SOE-zine
How to
tackle the
double dip
Call: 0845 6470247
Email: [email protected]
Visit: www.soeidental.com
Take a look at the future with
Brian Weatherly
Text messaging - One dentist's
personal experiences
Cardiff User Group review
What's on this month
Focus on... SMS replies
contents
welcome
Welcome to this month’s issue of SoE-zine. As we pause for breath
in what is an extremely busy time for us, we can look back on a
few highlights of our April activity and look forward to the coming
month with anticipation and enthusiasm.
03 Welcome from Greg Clay
04 Brian Weatherly gives us a glimpse into
his vision of the future
Pg 4
06 Your journey starts here - by Greg Clay
08 What’s on - Show news and dates for your diary
09 Fantastic Upgrade Offers
10 Text messaging - Miss it, miss an
appointment! - by David Nelson
12 SoE in the news
Pg 6
13 Henry Schein Minerva helps dentists Face
the Challenge
April is always a busy time for us when the month starts with
NHS practices rolling over their contracts, and this year we were
delighted with the way in which our internal support team dealt
with enquiries. One of our key measurements for success is our
ability to solve issues on the first phone call which helps reduce
customer frustration – I am pleased to say that on “rollover” day
our team solved 94% of issues on the first phone call. In fact of 857
calls answered on that one day alone, only 10 queries remained
unanswered, I consider this to be true testament to the knowledge
and expertise of our support team.
At the end of April we travelled to Manchester to the BDA where
Brian Weatherly, President of SoE, was delighted to be a speaker.
His seminar was extremely well-received and the dental forums
were alive with debate and praise in the days after, commenting on
Brian’s insight and delivery of some extremely thought-provoking
statistics.
As we look forward to the rest of May we anticipate a very busy
month with opportunities to meet customers at major exhibitions
and conferences. SoE representatives will be at Hampden Park for
the Scottish Dental Show (24th-25th May, Glasgow) and then visit
London for Dentistry Live (25th-26th May, London), where anyone
who missed Brian’s BDA presentation in Manchester will have
another opportunity to listen.
14 Local User Groups - Update from Cardiff event
15 Focus on... SMS Replies
Pg 10
We are excited by the sheer volume of new initiatives around SoE at
the moment, each designed with the needs of the dental practice
in mind and we look forward to every opportunity to showcase
these to new and existing customers.
Visit us at
Dentistry Live
& the Scottish
Dental Show!
Click here for details
Greg Clay
Pg 14
2
www.soeidental.com
Sales & Marketing Director, Software of Excellence
www.soeidental.com
3
and in answer to the demands of
the market we are also improving
the workflow and medical history
functions of the software and will
have an ability to utilise digital
signatures, once the dispute
as to whether these are legally
acceptable has been resolved.
Brian Weatherly gives us a glimpse
into his vision for the future
As a business solutions provider Software of Excellence is building a reputation for listening to customers’
needs and wants. Our work with both the THRIVE programme and the Best Practice Check Up has given
us a unique insight into the thoughts, aspirations and performance of UK dental practices. Here, Brian
Weatherly gives us a glimpse into his vision for the future.
“The difference between what our
customers need and what they
want, or think they want, is subtle
but crucial. We consider that a
significant part of our job now is
to study practice performance,
analyse how it can be improved,
and then develop the highly
automated business solutions
required to help practices become
more efficient and productive.
If we try to predict what the
dental market will look like
in the future we can point to
increasing “corporatisation”,
by this I mean the growth in
group practices who integrate
and rely on the implementation
of processes and systems to
control their business operations.
