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Entries from July 2007

The TEN Stupid Things Dentists do with Technology

July 27th, 2007 · No Comments

No trainingNot enough trainingNo training on updatesDentist doesn’t get trainingLack of trainingNo follow up trainingLittle trainingSelf trainingPoor trainingWon’t pay for training

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Tags: Administrative · Just for Fun

This paper chart is free, why invest in a computer?

July 27th, 2007 · No Comments

Dentists often take the attitude that paper charts work fine and they don’t cost anything so why invest in an expensive computer system? However the truth is; the costs to create and maintain paper charts can be significant but we often don’t see it because it is hidden in the process of doing business.
Paper charts don’t just appear in the office for free. The paper folder and all the other papers cost about $2.50 each. If you have 2500 charts they cost you at least $6,250 to create and every time a new patient walks in it’s another two-fifty; cha-ching.
Other chart contents, like x-rays and photographs can be even more costly. A set of bitewings with film, processing and mounts can be a dollar or two. A photo printed from the intraoral camera is $1.50 or more. It is reasonable to add at least another $2.00 to the cost of each chart for these contents adding another $5,000 to the cost.
Storing the records isn’t free either. A typical office with 2500 charts will need three or four full size lateral files to hold them all. Depending on how nice the files are they will cost about $4,000 and could be a lot more. They will take up office space costing another $550 per year. Plus all the “inactive” charts stashed away somewhere else?
So far our inexpensive paper files are costing us $15,800, but that’s not the total cost. There is the human effort to make the chart, type the label, arrange the contents, file new bits when they arrive in the mail, write the notes, pull the charts every day and then re-file them. And of course there is the daily ritual of the lost chart, which no one can find only to have it turn up days later either misfiled or hiding in a stack on the doctor’s desk. The human cost is at least $11,520 per year.
What we have is a paper chart system that is really quite expensive costing $15,800 to create and $11,520 per year to maintain for a total of $27,320.

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Tags: Just for Fun

Business @ the Speed of Thought

July 27th, 2007 · No Comments

“Business is going to change more in the next ten years that it has in the last fifty.”
Bill Gates (2000)

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Tags: Administrative · Just for Fun

Digital Forms Made Easy

July 26th, 2007 · No Comments

Dental Products Report dedicated a three-part article in March, April, and May of this year to the benefits and how to’s of a paperless dental practice. Everyone knows that digital forms are the wave of the future, but getting there is the hard part, right? Not anymore. In June, TNT Dental officially announced their new […]

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Tags: Uncategorized

Multiple Monitors at the Front Desk

July 24th, 2007 · No Comments

I am instaling a dual monitor system at the front desk this week. The following is a link to PC World magazine to show you how it is done. I have used dual monitors in the treatment rooms since 1998. I currently have four monitors in my personal office! (It is waaaay cool). I will let you know in a few weeks how it is going up front with the new system.

 
Adding a second monitor can seriously boost your productivity, especially if you work with large images or spreadsheets. It’s also extremely simple. We’ll show you how to do it in this step-by-step guide.
PC World – How to Set Up Multiple Monitors [1].

[1] http://www.pcworld.com/video/id,367-page,1-bid,0/video.html

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Tags: Administrative · Hardware · Office Design

Semi Trucks and Six Packs

July 23rd, 2007 · No Comments

InneRAID® Duo The InneRAID® Duo is a robust and easy-to-use internal RAID solution for protecting data and ensuring system availability. It offers a turn-key solution by a rugged disk enclosure with hot-swappable trays, durable fan cooler, and reliable RAID controller. Using SATA host interface and 100% hardware RAID approach, InneRAID® Duo is definitely the excellent RAID solution for various applications.
ACCUSYS: The RAID Architect- Products : InneRAID: ACS-75200 [1].
Look at this site for some reliable and reasonable priced RAID options. When your hardware guy trys to sell you a RAID 5 SCSI set up for $2,000 say what about this, its only $250?
RAID 5 is an excellent system for data security it is just a lot more than most dentists need, it is like using a semi truck to haul a six pack.

[1] http://www.accusys.com.tw/eng/products_inneraid_75200.asp

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Tags: Hardware · Security

IP Chicken

July 23rd, 2007 · No Comments

Do you need to know your IP address?
Just look here IP Chicken [1]
You may need your IP to set up a remote access or possibly for your local network. If you are asking: What’s an IP address? Here’s the definition from webopedia. [2]
An identifier for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network. Networks using the TCP/IP protocol route messages based on the IP address of the destination. The format of an IP address is a 32-bit numeric address written as four numbers separated by periods. Each number can be zero to 255. For example, 1.160.10.240 could be an IP address. Within an isolated network, you can assign IP addresses at random as long as each one is unique. However, connecting a private network to the Internet requires using registered IP addresses (called Internet addresses) to avoid duplicates.

[1] http://www.ipchicken.com/
[2] http://www.webopedia.com/

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Tags: Websites & Internet

MedicTalk DentForms Solutions

July 23rd, 2007 · No Comments

MedicTalk DentForms software is the most complete “paperless office” package on the market today. Seamlessly integrates with most patient management systems, such as Dentrix, EagleSoft, SoftDent, PracticeWorks, OpenDental, MOGO, and others.
Still filing away charts and printing numerous forms?Scanning takes too much time? Want to reduce your malpractice exposure?
DentForms is the missing link to the paperless office!Create reliable record keeping with digital signatures!Reduce supply cost and boost productivity!Easy to use, your staff will love the simplicity
MedicTalk DentForms Solutions [1].
I like this as an alternative to PT Dental which offers a similar product.

[1] http://medictalk.com/solutions.htm

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Tags: Administrative · Hardware

Dentrix and Vista

July 23rd, 2007 · No Comments

Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ and DENTRIX G2
As a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, the Henry Schein Practice Solutions (HSPS) team has been working closely with Microsoft to develop Vista-compatible versions of our practice management and add-on software products.Currently the Microsoft Windows XP Professional operating system is the preferred and recommended client platform for HSPS’s software applications. Although HSPS anticipates releasing Vista-compatible version of our software in the near future, you (our customer) need to know that upgrading or adding Windows Vista computers to your network requires a significant time investment on your part. This will help to ensure hardware, application and network compatibility and continuity with minimal disruption. Just as HSPS has had to, and will continue to modify its applications to work with (and take advantage of) Microsoft Vista as an application platform, many third-party vendors are also modifying their applications with various timelines for completion. Currently, many vendors who provide software applications, peripherals (printers and scanners), imaging software, camera and sensor drivers, and other devices, are not compatible with Microsoft Vista, and some may never be.
Dentrix Dental Systems [1].
This is currently on the Dentrix site. Another reason to wait on Vista. See the previous postings. As an aside I was talking to my local IT person this morning and I said (in jest) “The next time you are here I want you to install Vista on all my computers.” There was immediate laughter.

[1] http://www.dentrix.com/announcements/vista/vista.asp

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Tags: Just for Fun

Interesting

July 22nd, 2007 · No Comments

THE NEXT WINDOWS VERSION is now supposed to ship in 2010. Given the lousy experience people I know have had with Vista — including some very technically sophisticated people — I predict that XP will still be in wide use then.
Instapundit.com [1].

[1] http://www.instapundit.com/

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Tags: Just for Fun