To my mind,scheduling software should do the following:
1) Allow for the elimination of dead time;
2) require the orthodontist to be in only one place at one time;
3) accommodate the appointment needs of the practice;
4) be easy to use;
5) allow for 5-minute or smaller building blocks;
6) be owned and supported by a company that is large enough to stickaround, but small enough to not be insignificant to the company’svision;
7) be supported by a company that is trustworthy and has ethical business practices;
8) have tech support from people who know the software;
9) limit tech support wait times;
10) be part of a larger suite of practice-management utilities;
11) seamlessly integrate with third-party software;
12) go beyond the minimally required support;
13) listen to customers about what is needed for future releases; and
14) be innovative and forward-thinking.
Andrew Trosien, DDS, MS, is in private practice in Tracy,Calif, and is co-director of La Clinica de la Raza Orthodontics inOakland, Calif. He is also an assistant professor of orthodontics at theUniversity of California at San Francisco.
This is an excerpt from his recent article in Orthodontic Products. To read the whole article, click here.
