Overview
One of the ongoing challenges for dental labs
has been deciphering hand-written prescriptions. Adding to this challenge have been incomplete
instructions from the dental offices.
The result: remakes, extra work,
less revenue, dissatisfaction.
Along the way labs have introduced and
encouraged a number of alternatives to the dental offices. Here for your consideration are some of the
possibilities for surmounting the scrawl.
RX with Checklists
Labs have developed formal checklists of
their services and products along with specialized preferences such as margins,
occlusion, pontic design to make it easy for the dentist to simply place a
checkmark wherever appropriate for the work order. In addition, these forms request entry of
other critical information such as the patient name, tooth number(s), shade,
requested date of return, special case instructions toward the goal of
recording complete information.
Some labs create a separate checklist for
each of their major departments such as crown and bridge, dentures,
implants. The forms are typically
issued to the dental offices in print or as PDF (Adobe Portable Data Format)
downloads from their website.
Labs have reported that these have been a
help, but still many are incomplete, the hand-written portions still difficult
to read and a significant number of the doctors choose not to use them.
Online Prescription Entry
The leaders in this industry
for online prescription entry have been Henry Schein’s DDX system and
Mainstreet’s DentalRx. Both provide secure
entry and lookup of case information, but their approaches have been
different.
DDX is web-hosted by Henry Schein and
requires use of its Dentrix practice management software by the dentist and use
of Labnet or other authorized case management software by the lab. The lab is charged a fee for each
prescription processed through the system.
The advantages of this system are
that the form is very similar to the traditional ones used for hand-written prescriptions
and that dentists already using Dentrix have an easy way to submit their
prescriptions.
DentalRx is also web-based
and is tied to use of Mainstreet’s DentaLab for QuickBooks case management
system that synchronizes with Intuit’s QuickBooks software for accounting and
financial management. Typically, the lab
includes a link from its website for authorized dental offices to submit their
prescriptions, electronic images or files, pickup requests, preferences and
other communications and then to lookup the status of cases. The lab also designates which of its
standard procedures are available to DentalRx so that the dental office simply
makes its selections for the case. This
system has the advantages that case entry into DentaLab for QuickBooks is
primarily completed by the dental office and can be prebooked into the schedule,
the website can include marketing and educational material and there are no
per-case charges.
Some of the newer
internet-based dental lab systems now also offer portals for the dental offices
to submit and/or lookup cases. The fee
structures and security levels for doing this vary by the vendor.
Labs have reported that when
they gain acceptance by the dental office, these approaches result in more
complete accurate prescriptions, but many of their dentists still prefer
sending a hand-written prescription with the case.
Phone/Email Follow-up
Another approach has been to
establish standards and then train lab staff members to recognize when
prescriptions are incomplete or unclear and to follow-up with the dental office
in an organized efficient way to achieve the clarity needed. Some of the steps in this process might be:
Place the case in an On-Hold status noting the reason until
confirmation is received.
Have staff add customer and/or case alerts to record what
is needed, the steps taken, the results.
Determine when a phone call
will suffice or when sending an email of the lab work ticket with details (on
the patient, shade, teeth, preferences, items, special instructions) is needed
so that the dental office can confirm or adjust.
Monitor the customer’s activity log to determine if
further measures are needed to encourage better submittals of work orders.
Be Aware – Software Can Help
Be aware that while software can not completely surmount
the issue of scrawled prescriptions or immediately change long-standing habits,
good use of it can certainly help.
If
you have further questions…
You can contact the support team at Mainstreet Systems
at:
Voice :
215-256-4535
Fax: 215-256-1594Skype: mainstreet-systems
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