4
We also foresee an increasing
reliance on automation within
dental practice management as
practices become increasingly
familiar with technology and its
application. There is no doubt that
software is changing the way in
which practices interact with their
of a practice as a kind of jigsaw,
where disparate pieces can
be brought together within
an EXACT™ “wrapper”. In our
continuing development of
EXACT™ we will retain all the
clinical elements for which we
are well-known; Quick Charts,
“My view on dentistry is that as an essential aspect
of overall healthcare there will always be a need
for dentists. I am optimistic about the future and I
believe that SoE can be a major influencer on the
future of the profession.”
patients and dentists are beginning improved x-ray viewing and
to understand the need to evolve
utilisation, seamless integration
their communication techniques to and less of a need to individually
meet changing market needs.
configure the software. But we are
We consider the business elements
also listening to user feedback
www.soeidental.com
We have learned some insightful
and perceptive information from
the THRIVE programme, for
example, we now understand that
it is sometimes difficult to get team
members to change behaviour;
businesses often run as well as
they need to rather than as well as
they can. Incorporating a system’s
approach is highly beneficial on
every level; if a dentist wants to
retire and appoint an Associate
and realise the full value of their
investment the practice must
operate in a certain way. If a
Principal is not always “on site”
the practice needs to have the
operational systems that facilitate
the consistent management of the
practice. This is where automation
and processes become hugely
important and add considerable
value to a practice. If the systems
within a practice are good enough
it can continue to operate and
earn a good reputation despite
the absence of the Principal. We
believe we can help practices
achieve this goal and operate in
the most efficient way possible.
My view on dentistry is that as
an essential aspect of overall
healthcare there will always be a
need for dentists. I am optimistic
about the future and I believe that
SoE can be a major influencer on
the future of the profession. There
is no doubt that we are facing
difficult times however for those
who survive and thrive I believe we
www.soeidental.com
will be stronger as a profession.
For Software of Excellence
“There is no doubt that
to deliver everything
software is changing the way
required by the business
in which practices interact with
side of dentistry is a
their patients and dentists
significant challenge. Part
are beginning to understand
of our understanding of
the need to evolve their
how the dental landscape
communication techniques to
is changing is through the
meet changing market needs.”
rise of “corporates” – these
practice groups have their
heritage in retail and although
for some do not necessarily
regard this as a change for the
better, their desire to carry out
procedures in a certain way and
follow defined processes is a
application. Our products work –
valuable lesson from which most
of that there’s no question – our
practices can learn.
challenge is to motivate the dentist
and the team to integrate the
Some practices are currently not
technology into the practice and
succeeding because they are
unaware of new techniques, or are apply it for the greater good.”
resistant to trying them. My view
is that we cannot let this deter us
from developing and refining our
ideas. We want to help practices
deploy technology in whatever
way helps them most.
Today we are ready to offer some
of the individual components
that we believe will help make
practices more efficient. This
autumn all these elements will be
incorporated into an attractive
package; EXACT™ V11 which we
intend to launch with a sustained
campaign driving towards 2013
(see page 8 for more details on
Version 11).
Brian Weatherly
President,
Software of Excellence
I believe Software of Excellence
has a real competitive advantage
in the market and we are now
living by the mantra of “What
value can we add for the patient?”
We are winning practices because
our offering is not just about
“technology” anymore, it is about
Click
here to
unlock
your
practice’s
potential
To take control of your
future why not take a Best
Practice Check Up and find
out where your business
could improve performance
5
Your journey
starts here...
In forthcoming issues Sales and
Marketing Director Greg Clay, will
give an insight into some of the
strategies principals and practice
managers can employ in order to
build a more successful practice.
In this his first article, he broaches
the subject of how to get credible,
accurate knowledge about your
business.
Marketing can often seem like a
complicated, complex discipline
particularly if you’ve ever tackled
one of the many weighty volumes
dedicated to the subject. But the
fact is that we are all consumers in
one way or another and live in an
environment where “the brand is
king”, so in some small way we can
all claim to know at least something
about what marketing is.
3 Key Questions
Developing a marketing and
communication plan for your
practice does not in the first
instance require finance to any
great degree, what it does require
is time and objectivity. No-one
can develop a strategy for any
type of business whilst wearing
rose-tinted spectacles; if you
6
“Establishing where you
are needs to be done by
analysing defined Key
Performance Indicators
(KPIs) for your business
such as recall effectiveness,
chairtime utilisation and
top ten treatments by
value, to name but a few.”
believe that everything about your
practice is the very best it can be,
congratulations now is the time
to retire! If however you are one
of those many people who have
a desire to improve your practice
for the benefit of your patients,
your staff and above all yourself,
then you have at least the right
motivation to succeed, what you
now need is some guidance to help
you through the process.
the trees, and objective decision
making and realistic planning can
undoubtedly be helped by your
ability to obtain sound, accurate
business information.
