6 Ways Your Dental Practice May Benefit from Dental Management Software Training

Dental management software is an integral part of your practice, but is your team trained to make the most of it? Here are 6 ways your dental practice may benefit from dental management software.

1. Keep Your Dental Practice Team in Alignment

When your dental team is on the same page with patient appointments, records, and treatments, your practice may run more like a well-oiled machine. Providing consistent training on your dental management software across the board can help ensure that each staff member is using the software in the same way. This allows employees to accurately manage the patient file from check-in to check-out.

One of the best ways to do this is by ensuring your dental practice management software is up-to-date and provides new employees with comprehensive training on how to use the program. This helps bring them up-to-speed with your other employees, including long-time experienced members on your team. 

Offer your team opportunities to refresh their knowledge on the software along with specific training sessions after software updates and changes to your current workflow.

2. Reduce Critical and Costly Errors

Errors in patient management can be costly and potentially even lead to malpractice cases. Good practice management software may be useful to reduce the likelihood of charting inconsistencies, billing and insurance mistakes, and other errors that could negatively impact your dental practice.

For example, software with integrated billing and insurance capabilities is often able to scan user-entered data for mistakes and then will update and correct those errors prior to submitting the insurance claim. 

This can help reduce the likelihood that an insurance claim will be denied and need to be resubmitted. Dedicated training on how to use the features of your management software can help ensure that your staff members understand how to utilize the program's capabilities to reduce charting, billing, and other critical mistakes.

3. Efficiently Onboard New Team Members

Onboarding new team members can be hectic and inadequate if it's not done in an orderly, organized fashion. How thoroughly you onboard new employees often has a direct impact on their ability to succeed. It also may be a major factor in the quality of work your new hire is able to do, whether they are a dental assistant, hygienist, or administrator.

Providing new employees with comprehensive training on your dental practice management software is a key component of a good onboarding plan. The time invested in teaching new employees the nuts and bolts of how the program works is a wise use of resources and is likely to pay off if the new hire is able to integrate into your office's existing workflow without much disruption.

4. Keep Patient Records Thorough and Accurate

The ability to keep all of your practice’s data organized, including patient contact information, appointment history, billing and insurance information, health information, treatment data, and diagnostic imaging, may be critical for the function of your practice. Most dental management software systems are able to handle the demands of a busy practice if employees understand how to use the program and its features.

Initial and ongoing practice management software training can provide your employees with the knowledge they need to use the program's capabilities as intended, to keep many types of important data recorded and organized. This helps to ensure your patient's records are thorough, accurate, and accessible as needed.

5. Streamline the Patient Experience

From the moment your patients walk in your door to the moment they check out, they are sizing up your office, your staff, your technology, and the service you provide. Every aspect of your dental practice comes together to form the patient experience, a crucial perspective for you to understand and optimize.

For example, say a patient arrives to check-in for their appointment and there's no record of where the appointment has been made. Your receptionist is able to work them in, but they end up waiting for an extended period of time. 

You enter the exam room only to find a frustrated patient who is now looking for your office to make the next mistake. Practice management software can help you create the optimal patient experience throughout their appointment.

6. Provide Personalized Service and Support to Patients

The competition for the average dentist is fierce. It's no longer enough to provide quality dental care; today's patients are interested in personalized dental care tailored to their individual needs. 

Dentists must be prepared to enter a patient's exam room knowing their patient's name, their chief complaint, the proposed treatment plan, and anything important they communicated to their dental assistant during their workup.

Few things are more frustrating for a patient who has spent five minutes telling the assistant about their current oral health only to have the dentist come in and ask, "So, what brings you to see us today?" 

Provide your team with training on how to use integrated electronic health record (EHR) software to take notes that you can easily review before patient appointments.

Be sure to also note about anything important the patient mentions about their life, like a recent graduation or marriage. This can help you remember your conversation in order to personalize small talk during their next appointment, helping patients feel remembered and valuable.

Learn More About Growing a Successful Practice 

From helping you to maintain accurate records, to enriching the patient experience, it may be critical that you have software and other technology in your practice and helping you work toward your goals. At Treloar & Heisel, we’re here to help you grow with professional guidance and services dedicated specifically to providing financial services to dental professionals and their practices.  

Contact us today to learn more.

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Treloar & Heisel, LLC. and its divisions do not offer information technology, practice management, or legal advice. Please consult a professional concerning these topics.