Tech Checkup: Cloud Technology Redefining the Dental Industry
If you’ve been to a dentist recently, you’re probably already aware that the dental industry is experiencing some rapid changes in technology – instant xray imaging and intraoral cameras are but two of the most noticeable high-tech innovations you’re likely to notice. Those tech advances you see as a patient are just the tip of the iceberg of tech, leadership, and business trends driving the $129 billion industry.
Dominated by Baby Boomers who are now looking toward retirement (42 percent of current dentists are 55 and over), the future of the dental industry is now being shaped by Millennials. While their predecessors favored a private practice model that has only recently begun to give way the dental service organization (DSO) model, millennials have good reason to embrace the group practice model and run with it.
Entering the market under a huge student loan debt burden, millennial practitioners may gravitate to the DSO model because it doesn’t require the type of huge capital investment involved in starting a private practice. The group structure of a DSO also provides the flexibility that this generation demands along with the potential for revenue growth through practice expansion.
Millennial=Digital
Those millennials are the first generation to have been raised completely in a digital world. They’re immersed in it, have high expectations of what they can do with it, and demand the instant access they’ve always gotten from it. They’re also a more socially oriented generation, at least in terms of their tech, posting photos on social media and using social media to connect both personally and professionally.
So it’s no wonder that millennial dentists are pushing the DSO model into the next level of digital innovation: the complete cloud.
Going Completely Cloud
Because we were already entrenched in the dental industry, we were in a unique position to see that there was a gap between data and access. Dentists collect a wealth of patient care, billing, and other data at a single location; but actionable and easy access to all that data can still be problematic and expensive. This is a particular concern for DSOs and other multi-location groups.
To ensure patient care, enterprise performance, and full compliance with the ever-growing number of HIPA requirements (75 and counting), traditional technology solutions have proven costly and clunky, complicated by the myriad hardware and other issues that arise as practices merge into DSOs.
Enter the complete cloud, aka: how everyone already thinks businesses should work, but most don’t. Unlike a partial cloud app – which is how most people and businesses have first accessed the cloud – the complete cloud is an affordable, secure, and fully managed environment that allows the group practice to continue using the applications and processes they’re accustomed to while giving them access all patient records, scheduling, billing, and other data from any online device at any location.
The Complete Cloud at Work
What that means: In one “real world” case, a Pennsylvania dental group realized on a Sunday that, due to an epic snowstorm, its offices would have to stay closed on Monday. Because that group had transitioned to a complete cloud system, they were able to contact and reschedule the 60 patients scheduled for treatment that Monday. Staff did not have to travel in inclement weather to access those scheduling and patient records on-site, and patients’ safety and convenience were safeguarded.
Marketers always say that the best advertising is good word of mouth, and that has definitely been our experience. Our complete cloud solution became so popular among our dental clients, word spread and our company now offers the complete cloud to businesses in the industrial, distribution, legal, veterinarian, and other sectors.
While our boilerplate language talks about our “high-performing, streamlined environments that reduce capital expenditures and maintenance costs to remove barriers to business growth,” we think our complete cloud core solution is resonating across industries because it was developed from the simple passion to put our clients in the best position for success.
About the author
Jason Post is CEO and Founder of MBS Secure. A computer engineer and technology designer who has worked with IBM and Mercedes Benz, he has over 20 years of experience in medical, dental, and business technology innovation.
