Planet DDS

Productivity in Times of Change

During these crazy economic times some offices will rise to the occasion and others will just tread water. There are just so many cost cutting measures that a dental practice can take before it becomes totally unproductive.

I would suggest that there is a better answer. Once you have cut costs to bare bones it now becomes a challenge to maintain a high level of productivity for without production by all staff members, your ship will surely sink.

You can really help your staff be more productive by removing the mundane, daily chores that they have to do by outsourcing these repetitive tasks to a virtual receptionist. This person (your VR) can work hourly, daily etc at a far lesser cost and provide your in-house staff with the time to handle the really important job of patient management.

During these difficult times it is even more important to provide patients with outstanding, unique customer service so that they become your Talkers. They need to feel special, to believe that your office really cares and will go the extra yard to take care of their dental needs. This requires a great deal of time on the part of your staff and can be one of the most important parts of an integrated internal marketing programs. Getting patients to become Talkers will result in an increase in new patients with little or no marketing cost. Not a bad deal if you ask me!

However, in order to provide this incredible level of service, staff needs time. With staff being cut to a bare minimum in many offices, staff is already burdened by all of the jobs that can now be outsourced to a VR; freeing them up to help you create the buzz you need to increase new patients. New patients are the life blood of any practice and everything should be done to stimulate this process.

Using a VR can make the difference between treading water or moving forward towards your practice goal for 2009. Give you staff the time to perform and they will help you provide the kind of care that patients will want to voluntarily brag to their friends, family and business associates.

Posted @ 5:29 pm, March 10, 2009.

From the 2009 Tech Guide – Dental Equipment and Technology Buying Guide by Lorne Lavine, DMD

Denticon.com

Rating:  3.5 teeth out of 4

Features:  Denticon.com is the most unique product in the practice management software reviews.  Unlike the other programs that run on your computers with software that is installed on each machine, denticon.com is a web-based program that runs in a browser window.  All you need is an Internet connection.  The main features include the ability to access your data from any computer in the world interactive communication with patients, real-time communication with insurance companies, and no need for local data backup.  This type of software is a great option for multi-location practices.

Ease of Use:  The program is very easy to use and learn… anyone that knows how to use a browser will be very comfortable with the software.  Both online and in-office training are available and usually only 1-2 days are needed to get comfortable with the main features.

Value:  The software represents a great value.  There are no software costs, just a monthly fee that includes support and updates and is very reasonable.  When you consider that there are no fees for traditional services like data backup and upgrades, the true value of this software shines through.

What They Say:  Denticon is a powerful, web-based dental practice management software application which can be configured to the needs of any type of dental practice.  Sometimes known as web-based or ASP dental practice management software, Denticon’s use of internet technology opens the door to 21^st century tools and services that are unavailable with traditional dental practice management software.

What I Say:  I really like the company and the product.  The software is up-to-date and feature-rich, and the service and support has been excellent so far.  Some offices may want to have a second Internet connection as a backup, but I expect the web-based design will become more popular for all software in the coming years.

Posted @ 11:57 am, February 24, 2009.

Where’s My Dentist When I Need Him?

Nothing is more frustrating to an existing or new patient than having a dental problem and receiving voicemail when they call the office. Most dental consultants and coaches now advise that dental offices find a way to have  a live person answer their phones when they are out of the office.

The Foundation of a Dental Micropractice

There are three basic components of a dental micropractice.

1. Software that allows multiple entities to collaborate on, i.e., have access to, the same practice data at anytime.

2. An available virtual network of capable individuals, who understand your business and can communicate well with your patients.

3. The communications capabilities to route all necessary information to the right place at the right time.

I will write extensively about each of these topics, but in short, here is how Planet DDS addresses them.

1. Their practice management software, Denticon, is web-based. It allows user-defined security groupings, so that you can define which data your outsource entities have access to. Access to data is not an issue with an internet-based product.

2. Planet DDS has established a network of part-time, stay-at-home workers, all of whom have extensive experience in working at dental offices. The workers are trained on Denticon, and the quality of their work is constantly monitored.

