Best practices

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erik
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 8:42 pm

Best practices

Post by erik » Sun Jul 02, 2017 11:48 am

All,
I'm just crossing the one-year anniversary of using Open Dental and have had a great experience thus far. At the same time, I know there is always more that can be automated, streamlined, improved. I'd like to solicit advice from the community on where to take my OD implementation from here. OD has great resources on how to go about setting up the various aspects of the system, but not on prioritization.

So, my general questions for the community are:
  • What aspects of your implementation have had the highest ROI (effort vs. efficiency / accuracy / revenue)?
  • What is your favorite feature?
  • What would you have done differently with your implementation or what have you redone?
  • What were your "AHA!" moments?
  • How do you keep a pulse on the business (OD reports or external reporting tools)?
  • Sheets or Autonotes?
  • Do you use any integrations with 3rd party services (other than digital x-ray)?
For any of the above, including any pertinent details would be helpful, or even specific examples.

To date, our implementation is very basic: scheduling, hygiene notes, perio charting, Dr. notes / charting, insurance, billing. All of these aspects still feel like we're at stage 1, though. For example, our Autonotes are very basic, we don't use dunning messages on bills, we are scanning paper health history forms, etc.

Thanks for the input,
Erik

boboffice
Posts: 89
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 7:11 am
Location: Poway, San Diego County, CA

Re: Best practices

Post by boboffice » Tue Jul 04, 2017 6:48 am

I love the forms and webforms functionality and use it for every patient.

We have a tablet at the office (Surface Pro) for updating and use online forms for new patients and other minor stuff. Feel free to check them out on my site: http://www.ilovemysmile.com. I find the sheets framework extremely useful (but a bit frustratingly archaic). It's worth the effort to create these custom forms. One note: the forms created for online use will look a bit different than those used in the office (alignment issues, etc.) so I created separate variant for each of the two applications. I have talked to OD about his and I hope they are working on it.
Robert Marcus DMD
Univ. of CT '93
Poway, CA

bpcomp
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2012 7:30 am
Location: Tucson, AZ
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Re: Best practices

Post by bpcomp » Wed Jul 05, 2017 4:39 pm

We use autohotkey to speed up the front office. I have keyboard shortcuts that will bring up the select patient screen, insert a date and time stamp etc etc.
Here is a link to some example code I wrote. https://pastebin.com/LzgXxZ68

We really like text replacement:

Code: Select all

::lma::Left message saying I needed to speak about account. Asked to call us back.

In this example, I type lma and then hit space and auto hotkey replaces it with Left message saying I needed to speak about account. Asked to call us back.
We have a bunch of these shortcuts and it allows us to breeze through notes we have with patients. So if I spoke to a patient about an appt I would open the appt and in just a few keystrokes I've noted the message.

---4:30 PM Wednesday, July 05, 2017--- Left week out reminder, Would like day before reminder call.

I created that by hitting ctrl+t (space) lwo (comma) dbrc(space) I put my initials on the end so everyone in the office knows I was the one who called the patient. You can make the shortcut anything you want and have it expand to anything you want.

We keep notes on payments like "Payment in full." "Partial payment." "Estimated patient portion." Each of those is two letters and a space to create. Anything you fine yourself typing over and over can and should be automated.

rhaber123
Posts: 415
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 12:09 pm

Re: Best practices

Post by rhaber123 » Wed Jul 05, 2017 10:09 pm

Text messaging
through Open Dental E- Services: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=6458, or through a third party: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5857
- If you are not texting your patients yet for appointments confirmations, recall, rescheduling a cancelled appointment, etc......, you need to start doing it, it is a must.
- user friendly too.

erik
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 8:42 pm

Re: Best practices

Post by erik » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:08 pm

@boboffice
Thanks for sharing. I really like how you've integrated the webforms directly into your website, rather than pushing a user to the OD domain. Very slick. Do you use any of the other Sheets extensively? Do you ever get junk submissions or updates to your forms? After poking around your site, I'm curious what has been the uptake of people that use your contact form, rather than contact you directly? It seems the asynchronous communication should help alleviate some of the busy moments at the front office.

@bpcomp
Thanks for sharing the AHK code and example use! This isn't something I've explored, yet. Do you use this for clinical notes, as well as front office? Our automation of notes is still quite nascent, and I'm trying to decide whether to invest time making more Autonotes or Exam sheets. This adds another dimension to either option...

@rhaber123
Text messaging feels like it's a long way off. Mostly, this is because our assumption has been that our (older) patient population would be less inclined to text with us. But maybe that's an assumption that's worth revisiting.

erik
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Apr 20, 2016 8:42 pm

Re: Best practices

Post by erik » Thu Jul 06, 2017 10:12 pm

Also:
  • Do you use the internal Tasks within Open Dental, or do you use external tools for task management?

