Practice benefits from enhanced EXACT efficiency and performance

March Dental has been using EXACT dental practice management software for the past seven years and its ease of use is a bonus for the busy practice's staff.

Front Office Co-ordinator, Michelle Povey, says she found it easy to come to grips with EXACT when she started at March Dental. The Appointment Book option is the most commonly used function and allows Ms Povey to not only manage appointments, but also to keep track of important patient details. She prefers the multi-column format which makes it simple to see multiple days and appointments.

Automated Recalls is also something that she appreciates and says the reduction in preparation time has been extremely beneficial to the practice.

Automated recalls

"We've gone from a very labourintensive process, which took up to a week of planning and work once a month, to a fully automated system. We now have a steady stream of patients contacting us to book appointments rather than a bombardment at one time."

The practice uses a range of different communication options, depending on the type of recall and reminder. Patients firstly receive an SMS or an email and for those who haven't re-booked, a letter is sent via EasyPost, the new print and post service from Software of Excellence.

A greater use of reports is also becoming the norm at the practice and is providing invaluable insights into business performance. Monthly reporting is standard and ad hoc reports on activities such as marketing and promotions, recall programmes and treatment types are also helping Dr March improve the efficiency and profitability of the practice.

"EXACT is simple to understand and navigate," Ms Povey said. "The help desk has been really supportive and we are now powering up to use more of the functionality in the software."

A special interest in complex restorative treatments means that Dr Randall March spends a lot of time with his patients, identifying the issues and explaining the proposed treatment. He uses the charting and treatment plan functions in EXACT, together with EXAMINE^PRO software, to help him create and communicate treatment plans to his patients.

EXAMINE^PRO works with a wide variety of digital hardware to seamlessly integrate all your images into the chart screen of your EXACT or OASIS practice management software system.

"We find EXACT particularly useful for treatment planning as it allows us to pre-plan and create treatment plans which we can then discuss with the patient during their appointment. We also use EXAMINE^PRO, which adds a visual element to our discussions and provides a more effective way for us to explain treatment plans with our patients.

"We take a lot of x-ray and other images of a patient and EXAMINE^PRO allows us to easily capture and save them all to a patient's file. During an appointment, we can pull up the images to show the patient where the problem areas are and explain how the treatment plan will help to resolve the issue. We find they are much more engaged and proactive about seeking solutions when they can actually see the problems in their mouth, rather than just having the dentist tell them."