If we go back to basics, I believe
marketing, in its simplest form is
essentially about 3 key questions,
- Where are you? Where do you
want be? and How are you going to
get there? And it logically follows
that to answer the 2nd and 3rd
questions you first have to establish
exactly where your business is at a
particular moment in time.
Meeting Practice Needs
It was in an attempt to meet
exactly some of these needs
that prompted us to launch the
Best Practice Check Up
www.soebestpractice.co.uk – an
online questionnaire that tackles
some of the fundamental business
questions faced by dentists today.
The results from this survey, which
has been running since January,
are now providing us with key
information about the overall
performance of UK dentistry
and enabling us to benchmark
individual practices.
What may surprise you, is that you
almost certainly already have the
means to answer at least some of
this question not least because it
is all about your business, and who
knows your business better than
you? But the reality is that as with
most owner occupiers, sometimes
it is difficult to see the wood for
The acquisition of quantitative
data that will help you understand
the current position of your
practice is invaluable in helping
you think about your business
and helps to substantiate aims
and objectives and gives definite
criteria by which to measure
success.
www.soeidental.com
Establishing where you are needs
to be done by analysing defined
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
for your business such as recall
effectiveness, chairtime utilisation,
top ten treatments by value, to
name but a few, and the ability
to obtain accurate information in
these key areas gives you the scope
to understand where inefficiencies
exist and how you can best improve
productivity and performance.
Fundamental Factors
For instance, recall success is one of
the fundamental factors in running
a successful practice and having
up-to-date statistics on recall
effectiveness not only allows you to
appreciate the viability of various
recall methods, but also helps you
to understand the “knock-on”
effect of a reduction or increase in
recall uptake. The timing of recalls
also has a significant impact on
the level of appointments for the
following month and knowledge
in this area helps you to accurately
forecast purchases, staff rotas and
holidays and plan ad hoc events
such as team training.
The amount of time each chair in
the practice is in use is another
key productivity indicator and
the analysis of data can help you
understand trends and predict
slow down with a greater degree
of accuracy, which in turn enables
more accurate planning. If chairside
time is under-utilised, there is
usually a good reason, accurate
business data will let you identify
where shortfalls exist and develop
strategies to help fill gaps in your
appointment book.
Establishing where your practice
is gives you the ability to plan
for the future, knowing how and
whether to expand the practice in
www.soeidental.com
key treatment areas, understanding
what level of capacity the practice
needs to function at in order
to be profitable and ultimately
can provide you with the
information you need to be able
evolving process; it changes as
economic conditions change,
it alters with the advent of new
technology and needs to be
flexible enough to cope with
differing patient demands. Being
“The power of business knowledge should
never be underestimated, it is the foundation
on which successful planning is built.”
to modify elements of your day
to day operations that can have a
significant impact on turnover and
gross income.
Business Knowledge
Most practice management
systems can provide you with a
certain level of information that will
help you embark on this marketing
journey, but at Software of
Excellence, we understand that this
process can be difficult to achieve
on your own. Our recognition of the
value of robust, accurate business
information has led us to take
the process one step further. The
development of THRIVE was aimed
at helping practices understand
where they are in relation to a
defined set of KPIs. Our THRIVE
consultants then work with
principals and practice managers
to interrogate the data inside
EXACT™ in order to understand
the practice’s current position,
facilitating realistic goal setting,
which, when supported by regular
monitoring, provides a complete
business programme.
The power of business knowledge
should never be underestimated,
it is the foundation on which
successful planning is built. The
more accurate the information
you can take from your business,
the more targeted your planning
will be. Marketing is a constantly
able to access updated business
information quickly, easily and on
a regular basis gives you the tools
to take firm control of your practice
and your future.