3. Planet DDS utilizes web-based call-center software. Calls are routed according to pre-set decision trees.

As you think more about this configuration, like me, you’ll begin to imagine many of the possibilities of utilizing outsourcing to your advantage - even before anyone has told you about them.

Posted @ 4:10 pm, February 10, 2009.

An Outsource Partner

Perhaps the most important aspect of a successful miscropractice is your outsource partner.

Since most dentists are familiar with answering services, it’s where their mind first goes. One thing that I can assure you is that simply having an answering service picking up your calls during the day is a sure recipe for failure.

Your network partner needs

• agents who understand dentistry and dental office business processes
• agents who know how your office runs
• agnets who understand your patients

On top of that, your network needs to be managed by experienced mangers, audited by people who understand the processes, and most importantly, the network needs to be self-learning.

Think about it. A network that is self-learning gains more knowledge through every activity it conducts: which insurance companies deny certain types of claims, which don’t, which ones pay quickly, which ones don’t, how is the fastest way to get claim resolution with each insurer, etc.

Now, whether your network is simply a friend and a couple of relatives, or whether you utilize a more sophisticated network like the one at Planet DDS, make sure these safeguards are built in.

Posted @ 10:52 am, February 3, 2009.

Concepts for a Dental Micropractice

Planet DDS is doing a good job of putting all the pieces together for anyone wanting to create a dental micropractice. They take the concept to the broader community of dentists and refer tot their services as a virtual receptionist. Nonetheless, the concepts are applicable to dental micropractices, also.

There are a couple of short videos worth watching.

http://videos.planetdds.com/videos/HowItWorks/HowItWorks.html

http://videos.planetdds.com/videos/IncreasingProduction/IncreasingProduction.html

Posted @ 3:23 pm, January 30, 2009.

Services Categories

One of the hardest things to summarize is the services that needed to be outsourced for a dental micropractice. A long, well-thought-out list of every activity in a dental office is helpful, but unwieldy.

A long list also doesn’t help identify who is best suited for the tasks.

At Planet DDS, we have found it convenient to identify 3 categories:

• Inbound calls
• Outbound calls
• Billing and collections

Supplying these services for an office will often be done by at least 3 different experts or teams of experts who are focused entirely on the task at hand. Also, each grouping is priced differently. Perhaps, most importantly, these categories form a nice dividing line for decisions on which services can be handled in the office and those that will be outsourced.

By the way, here’s an informative webinar on outsourcing: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/249863953

Posted @ 10:03 am, January 22, 2009.

Ongoing Insurance Tasks

Ongoing tasks related to insurance activity is one area a micropractice should not have to worry about. It is a natural activity to be outsourced.

Tasks include:

• Provider credentialing, i.e., making sure you are registered as a valid with each payer (otherwise they don’t pay).
• Keep accurate carrier information in your software, i.e., where to send claims
• Keep accurate benefit information
• Keep accurate insurance fee schedules in your software, if applicable (for PPOs and HMOs)
• Check patient eligibility prior to appointments and reconcile any problems
• Check benefit information before appointment
• Prepare claims for submission
• Submit claims (electronically, of course)
• Monitor results of submitted claims and re-submit any that were pended or rejected or need further information
• Monitor claims aging and follow up on any claims that haven’t been paid
• Re-submit any claims that were improperly denied or reduced in payment

BTW, as of this writing, Planet DDS has a special campaign for new practices that is worth looking at, if you’re in that category.

Posted @ 1:57 pm, January 14, 2009.

Automating Post-Appointment Activities

Post-appointment activities begin as the patient leaves the chair. The primary activities include;

Collecting any monies the patient has due. Depending how you are configured, I recommend using your assistant for this activity. That said, we do have customers that have the virtual receptionist take credit card payment over the phone. There a so many possibilities of how to do on-the-spot collections that I won’t go into much detail, but at a minimum, you should consider taking all payments via credit card. Your practice management software or mobile dental software needs to have credit card swiping capabilities integrated into payment posting, Again, depending on your configuration, it is also possible to have a virtual receptionist take credit card information over the phone.