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Rickliftig
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Re: Best practices

Post by Rickliftig » Fri Jul 07, 2017 5:15 am

Erik -

Here's part I of several -

My advice is to always 'keep it simple'. Always remember, that your office makes money when you are at the chairside, not when you are filling out forms or trying to implement a new computer feature. If a procedure or system doesn't simpliify things or reduce time, it won't get done. A great example is Chris Mcgehee's wonderful contribution to voice activate a chart. I can use it beautifully - but my hygienists - not so well. So as much as I want to integrate this, it's on the back burner until everyone can get trained and up to speed. And, have you ever noticed, no matter how bulletproof that you think a system is, one of your employees will find a way to break it? So being the IT guy here, simple is best, even if it takes more time.

I like checklists. My chart entries are based on autonote checklists so that nothing is forgotten. Everyone has learned to modify the note after completing the checklist as needed.

I also like communication - commlog and pop-up notes are used extensively. We have a rotating staff here - daily hygienist and front desk staff are always different. Over many years, I have found that the little things are SO important to keep a small office viable. Knowing that a child has graduated from college, or a family member is ill, means a lot to patients- this is one place that OD really improves your interaction with patients. Heck, just being able to say to the patient (Using sort by tooth #) that, "We repaired this tooth in 2010, 2011, 2013 and it keeps breaking - you need a crown!" Also, I will write pretty detailed comments to myself (which I will discover several years later or take a photo) that will guide my treatment plan. We plant a lot of seeds and hopefully they grow. OD is essential for keeping track of those seeds.

Sheets are used for referrals and lab forms - I would like to see feature request #2032 implemented so that sheets show up in the image module. Otherwise, I find exams and consents are lost in their respective buttons and easily ignored. The image module capabilities need to be looked at more as a document organizer in the future. Also, i hope that the orange number flag system is expanded. You know, when you have a text message or task, it pops up on the menu bar. I would love to see some traffic lights there with rules ie: Perio chart hasn't been updated in over x yrs - red flag pops up.

We're still using paper for Heath Hx, privacy and account info. There is a significant over 60 population in the area and this makes it easier for everyone. Scanning/shredding is simple and secure. There are no issues with Microsoft Surfaces or Ipads walking out the door or being broken.

Off to a meeting - to be continued -

Rick
Last edited by Rickliftig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 7:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

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Rickliftig
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Re: Best practices

Post by Rickliftig » Fri Jul 07, 2017 7:22 am

Part II

Highest ROI - has been digital xrays (using Gendex and Vixwin bridge). Many of my contemporaries (older docs in their 60s) have been reluctant to upgrade because of cost. I was amazed by one doc who told me that he had one computer in the office at the front desk and how he wanted to go digital - yikes! Every office should have all of its charting and xrays on a server - bottom line. It's secure and efficient. Also, electronic claims submission (Change Healthcare) is a must.

What would I have done differently? Not much, as OD is so customizable, it's always a work in progress. The system has been in place since mid 2008 and been rock solid through many versions of both OD and Windows. I am glad that I know the system well - if there's ever a problem, likely I can handle it; very rarely do I have to call for help.

I would encourage anyone reading this to keep a set of hardware for spares. IOW, a client computer and monitor ready to be swapped in if needed. This minimizes downtime. My client computers are Dell Optiplexes with Windows 10 purchased off e-bay. They are lightly used and all under $300. I also use the client computers to run ceiling monitors through an HDMI port. generally, I have 'slow-tv' on (find it on youtube) - beach scenes, birds nests, boat rides, train rides.

The server is maintained and backed up by 'The Digital Dentist' (Lorne Lavine); there is an iosafe drive in the office that keeps backups also. I had Lorne spec out the server and backup drive and gladly pay the maintenance fee. I don't mind maintaining the client computers, but the server and its data is the 'holy altar' of the practice and needs to be treated as such. Sidenote: the server and backup drive are bolted to the floor with lag bolts - it's not foolproof, but will definitely slow down any attempted theft. I am a big fan of Dell - they are the standard. Their equipment is reliable and well-supported. But, there is a big difference between their business class and their consumer versions. Always go business class. The server was purchased new and is top of the line.

Favorite feature - the OD support team. Funny thing - look at the software forums on Dental town - the number of complaints and issues with other packages is astounding. The number of complaints about Open Dental? Practically zero.

best,

Rick
Another Happy Open Dental User!

Rick Liftig, DMD FAGD
University of CT 1979
West Hartford, CT 06110
srick@snet.net

bpcomp
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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Re: Best practices

Post by bpcomp » Fri Jul 07, 2017 8:30 am

We do use AHK more in the front office where I work but I've also set up things for the back office. Before OD had an option to clone previous perio charting, all the probing depths had to be entered manually. I created an AHK script that would ask how many teeth and then blast out 323 that many times. Then the hygienists only had to note changes and not type in all the normal probing.

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