Greg Clay
Sales & Marketing Director,
Software of Excellence
Click here to find out more
about the products
and services offered by
Software of Excellence
To find out where your
practice is now why not take
a Best Practice Check Up
Click
here to
unlock
your
practice’s
potential
7
what’s on...
Fantastic Upgrade Offers!
Upgrade from EXACT™ Front Desk or EXACT™ Evolution to EXACT™
Professional and benefit from additional functionality to increase your
capacity to do more dentistry and drive more patients into your practice.
Scottish Dental Show
Hampden Park, Glasgow, May 24th-25th
The Scottish Dental Show provides the perfect opportunity for our Scottish customers to talk
face-to-face with our team and take advantage of some fantastic show offers. Visit us at Stand L23!
• Quick charting
• Configurable service list
Dentistry Live
QEII Conference Centre, London Westminster, May 25th -26th
• Recall Manager – banish ‘white space’ from your appointment book
See SoE on Stand 89 at the exhibition and take up the opportunity to hear Brian Weatherly
talk more about the key success factors that contribute to practice profitability.
• Invoiced work by dentist
Following his appearance as a speaker at the BDA Conference, SoE President Brian Weatherly presents:
• Configurable medical history questionnaire
• SMS and email reminders - reduce FTAs and increase recall efficiency
• Custom screens
• Presentation Manager – increase treatment plan acceptance
‘Practice Productivity, Profitability and Performance; using
management data to enhance you practice‘
• Multi-column appointment book (inc. activity tabs)
This seminar will open the eyes of principals and practice managers to the true potential
of their business. Using “live” data collated over the past 2 years from practices on our
THRIVE programme, these results provide a thought-provoking insight into how practice
management data can be positively applied to a variety of elements in order to increase
internal efficiency and attract, retain and treat more patients.
FRONT DESK USERS:
UPGRADE NOW for only
£500 per licence!
• Access to THRIVE Business Services – average turnover growth of £100,000
EVOlution USERS:
UPGRADE NOW for only
£350 per licence!
PLUS one day of FREE training in EXACT™ Pro AND Get a FREE
practice check-up 6 months after your upgrade!
A review of Brian's BDA presentation will be available in the next
issue of SOE-zine
MINIMUM 20%
Coming Soon in EXACT™
Version 11
off Digital Imaging
Our specialist Digital Imaging team
will show you the benefits of tight
integration between EXACT™,
EXAMINE Pro and your chosen
X-Ray hardware.
We have learned some insightful and perceptive information from
the THRIVE programme and will be incorporating an increased level
of automation into our new Version of EXACT™:
•Recall Manager: automates processes and
captures more information. This new functionality
will dramatically increase practice efficiency.
•Utilistation Manager: is designed to make best
use of all available surgery time and configures the
software to automate the use of short notice lists.
•Online booking: over 1000 patients have now
booked appointments online using our new
module. Fully integrated in EXACT™, online
booking will be further automated to attract more
patients to your practice.
•Text Message Replies: Configure EXACT™ to log
and confirm appointments and file text replies in
the patient’s record.
•Workflow Manager: focuses on the management
of in-bound and out-bound workflow processes.
Automatic prompts to reception staff make it easy
to follow clinician’s instructions.
8
Look out for news about our National User
Groups in September – dates and locations to
be confirmed. To register your interest email:
[email protected]
www.soeidental.com
25% off EXACT™
with interest-free finance!
The UK’s leading practice
management software
£500 off guru
Helping to increase
treatment plan acceptance
by over 27%
Don't miss out on these great show offers!
Visit us at the Scottish Dental Show & Dentistry Live!
www.soeidental.com
9
we arrange for an automated
text message to go out to
patients as a reminder at a predetermined date and time.
Additionally, the system allows
us to view who hasn’t received
the message, prompting us to
use another method to contact
them. Strategically we can
assess the percentage of failed
appointments and analyse the
most successful methods of
patient communication.
By David Nelson Clinical Director Cranmore, Belfast
• Struggle through your patient
database making telephone
calls to try and fill the
appointment?
