Choosing the Right Software for Your New Practice
Jonathan L. Ferencz, DDS, FACP
When starting a new practice, or even taking over an existing practice, the new practitioner has the opportunity to create a technological platform that suits his or her needs and preferences. There is a common misconception in dentistry that Macintosh products cannot run the varied digital applications that the modern dental office needs. That is not at all the case. There is a Mac solution for virtually every function in today’s dental practice. The purpose of this article is not to demean or minimize the utilization of PC-based solutions, but rather to explain the ways in which Macintosh has made significant inroads in healthcare in general and in dentistry in particular to meet the needs of the contemporary dental professional.
As I look back on my career in dentistry, I can pinpoint several key decisions that proved to be major course corrections in my professional life. These decisions have included taking a post-graduate program in prosthodontics after 10 years in general practice, building an in-office dental laboratory and choosing Apple as the platform for all my digital needs, both personal and professional.
I bought my first Apple Computer in 1979. I had no particular need for the Apple IIE, with twin floppy drives and 256 K of RAM, but I was fascinated by the technology. I quickly learned the valuable lesson of backing-up when I stayed up all night entering inventory into a database and lost all the data the next morning. Computers improved, and in 1990 I migrated to an Apple IIG. Finally in 1989, I moved to a Macintosh SE30 configured with 1.4 MB floppy drive, 4 MB of RAM and a 9-inch built-in display. I also brought a Mac SE30 to my office. My database skills had improved to the level where I was able to create my own hygiene recall system. I soon realized that I had reached the limits of my “programming” skills and began to research dental practice management software. Although there were several choices, it immediately became apparent to me to choose a Macintosh system since I was already so comfortable with the platform.
We used DentalMac for more than 15 years before migrating to MacPractice. From my start with a single computer, we now have an office network of 15 Macs providing varied functionality that includes practice management, digital radiography, patient education, consultation tools, lecture materials and more.
There has obviously been tremendous growth in Apple since the 1970’s. At first a counterculture product that attracted non-conformist users, it has broken through as a mainstream product in many industries. Long considered the platform of choice for photographers, designers and graphic artists, it is now becoming a platform of choice for many “traditional” businesses like retail sales, publishing and even healthcare. Today’s new graduate from dental school has most probably become enamored with Apple through such successful consumer products like the iPod, iPhone, Apple TV and iTunes. What few dentists may understand is that the same product design, reliability, intuitive ease of use, support and innovation present in these consumer products are also valuable and applicable to our profession.
Let’s start by discussing the extremely important office management system that plays such an important role in a typical practice. The system must be able to handle a large patient database, manage appointments, charting, record all demographic information, completed treatment, treatment plans, referrals, images, radiographs, referring doctor reports, medical and dental history, submit insurance claims electronically, etc. The list is exhaustive as we truly move into the “paperless” practice or the electronic dental record. Our Apple software, MacPractice, handles all of this and more with ease and stability. It runs on the latest Mac operating system with the newest hardware. In the last 12 months, it went down once and was back running in less than five minutes. We easily communicate patient information, radiographs, appointments, extensive real-time reporting and laboratory information throughout the office without even a hiccup.
It is also essential that one considers ease of use when looking at a practice management system. I would expect a professional with eight or more years of higher education to easily learn a computer system, but what about your typical dental office employee? How much training is needed before they can make a contribution to the everyday routine of data entry, appointments, correspondence, etc., involved in his or her job? We have found that people can become productive in hours, not days or weeks on our system. One also needs to look at technical support, not how big the staff is or the speed of answering a question, but more importantly, how frequently do they need to be called. The amount of training needed is also an important consideration when investing in a management system. As a new practitioner you have a distinct advantage. You are not so busy with patients and it is not only easy to be trained, it is an advantage to “start out on the right foot” and implement good systems and use them well from the onset of your practice. It is far easier to learn to select a good system and learn to be an effective user from the outset than to try to convert or correct after many years of sloppy work. One should also look at the issue of updates, how they are provided, how frequently and the ease of implementation.
In my opinion, Apple will be the “gold standard” for the dental profession as we enter the era of the paperless practice. Our system integrates perfectly with SuniRay, a leader in digital X-rays for intra-oral radiographs and Planmeca for panoramic radiographs. These radiographs are taken by the entire staff and provide high quality images that appear instantly over the network and are immediately backed up. They can be transmitted instantly to a referring colleague. The same is true for clinical photographs. We have several digital SLRs in our office, as we are all faculty members at NYU and teach pre-doctoral students, post-graduate residents and give continuing education courses to practicing dentists. We also use our clinical photographs to show patients existing clinical conditions in order to facilitate treatment acceptance. Most experienced dental lecturers have switched to Macs and now use Keynote as their presentation tool of choice. We are no exception, using Keynote for years, relying on the speed, ease of use and stability of the product.
The past 30 years have been an interesting journey. Looking back, it feels that Apple has had an important role in my career. It definitely helped me build a successful practice by allowing me to take care of patients while the computer system has “taken care of business.” I am fully confident that technology will continue to evolve and bring even more solutions to the clinical practice of dentistry. ■
Jonathan L. Ferencz, DDS, FACP is a Clinical Professor of Prosthodontics, New York University College of Dentistry, Past-President of the American College of Prosthodontists, Private Practice