Scheduling the next appointment. This can be done on the spot or the virtual receptionist can follow up with a call to the patient.

If applicable, bill the insurance. This should be very straightforward. Your virtual receptionist should handle all of this with very little input from you. One caution, though: Be sure to be thorough in your patient notes in the practice management application. It will save you going back and forth with your billing person. 

Posted @ 2:35 pm, January 9, 2009.

Automating Pre-Appointment Insurance Activities

It is possible to utilize automation and outsource to handle all pre-appointment activities. The first, and one of the most important, is to check patient insurance eligibility and benefits. Ideally, it should be done two days before the appointment, which gives enough time to fix any issues that might be discovered - like the patient is not eligible.

While many practices do not do this step, it is very important, since an ineligible patient, who believes he or she is eligible may take hours to correct, and this happens only after a claim has been submitted and denied. It is at the core of a micropractice to minimize unnecessary work or re-work.

Some of this activity is automated directly from insurance companies. On a real-time basis, you can - with the help of a real-time clearinghouse - ping various insurance companies and check eligibility. Software, like Planet DDS’s Denticon, places an icon on the appointment scheduler which automatically shows the result of the query. The problem is that not many insurance companies currently have these capabilities.

For those patients who do not have an insurance that has real-time eligibility checking, you can utilize your outsource service to either look it up online, utilize a fax-back service, which many of the payers have, or to call directly.

These can be very time-consuming activities, and to automate or outsource them makes total sense.

Posted @ 2:30 pm, January 6, 2009.

Your Records Need To Be Secure and Protected

As a practicing dentist I understand the importance of protecting my patient’s records.

First, about four years ago just as I finished my conversion to Denticon I experienced a crash of my network server. My associate, who at that time had not converted to Denticon, thought his patient records were backed up. To his utter amazement and horror, he found out that the backups were useless. What a nightmare. He had to re-create his entire AR by hand.

Secondly, what about HIPAA? If your records are kept locally, are they secure from prying eyes? Can information be obtained without your permission? After experiencing the beforementioned problem I am truly concerned for those offices still on local networks where information can be either lost, stolen or misused. HIPAA regulations require the protection of patient confidentiality. If strangers have access to your local server than that information is in danger.

In contrast, since Denticon stores all of your patient data at a remote location, the only way for anyone to access that data is by using their username and password. A trail is left in the system that shows who accessed what data and when. Your patient’s confidentiality is secure. Your patient’s records are secure.

Not a bad way to go to sleep at night knowing that your business is in good hands.

Posted @ 4:25 pm, November 26, 2008.

Emergencies Happen At The Worst Times

The heading for this posting is a bit ambiguous. By that I mean to whom is it the worst time, the patient or the dentist. Let me explain…

Saving Me Some Real Embarrassment

I’m sure this has happened to just about every dentist at one time or another. You’re sitting in your favorite restaurant and you turn around and there is a patient of yours sitting in the next table. They haven’t noticed you yet but there is no doubt that at any moment they will see your smiling face and you’ll have to say hello.

The only problem is you can’t remember their name. They were in your office only a few days before but a total mental block has set in and there is nothing going on in that brain of yours. You go through the alphabet, you try calling your office manager but no answer and you’re now on your own.

Well, this happened to me just the other day. What saved me was Denticon, my web based practice management system with iPhone support. I saw the patient and knew they were in just a week or so ago. I logged onto Denticon using my iPhone (crouching low so no one saw me), opened my appointment scheduler, checked the last couple of days and sure enough Scott’s name was there.

After breathing a quick sigh of relief, I jumped up from under the table and immediately walked over to Scott’s table and greeted him with a huge hello.

Now this may seem like a relatively small matter to some but the fact that I was saved from a potentially embarrassing situation was terrific. I was actually able to introduce my wife and son to Scott rather than faking it.

Dinner was great too……

Posted @ 11:30 am, November 6, 2008.

I Need To Cancel For Tomorrow at 8 A.M.

My Vitrual Receptionist just saved my day. About an hour ago a patient called thinking we were closed. She was going to cancel an appointment for tomorrow at 8 A.M. This was a three hour appointment to prepare a whole bunch of teeth.