•
Send a late cancellation fee to
the patient and either lose the
chair-time or hope for a lastminute booking?
• Send a quick text message to
your short notice “list” to try
and fill the appointment?
•
10
Or it may be the case that you
hardly ever get any FTAs,
because like me you use a
text messaging service to
remind patients of their
appointment in advance so
that if necessary they can
reschedule with a reasonable
amount of notice!
Technology has progressed
immensely in recent years.
According to Ofcom, nine out of
ten people own a mobile phone
(91% in 2011) whilst one in seven
households are now mobile-only.
Whenever patients attend and
complete their medical history
form we ask for a contact mobile
number and give them the
option to receive reminders and
recalls by text, email or letter.
"Text messaging is a significantly
cheaper option than either letters or
phone calls.
For today’s dental practices this
means only one thing – patients
are now more contactable than
ever before. In fact, it would
seem the latest trend is to text
instead of talk, it’s quicker,
cheaper and a more effective
way for dental practices to send
recalls, appointment reminders
and other practice information.
The majority of patients opt for a
text messaging service and this
has become our main method
of patient communication.
Converting to digital and
working in a paperless practice
not only ensures we promote
our environmental credentials
but also has a dramatic impact
on costs - text messaging is a
www.soeidental.com
A, B, C or D?
Text messages are invaluable to
today’s modern dental practices,
revolutionising recall and
reminder processes by helping
ease the burden of what used
to be a laborious and timeconsuming task. So next time
when someone asks what you
"Text messages are invaluable to today’s
modern dental practices, revolutionising
recall and reminder processes."
Text messaging - Miss it,
miss an appointment!
Imagine the scenario; a patient
cancels 2 hours before their
appointment. Do you:
within EXACT™ we can quickly
communicate between ourselves
without leaving the chairside.
significantly cheaper option than
either letters or phone calls.
Let’s be honest, without a
reminder some patients simply
forget about their appointments,
so we send out text reminders
48 hours before the patient’s
appointment. This gives
them opportunity to cancel or
reschedule if necessary, saving
us time and fees when compared
with last-minute cancellations.
The result has been a remarkable
reduction in FTA rates something which all practices can
benefit from, especially in these
difficult economic times!
Sending text messages to
thousands of patients is easy;
don’t be fooled into thinking you
have to type and send them out
individually. With our dedicated
practice management system
www.soeidental.com
Improved Customer Service
Combining text messaging with
the reporting element of our
practice management system
has enabled my welcome team
to communicate with patients
digitally and consequently work
more efficiently. Their time is
now used much more effectively;
they are no longer too busy
answering or making telephone
calls all day. When a patient
walks through the door there is
always a member of the team
readily available to help them
with their queries. It’s this level
of service we believe that
sets us apart and ensures
our patients remain loyal
to the practice.
Internal communication
at our practice has
adopted a more “texttalk” approach too.
As a 3-level, 6-surgery
practice, communication
can be difficult, but using
the Instant Messaging feature
would do if a patient cancels
two hours before their dental
appointment make sure you reply
with answers ‘C’ or ‘D’! People
are contacted by text messages
everywhere now; the gym, the
hairdressers and even their local
garage, so it’s only natural that
dental practices gives them the
odd gentle reminder too!
*Ofcom (2011). A nation addicted to smartphones.
Retrieved February 9, 2012, from http://media.ofcom.org.
uk/2011/08/04/a-nation-addicted-to-smartphones/
TEXT MESSAGING
TOP TIP!
Why not add a personal
touch to text messaging and
use them to wish patients
‘Happy Birthday’ or as a
‘pre-medication reminder’?
Remember it’s the little
things that count.
11
Sales and Marketing Director Greg
Clay presented the Awards in the
category of Dentist of the Year:
“We are delighted to support the
Dental Awards and to have so many
of the winners using EXACT™,
particularly in these most relevant of
categories, demonstrates just what
an impact this software solution is
having on the efficient operation of
these practices.”
