3 Questions You Need to Ask Your Dental Practice Software Provider

When you're looking into new dental practice software or EHR, it can be daunting. There's a lot of reasons you may be looking: your current system went out of business, you're opening a new practice, you're sick of getting nickeled and dimed by your current system, you want something more comprehensive. Maybe you're ready to switch from a local, legacy system to something that is truly cloud-based. 

As you jump into the buying process, it's hard to even know where to start. There's a lot of information to sift through, sales reps to talk to, demos to take. And then committing is a big step. We want to get you started with a few questions to ask to help compare systems.

1. How many additional vendors will we need to make your system work?

Many, many platforms claim to be all-inclusive or all-in-one. But that's not actually the case. They rely on third-party vendors to complete the insurance claims, credit card processing, or even texting and other patient communication services. Sure, they act as the conduit for everything, but they rely on additional vendors to really make it "all-in-one". 

This usually means additional costs, additional logins to manage, and more to keep track of as you administrate the system. As you explore your options, it's important to get the full story and understand how the new platform fits into your workflow. Is it really as seamless as they want you to believe it is?

2. How much customer support can we expect? Are there additional set up fees, training costs, or other add-ons we should know about?

Depending on the system, there can be a lot of set up and training fees. If the platform is not cloud-based and you have to install a server locally, that can be an additional cost through the software provider or an outside contractor if you have to hire an IT specialist. So be sure to find out how that set-up works, how much it costs, and what you can expect.

Also, you'll want to ask about training and onboarding. What is the process? Does it cost money? What's a reasonable expectation for how long it will take? Will you have a representative to work with? And beyond learning to use the system, find out how they support their customers. From phone calls, to FAQ, video training and more—ask what kind of help you can expect.

3. Is the EHR platform truly cloud-based?

Many software services are advertising or claim to be cloud-based. Often this means pieces of the software are cloud-based, but not everything. Either you have to use a VPN to login to a specific terminal, store x-rays and other images or documents onsite, or some other hybrid of services. Can you login from literally anywhere with internet and use the software? If not, it's not fully cloud-based. 

This matters for a variety of reasons, the most important reason to have it all on the cloud is security. We have written a lot of posts about that, so find out why cloud dental software options are the safest.

Want to learn more? We'd love to show you how tab32 works and how we can answer all three of these questions? Sign up today for a demo.