There is something very unique about CaliDental — something you most certainly would not expect from a multi-location dental clinic. In fact, this unique element might just be behind the fact that CaliDental has grown quickly and now employs 180+ individuals (making it the fastest-growing integrated dental clinic network under one management). And they are still growing, with plans to add five more clinics by Fall 2023.
This unique detail is the fact that founder, president and CEO Dr. Koushan Azad and COO Randa Seif started out as engineers before transitioning to their current professions. They analyzed everything with an engineer’s mindset and with an emphasis on patient care. Having both come from a 40+ location dental service organization (DSO), both Dr. Azad and Randa knew how critical cloud-based solutions would be for a multi-location practice.
Prior to using Planet DDS solutions Denticon Practice Management and Apteryx XVWeb Cloud Imaging, the company was using their old server-based solution. They found this platform cumbersome, as it was server based, requiring maintenance and upkeep of individual servers at each location. Each location’s servers maintained location-specific information and had its own set of login credentials and data. Certainly not ideal for a multi-location practice. Additionally, the platform would often freeze creating a frustrating experience for office staff and patients.
“We were looking for a cloud-based platform suitable for multi-office capabilities, including scheduling and treatment case management. We wanted something easy and user friendly — I call it stupid proof. I want to spend as little time as possible training someone new. We wanted something simple, straightforward, that gets you the information as quickly as possible,” Seif explains.
When Dr. Azad and Seif approached Planet DDS, their requirements were clear. They wanted a platform that could first and foremost support exceptionally high patient care standards, centralized office management (such as scheduling and claims processing), and could deliver clear, actionable data to help track and manage KPIs.
Fast Onboarding and Rollout with Planet DDS Support
Dr. Azad and Seif approached onboarding with an engineer’s mentality. This meant they got right to the point, were intentional about who the first users were, asked the questions that needed asking, and sought out support as soon as it was needed. They were happy to find that Planet DDS offers high touch support. “Support when opening a ticket is exceptional. All along they did an amazing job,” Seif says.
This was not the case with their previous software provider. “Technical support was challenging, and issues were complex to resolve. The solution was always to reboot the server and hope for the best,” Seif explains.
Seif notes that the process from contract to the first day using Denticon in their initial office was fast for implementing a new software program. Users were trained in a demo sandbox environment, allowing them to use Denticon and Apteryx and gain comfort before deploying. “Our offices are very busy. During training, we cut the schedule by half for a couple of days in case we had an issue. We had zero issues on the operation level,” Seif says.
Cloud-Based Tools Deliver Reliability and Efficiency
Transitioning from server-based to cloud-based enabled CaliDental to make operations more efficient across the board. Planet DDS is a cloud-based SaaS company, making them more secure and reliable than onsite servers.
“With our previous platform, there were a lot of issues,” Seif explains. “It would freeze often. We’d have to reboot the server, and it was not convenient. Imagine being on the phone trying to schedule a patient, and it freezes — that’s frustrating for the staff. This platform was not suited for multi-location. Every location needed to have its own server with a different login. With Denticon, it’s one platform-one login with easy access to a multi or single location. Every user can have limited access to multiple locations. We can indeed book any of our patients in any of our locations without the trouble of duplicating the patient profile.”
With everything centralized, it’s easy to connect multiple offices. Dr. Azad and Seif recognized that Planet DDS could scale alongside CaliDental, whereas their former provider could not.
Track and Manage KPIs to Support Business Growth
KPI visibility was essential to Dr. Azad to ensure optimal patient care aligns with business objectives. He reviews the dashboard on Denticon daily with his team to ensure they are on track. With Denticon, user-specific reports are automated and easily generated, and the dashboard displays key business metrics for consistent visibility.
“I need to see my KPIs. We can see what patients are being seen and what’s going on at each location. What treatments we are doing more, and which we are doing less. It is important to have all these KPIs available, and I can review our dashboards in Denticon during the morning huddle,” said Dr. Azad.
Dr. Azad and Seif appreciate that all patient information is centralized, making it easy to see information like a patient’s upcoming appointments, how much a patient owes, how much they paid, and any other important points required to ensure billing is current and patient care is being appropriately managed.
Greater Efficiency Translates to Better Patient Care
Improved efficiency is an important metric for Dr. Azad and Seif. “Being in oral care, we are in healthcare,” Dr. Azad explains. “We want to provide the best care in the most efficient way, and that’s it.”
Greater efficiency translates to a better patient experience (patients receive care and information faster when they and their provider needs it), a better experience for administrative staff (they can perform tasks quickly and more easily), and doctors can perform their work more effectively with the ability to access information and patient data anytime, anywhere.
“Clinical efficiency and X-ray acquisition, including 2D and 3D, are very quick. Billing collecting and ERA 835 was a deal breaker. Denticon checks every box for us. It’s a great tool and saves us a lot of time,” says Dr. Azad.
With all these efficiency gains, profitability naturally increases. “Automation with Denticon saves us time and money,” says Dr. Azad. “Our staff doesn’t have to spend hours on billing — it takes minutes. “For example, nearly 97% to 100% of our 835s are automatically posted instead of our team having to do it manually.”
Secure and Reliable: Planet DDS Dental Software
Dental clinics faced many unique challenges at the onset of COVID, and CaliDental was no different. However, the experience was a turning point for them as they had just onboarded Planet DDS.
“We were lucky we made the change to Planet DDS just before COVID occurred,” Seif says.
Having to close for six weeks during that time meant having to reschedule many patients. With Denticon, they were easily able to call and message patients to notify them of the closure and reschedule them once clinics were able to open again — and all was done remotely without worry of servers crashing. Additionally, doctors were able to help patients remotely in certain instances and could securely connect and maintain records without having to see patients in person or go into the clinic.
Planet DDS offers tools and solutions for a range of dental clinics and providers of any size. Click here to connect with a member of our team and discover how our tools can support the needs of your clinic.
Download the client success story: CaliDental Success Story