Geneva triumph raises
funds for Dentaid
for the past 10 years and has been
considering the step up to the full
26 miles for a few years now.
Brian planned a full training
regime which saw him cover an
astounding 1000 miles of training
in the 6 months leading up to
12
President of Software of
Excellence, Brian Weatherly,
has set a high standard for his
colleagues to meet and raised
over £1400 for Dentaid by running
his first ever full marathon on
Sunday 6th May in Geneva.
the race. He also mapped out a
Brian, who is a keen runner has
been competing in half marathons
course in a very creditable 3 hours
pacing plan for the race itself and
was delighted that his plan worked
to perfection, enabling him to run
the 2nd 13 miles 1 minute quicker
than he completed the first half
of the race, finishing the whole
Brian was particularly motivated to
beat a time of 3 hours 40 minutes,
as coming in under this time
earned some additional money
for his chosen charity, thanks to
a pre-race agreement with SoE’s
Sales Manager Ben Flewett who
agreed to donate an extra £100 if
this milestone was beaten.
Brian has hung up his running
shoes for a short period but will
certainly be back for another
marathon at some stage, however
as yet he has no firm plans as to
when or where this might take
place.
ble CPD V
ifia
er
ble CPD V
ifia
er
Click
here to
unlock
your
practice’s
potential
The winners were announced at a
lavish dinner held in London at the
end of April and EXACT™ winners
included Practice Manager of the
Year, Debbie Hutchinson, from The
Crescent Specialist Dental Centre,
and both Dentist of the Year North,
Michael Gow of The Berkeley
Clinic, Glasgow and Dentist of the
Year South Zaki Kanaan who is
Principal at K2 Dental in London.
ble CPD V
ifia
er
Don't forget to take our
Best Practice Check Up!
We are delighted
to report that 8
category winners
at the recent Dental Awards 2012
are EXACT™ users.
Face the
Challenge
ble CPD V
ifia
er
SoE
news
in
the
Henry Schein Minerva
helps dentists
Software of
Excellence
support Dental
Awards Winners
Henry Schein Minerva has
joined forces with some of its
leading manufacturing partners
to bring an exciting, thoughtprovoking and practical event to
dentists and DCPs.
The event; “Face The Challenge
2012: Dental Innovations”,
consists of 7 hours verifiable
CPD including 2 hours covering
the CORE subject of infection
control and will take place on
6th July at the Hilton, Newcastle
Gateshead. At a cost of just
£50 per place for dentists and
£35 for DCPs this full day event
offers something valuable for
every member of the dental
team.
With an impressive blend
of practical, business and
clinical presentations, Henry
Schein Minerva has brought
together an array of leading
dental speakers and combined
this with a chance to visit an
extensive exhibition offering the
chance to see many of the latest
equipment and technology
innovations in dentistry today.
The highly influential James
Goolnik is the event’s keynote
speaker and as a practicing
dentist he holds a practical,
realistic view on how practices
can meet the challenge of
recession by developing a vision
for the future. James will be
followed by Brian Weatherly,
President of Software of
Excellence, who will provide
some insightful illustrations as to
how practices can analyse and
monitor current performance
and offers practical solutions
for implementing strategies to
improve business systems.
Other speakers include Dr Rob
Muirhead who explores the
role of technology in practice
and Laura Horton who explains
why she believes 90% of non-
clinical dentistry should be
removed from the dentist,
thereby providing a higher level
of customer service. As a core
CPD subject infection control is
always a vital topic for practices
and 2 distinct presentations will
deliver important and highly
relevant information to all
members of the practice team.
Places can be reserved for
Face The Challenge 2012 by
contacting Sue O’Rourke Tel:
029 2044 2818 or you can email
Sue here. Book before 31st
May 2012 and every dentist
reservation will receive a DCP
place FREE OF CHARGE. In
addition every attendee will
receive a FREE copy of James
Goolnik’s best-selling book;
BRUSH.
