As the saying goes, “what gets measured gets done” --  in order to grow your dental practice, you need to know what metrics to track, so you can focus your resources on doing what will make the business more profitable.

What cell phone are you using now? While there may be a few of us clinging to the simplicity of flip phones, most have moved on from that dated technology. Are you using the flip phone of dental office software?

Are you planning to purchase a dental practice management software to oversee the day-to-day operations of your practice? With the high number of vendors available out there, it can be a difficult decision to choose the best software that ensures the success of your practice.

Therefore, you need to do sufficient background checks and select the right dental management software for your use.

Here are four key questions you should ask the dental management software vendors and avoid making mistakes during your purchase.

1. Which features do the software come with?

The extent of features in a dental practice management software will determine the efficiency and productivity of your dental practice. Therefore, you need to know the features that the software offers and how to integrate them into your practice effortlessly.

Some of the features include appointment scheduling, treatment plans, patients’ records storage and reporting, and contact databases. Furthermore, the dental management software should be flexible and easy to use. If you go for a software that comes with unnecessary complexities, it may impair the productivity of your practice.

2. Does the software offer security and data protection?

Your super-efficiency and hard work as a dental practitioner and office manager have helped you scale your practice. You are opening up your practice at a second location (or multiple locations). Congratulations! With the new location, don’t think your work will get easier. In fact, your work has become even harder.

There’s a lot to juggle when you’re running a dental practice. Not only do you have to deliver the best-in-class patient experience but also manage a multitude of administrative tasks to ensure that your practice is run cost-efficiently.

The dental industry is rapidly adopting new technologies to optimize operations, increase efficiencies, and enhance outputs. Notably, with the emergence of computers, most dentists have abandoned the traditional methods, such as storing records on paper,  and adopted practice management software to run their businesses.

From hardware failures to Trojan viruses to natural disasters, there are countless ways your confidential patient data can be put at risk. With cyber crime and identity theft on the rise, it has never been more important to ensure your practice’s data is safe and secure.

What's the most important KPI for your dental practice? What are the numbers and figures you should be tracking to grow your practice and your bottom line? Let's be honest, you didn't get into dentistry to give all that hard work away for free. You're here to build a business, create jobs, and give back to the community. You can't do those things if your business isn't succeeding. At tab32, we've created a dashboard to help you track your KPIs from anywhere you are. Let's take a look:

Have you seen a fake iPhone? Imitation iPhones look real until you use it and find its function is nowhere near a real iPhone. 

Why bring this up? Over the years, many legacy dental practice management vendors have started hosting their existing antiquated software using legacy products like Citrix, and tricking customers that they are receiving a "cloud solution". Like the fake iPhone, these antiquated cloud-hosted practice management systems fall short in user experience and accessibility compared to true cloud based systems.

Running your practice is no different. You need the right tools (and people) to ensure each task is completed efficiently. When you have the right tools at your disposal, your practice is productive and profitable.