One of the most common events in any dental practice is the new patient visit that begins with a clipboard of forms to complete. Perhaps your practice is progressive and has new patient forms that someone can download from your website, print at home, and bring with them (if they remember) to that initial visit . The common denominator is paper that needs to be either filed into the patient’s folder or scanned into the patient’s digital record.

The team at Ambir Technology has developed software called nForm that totally eliminates the need for paper. The forms are delivered electronically to a tablet (Apple or Android) and the new patient fills out the forms with a stylus exactly as they used to do with a pen. You can even pre-populate some fields on the electronic form to speed up the process. That will eliminate the need for the patient to repetitively provide name, address, and contact information across multiple forms. Once the forms are completed and signed, the patient clicks Submit on the tablet, and the forms are electronically and securely delivered back to the front desk.

The forms are stored in the same place on your server or in the patient’s electronic record as if they had been scanned. But instead, staff save so much time by not having to scan, and the office eliminates the cost of paper and the costs of disposal of sensitive material. You also score a big win for the high tech image your practice projects.

The cost of nForm is a minimal $299/year license fee. Here is a link to some frequently asked questions about nForm. I suggest that you join the next generation of digital document management. Visit the website or call Amanda Plummer at 630-352-3257.

A little over one year ago, I wrote about an innovative company called Weave. I thought an update would be appropriate because there have been many new positive changes.

The basics are still the same. Weave provides the phones to your office. $349/month buys you unlimited local and long-distance calling, as many lines as you want, as many messages as you want to record, and music on hold. No contract–you can simply return the hardware and cancel at any time. And there is still a 60 day money back guarantee for first time users. Here is what is new.

1. The telephones have been improved and are now the best you can buy anywhere – providing outstanding clarity and fidelity. These new telephones contain an internal 1 gig processor. So the phones do the processing and not the computer, which means you don’t drain the capacity of the office Internet speed.

2. You now have the opportunity–for training purposes–to record both inbound and outbound telephone calls.

3. Weave now provides call tracking for all missed telephone calls.

4. There is a new Weave mobile app. This allows the doctor to see the appointment schedule remotely from a cell phone.  It also allows you to communicate with your patient in a novel way. Even though you physically call from your personal cell phone, it looks to the patient that the call is coming from the phone number of the practice. The same application applies to texting.

5. In the last year, the company has grown from 60 employees to 125, with significant improvement in customer service and technical support.

We all know how challenging it is to get a patient to leave a review–even after they have promised. Demand Force, Patient Activator, Lighthouse 360 and Revenue Well all have programs to solicit reviews, but these are known as “third party reviews” that are hosted on a micro-site controlled by these companies. While these reviews are helpful, they are nowhere near as visible or carry as much weight as a “direct review”. Those are the reviews posted on places like Google, or Facebook or Yelp.

I am thus most excited about a new Weave service called the Review App. This is not included in the standard monthly fee. It costs an additional $100/month. Frankly–for the results it generates–I would pay four or five times that amount! After a patient leaves the office following treatment, they receive a text message asking if–based on their experience–they would feel comfortable referring a patient to the practice. If the answer is yes–and if they have a Gmail account–they are automatically taken to your Google Place Page where they are asked to leave a review. If they do not have a Gmail account, they are automatically linked to the Yelp or Facebook Page of the practice where they are again prompted to leave a review. The entire process is automated and very clever. And the results are fabulous.

Since today it is estimated that 70% of all reviews come from a mobile device, this new Weave app is particularly effective. To find out more about Weave, you can call Monroe McCoy at 801-636-6116.