35 minutes and 56 seconds.
www.soeidental.com
www.soeidental.com
13
Cardiff User Group brings
EXACT™ users up-to-date
“Patients’ needs are continuously
changing and consequently we have
to keep up with what’s new and see
which facilities can help develop the
practice. Attending the LUG events
helps us keep up-to-date with the
latest innovations within the
EXACT™ system.”
focus SMS Replies
on...
Many practices are already discovering the benefits of text
messaging as part of their recall and appointment reminder
processes. Now SMS Replies are taking these processes a stage
further allowing patients to respond to text recalls and appointment
reminders sent from the practice. The new functionality built into
the SMS Replies module enables efficient management of text
communications giving managers the benefit of having immediate
updates on patients’ attendance.
Goodwin Partnership,
The Dental Surgery.
Over 30 practices were represented
at Software of Excellence’s Cardiff
Local User Group (LUG), held at
Henry Schein Minerva’s Education
Centre in Cardiff at the beginning
of May. Free-to-attend, LUG events
provide EXACT™ users with an
update of new software features
and the opportunity to discuss
developments with other users.
“What’s New with EXACT™” –
Faith Griffin, Senior Business Analyst
Faith referenced SoE’s recent market
research which identified some of
the “biggest issues” practices are
currently facing;
1. Bureaucracy and regulation (16%)
2. Attracting patients (16%)
3. Retaining patients (9%)
Helping overcome these concerns,
Faith introduced the latest updates in
EXACT™ version 10.16 which features
new “Quick Charting”, giving users
quick access to the services they
chart and base chart most often.
A “hover” menu is populated with
the services used which can be
customised or refreshed from the
“most used” list. This feature was
well received by the audience as they
understood that this development
would simplify and integrate the
actions of observation and treatment
planning in practice.
Faith demonstrated how users
can now manage “Appointment
Bookings” more easily, incorporating
a system whereby the appointment
is initiated by the dentist or
hygienist from the surgery leaving
the reception desk to complete
the process via a simple “drag and
drop” feature. This professional
recommendation for suggested
appointment intervals is an important
factor in encouraging patients to
re-attend. An automatic reminder
generated by the software reminds
receptionists to gather patients’
email and mobile details if these
fields in the patient record are empty.
Highlighting the importance of
collating such contact details, Faith
introduced the new “SMS replies”
feature, allowing patients to reply via
text to a recall sent by the practice.
Recession busting tools –
Richard Lee
Richard introduced users to the ‘Best
Practice Check Up’ an online survey
that identifies some of the key issues
practices should be focusing on in
their business. For those interested
in implementing benchmarks to
enhance practice performance in
areas such as FTA rates and recalls,
Richard introduced THRIVE, a
programme which has provided over
250 practices with strategies and
practical advice on how to perform
more effectively.
Bernard ended the evening with a
Q&A session and some useful “Hints
& Tips” for users to take away and
implement in practice.
Offering relevant and practical
advice the event, the Cardiff LUG
was a fantastic opportunity for users
to find out more about EXACT™’s
new features, network with likeminded professionals and meet with
members of the sales and support
team at SoE.
The next scheduled LUG is in London on 20th June 2012. To register please contact Natalie on
0845 345 5767 or email [email protected]. If you would like SoE to arrange a Local
User Group meeting in your area please email [email protected]
14
www.soeidental.com
• SMS replies from mobile numbers are recorded in EXACT™ and
can be filed in the patient’s record
• Replies are managed from a single screen using simple actions
such as ‘Confirm Appointment’ and ‘Cancel Appointment’
• In-bound information is colour coded making it easier to identify
and manage
Get a personalised treatment plan for
your practice!
"Best Practice Check Up” is a unique, easy and complimentary new
service that analyses performance using individual practice data. The
report created from the “Best Practice Check Up” identifies where
opportunities exist, enabling our business consultants to suggest
innovative ways to maximise your competitive advantage.
Click
here to
unlock
your
practice’s
potential
Review of Brian Weatherly's presentation given at BDA & Dentistry Live
next issue:
Hitting your
inbox in June
Greg Clay offers advice on how to attract new patients
EXACT™ Version 11 - Launch plan and National User Groups
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