Refitting a Practice with Software that Fits

When we took over a dental practice in the trendy University Village neighborhood of Seattle, we knew we had to make it state-of-the-art. Our office is a few blocks from the University of Washington, so we serve patients who work at UW and many who work for Boeing, Microsoft, Amazon and other high-tech companies in the area. Our patients are very tech savvy, and they expect advanced techniques at the peak of today’s dentistry.

That’s exactly what we wanted to deliver. However, the software we inherited with the practice didn’t meet our needs. We had an ideal location and up-to-date office furnishings, but the software didn’t fit the way we wanted to practice. Our search for new practice management software began a few months later. First, we created a list of must-haves. The new software would need to:

1. Accommodate a two-doctor practice

2. Provide paperless scheduling, charting, and communication tools

3. Allow us to connect to the office from home or other locations

4. Integrate digital images with patient charts

5. Run on different computer platforms and mobile devices

As a two-doctor practice with shared patients, continuous communication and accurate charting were top priorities. We each needed the ability to look at a patient chart and see exactly what was done and when. We needed treatment plans and images displayed together so we could understand a patient’s status at a glance. We also needed the flexibility to connect to the system when we are away from the office.

Dentrix was the only practice management software that fit all of our criteria. Plus, it could be tailored to our practice and our team’s needs. We installed the new system in 2013 and hired a Dentrix trainer to help us learn and customize the program. Having a Dentrix pro help us transfer the old patient records to Dentrix saved us hours of time.

Once the team was trained and all patient records were transferred to Dentrix, we had no problems using the system. With Dentrix Mobile on our phones we could see the upcoming schedule or check patient needs without going to the office—an invaluable tool.

Now that we are using software that fits the way we practice, we expect our dental practice to grow. And, with the ability to add eServices to Dentrix, we expect to stay on the forefront of technology. It’s what our patients expect, too.

This article was originally published in Sidekick Magazine.

About the Authors: Dr. Jacobsen and Dr. Shaw of new32 Aesthetic and Family Dentistry both graduated from the University of Washington School of Dentistry in 2008. Both dentists are mothers of young children and appreciate the flexibility Dentrix gives them to enjoy their families and the great outdoors around Seattle. Learn more about their practice at http://new32dental.com/.