Dental practice management is a crucial task. Besides the clinical side of things, there are many other responsibilities and things to look after. Managing appointments, Day sheets, Compliance with Government regulated billing standards (IRD Approved Billing), Keeping track of inventories, Lab management, Account management for organizations, doctors, and patients-all of these are the operational burdens to conduct.

All these tasks may consume a lot of your time and money if performed manually. Is there any solution for this? Well, you have to deploy dental practice management software at your clinic/hospital to automate the tasks. Also, you need to take a wise decision to choose which dental management software better suits all your requirements. If you do not have the right dental management software, running your dental institution may create a lot of stress.

What does Dental Practice Management Software do?

Deploying specialized dental practice management software makes your operations easier. All the operations of dental institutions need to be handled by the software to make dental management efficient and simpler. Digitized platforms will have long-term benefits with easy recordkeeping.

Every software available at the market may not be suitable for your needs since the majority of the software is developed for general healthcare operations management. Software that is developed for dental practice management will have specialized dental requirements and operation handling. The ease of use and effectiveness with one central solution for all the operations handling can help dental clinics/hospitals reach higher levels of efficiency in day-to-day activities.

What to look for in Dental Practice Management Software?

Choosing dental software may be tricky and time-consuming if you lack proper knowledge. The key thing to look after is what problems the software solves and how it will help the organization to run smoother. Here, we’ll be sharing the top 6 things to look for while choosing the best dental practice management software for dentists. Let’s have a quick look!

1. Feature Set and Functionality

This is the core area to think and decide for. Features and functionalities play a major role in purchasing dental practice management software. The ideal decision on selecting the software for your practice should cover all operation assistance and technology needs.

The feature set for dental practice management software includes:

• Electronic Records

• Appointment Scheduling and Management

• Day sheet Management

• Doctor and Patient Management

• IRD Approved Billing

• UI/UX designed for Dental Environment

• Graphical Visualization of Teeth

• Diagnoses and Treatments Management

• Inventory Management

• Lab Management

• Users Management

• Data Analytics and Reporting

• Tenant Management and Accumulated Reporting (for clinics/hospitals with multiple branches)

• Data Backup and Security

2. Easy User Interface

The existing manual process for operations and documentation has been rooted for a long time. Switching to a digital platform may be reluctant to users and understanding the new paradigm may take some time. It may be difficult for managers to convince the users and get used to the new business environment. So, the software should have easy user interfaces, simple workflow, and convincing benefits that motivate the users to push towards successful implementation.

3. Cost

Another factor that drives dental clinics or dental institutions to choose the right dental software lies within the cost of investment. The initial cost should be affordable and the recurring cost should be minimal so that the cost overhead should not be hard to maintain.

4. Training, Support, and Maintenance

Only purchasing the software with complete features at low cost does not end your headaches for proper management of the dental practice, long-term continuation of the product also counts primarily. The software provider should be able to support your operations for the long term. You need to agree on the package for Support and Maintenance of the product with the software provider. There is a market trend and popularity of foreign software products in the Nepali market, which can provide good products but lack Support Service. It's better to collaborate with a trustworthy local software service provider for long-term sustainability. They not only provide better support service, but they understand your business scenario and scope of business and the requirements of the local market.

It's not necessary that you should have a team of IT Experts in your dental institution. A good software provider can train your employees well for efficient use of the system, with continued support and maintenance of the software. You should make sure that the software provider is easily accessible by phone or email at your problems, and can visit your dentist if required. You should be able to rely on the software provider for data security, backup, and up-gradation of features in case of necessity.

5. Data Security and Compliance

Data security and its availability is most necessary for you. You have to maintain the patient records for ages and protecting the information from security breaches plays a vital role. Also, the data should not be leaked to your competitors to prevent business losses. Furthermore, the software and data should be accessible to you at your feasibility.

Keep that in mind, you need to get assured of the above concerns through legal agreements with the software provider. Deployment of the software and storage of data at a secure and reliable server seems necessary for protection from security breaches, availability with better

performance, and backup of the data in case of hazards. Do not hesitate to investigate the server where your system is deployed, where preferred hosting environments would be the reliable cloud platforms like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform.

6. Market Trust and Recommendations

Not the least, but what is the customer feedback of the software you are going to purchase? Will the existing customers of the software recommend you to go for it?

Well, the trustworthiness of the service always counts as a driving factor before proceeding further with the subscription. Word-of-mouth recommendations and from your fellow practitioners assist you to select a solution that fits you.

Are you ready to decide which Dental Practice Management Software to use?

After acquiring knowledge about what to look for in dental software, you can select the right software for your dental practice management.

If you need more help in making a final decision, get in touch with Dental Practice Management Software like Prispitals, today. We have great experience and software to offer you.