?
- What budget do I need to purchase a solution with the requisite features?
- What role(s) do I need the software cover at my practice?
- How does the system meet HIPAA requirements and secure patient data?
Conclusion
Now that you know all about the requirements for dental software, it’s time to put together your list of requirements. This article aims to provide all the information you require to understand medical solutions better and make a wise choice.
Scope your clinic well and note all the gaps and unique requirements the solution needs to address. Look for an application that comes close to fulfilling the requirements. We strongly suggest you use our free medical software requirements template.
It does not cater specifically to dental software. However, you can set the parameters for practice management software, and that should help you narrow the search down.
The template is customizable and will keep you updated on stakeholders’ feedback. You can also head to our website and book an appointment to receive advice from the experts. We hope that this article helped in your quest to understand medical software requirements.
Are all the key dental software requirements on this list? What other requirements do you think should be on the list? Leave a comment below.