It’s Time to Think About Practice Efficiency

Do you really need to waste expensive employee time on such tasks as billing, sending out recalls and insurance?

My guess is that with this crazy economy looming over our heads that most practices are looking for ways to maximize the efficiency of their current staff. Is it necessary to hire additional employees with all of the additional HR costs involved (Social Security, Medical etc.) or does it make more sense to have a virtual employee take care of these tasks at far reduced costs?

Now is definitely the time to review staff responsibilities and their ability to handle these jobs in a timely manner. If you find a backlog in recall cards, bills or insurance forms, or all three, it may be time to look at the Virtual Services provided by Planet DDS.

Posted @ 12:40 pm, October 23, 2008.

“Can’t come in today…I’m sick!”

How often do we as dentists hear this from one or several dental employees? This kind of absence can wreck havoc in a busy dental office especially in these economic times where many offices are forced to cut staff in order to keep overhead to a minimum. Cutting staff means that either certain tasks just don’t get done or someone else has to work a bit harder and longer. Neither of these choices are ideal from a productivity standpoint.

Well, virtual services can make this pain go away in an instant.

If your front office employee calls in sick all you need to do is make a quick call to PlanetDDS and arrange to have your Virtual Receptionist, tied in with web-based dental software, stand in until your employee returns to his/her job. Your VR can answer calls, make appointments and much more, relieving the rest of your staff to do their jobs as usual. Your practice will never miss a step.

Posted @ 4:50 pm, October 20, 2008.

From Our Customers: President of Dental Spa Cosmetics

With the economic crisis at hand it has become critical to take a hard and long look at overhead. Spending our hard earned dollars on that which is important and productive and limiting that which is wasteful and frivolous. This last comment is as true for our personal lives as it is for our dental practices. As a practicing dentist I had to take a long look at making our current staff more productive than they were even before the economy changed. By outsourcing those tasks that are both mundane and repetitive I have freed up several staff members to do what is really important….personal patient care. New patients are the life blood of every practice. By allowing our staff to spend more time with patients rather than wasting their time sending out recall cards or monthly bills has already proven to be a tremendous adjunct to our practice.

Posted @ 2:35 pm, October 14, 2008.

From Our Customers: Dentist in Long Island, NY Using Virtual Receptionist

As a dentist who only practices three days a week (three 12 hour days) I now appreciate the importance of Virtual Services. For the past two months I have used PlanetDDS Online services on the days I am not in the office and have found it to be an extremely worthwhile addition to my practice.  I now have a live person answering my phones, handling emergencies, re-scheduling appointments (so that my schedule is not totally destroyed when I return to work) and most importantly scheduling new patients.

One of the most critical aspects of virtual services is the personalized care given to my patients. When the phone is answered, it is just as if it was being done by my "real" staff. The patient never knows that a "virtual" receptionist is caring for their needs. This is particularly important with new patients who have finally decided to make that call and now get a professional person to talk with rather than a machine. It's hard to say how many new patient visits have been saved thanks to this new service but my feeling is that it will certainly prove to be invaluable as we move forward over the coming months.

Posted @ 9:45 am, October 7, 2008.

Planet DDS and Start Up Practices

The response to our new practice software and virtual receptionist offer has been overwhelming.

For $899/month, Planet DDS will supply our web-based software, Denticon, and a full time (5 days/week) virtual assistant who will

- Answer your phones
- Schedule appointments
- Get new patient information
- Check insurance eligibility and benefits
- Verify appointments
- Review and submit insurance claims
- Reconcile rejected claims
- Resubmit denied claims
- Trace old claims
- Input fee schedules
- Input insurance plan data
- Manage insurance company provider eligibility
- Patient billing
- Accounts receivable aging management
- Key metrics management

The idea is to offer a service that will provide a full time, experienced employee, who is managed by experienced managers, at a price that is less than even a part time employee. The goal is to take a huge headache away from the many that are already associated with a start up.

Posted by Bill Jackson@ 3:40 pm, September 26, 2008.