by Modernization
This is a wonderful time of year to recharge, reflect and evaluate the opportunities and challenges that await us in the new year.
We’ve reached out to several key executives from dental support organizations and their industry partners to get a sense of what they are focused on for 2018. In our Dental Forecast article, there is a common point that each contributor focuses on – technology. Technology is a part of a broader category, which we have termed ‘modernization.’ One could interpret the terms ‘technology’ and ‘modernization’ as interchangeable terms, or ‘technology’ could be considered just one way to ‘modernize.’ Either way, it is something that every business needs to constantly evaluate, accept, and embrace.
Dr. AJ Acierno, Founder of DecisionOne Dental Partners, talks about the use of technology in making dental practices more efficient. His perspective on efficiency is not about saving money, or being able to see more patients in a single day, but about the patient experience itself. Creating efficiency should be for the benefit of the patient. Patients don’t want long waits or extended dental procedures. Using technology in order to efficiently and effectively provide the best patient outcomes and experiences is one of the keys to successful modernization.
Greg Nodland, President and COO of Great Expressions, talks about the modernization of their staff training program, GEDCU, the addition of free wi-fi to each office, and their continued market-leading use of social media. Great Expressions uses these technologies to make the patient experience more pleasant while engaging existing and new patients.
DSO industry partner Aggie Pennington of DentalEZ examines dental equipment technologies and the need to modernize and standardize affiliate offices with some of these newest technologies. Caries detection devices, CAD/CAM milling units, LED lighting, and smart technology devices incorporated into affiliate practices can drive efficiency through modernization. Dental equipment is evolving, and we will get to a point were most, if not all, dental equipment will be connected to the internet. DSOs and industry partners can monitor data in several different ways to determine equipment usage, use the internet connectivity to diagnosis performance issues, and evaluate effectiveness of the equipment. Troubleshooting can be done remotely, potentially saving the practices an onsite visit from a service technician.
Start your dental group’s year off right by reading our Dental Forecast. While technology and modernization are the main focus of the article, there are other key takeaways you are not going to want to miss.
Here’s to a modern approach to your dental group in 2018,
Bill Neumann
Publisher
