Posted: February 6th, 2017 | Author: Jodi | Filed under: Basics, Dental | Tags: ADSO, American Dental Association, Association of Dental Support Organizations, Care Coordination, Controlled Substances, Dental, Dental e-Prescribing, Dental Group Practice, Dental Industry, dental practice management, Dental Support Organizations, DSO, DSOs, electronic prescribing, EPCS, health IT, Healthcare Delivery Model, Healthcare Software, healthIT, Opioid Epidemic, Oral Health, Patient Engagement, Practice Management Software, State Mandates, Value Based Care | No Comments »
The significant role of oral health and its contribution to an individual’s well-being has come under scrutiny as of late. In 2014, it was estimated that more than 181 million Americans would not visit a dentist because of several barriers to care, or a self-diagnosis of “my mouth is healthy – I do not need to visit the dentist.†Other reasons noted by individuals not seeing their dentist on a consistent basis were: cost or no insurance, limited dental access in their area or lack of transportation, or they simply did not have the time.
With this data in tow, a more efficient and readily available business model has become increasingly popular within dentistry: Dental Support Organizations.
What is a DSO?
According to the Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO), Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) contract with dental practices to provide critical business management and support, including non-clinical operations, and range from small to large size organizations serving dental practices throughout the country.
The business models of DSOs do differ and while the neighborhood family dentist typically treats the general patient population, dental practices supported by DSOs often focus on specific populations. For example, some DSOs are entirely focused on meeting the needs of pediatric patients, while others are focused on more rural populations. This is not to say that DSOs do not serve the general population, as many still do.
The Patient Experience
The true patient benefit of a DSO model lies in the integrated technologies and streamlined processes. DSOs offer patients many time saving benefits including:
- Online appointment booking systems
- Online bill pay
- Flat rate appointments
- Flexibility to visit dentists between multiple offices
- Electronic prescription routing
Dental Infographic by Dental Care Alliance
The Role of Technology Within DSOs
DSOs are at the forefront of technology, both from a clinical and administrative standpoint. They pride themselves on remaining innovative, not only to better treat their patients, but to also have a competitive advantage and to attract and maintain new dentists. From billing software to detailed patient charting to specific treatment mechanisms, technology is embedded in nearly every workflow.
While many DSOs have thrown out their dentists’ paper prescription pads and have adopted electronic prescribing (e-Prescribing) software, there is still plenty of room to grow. e-Prescribing software provides dentists with the ability to send non-controlled and controlled prescriptions electronically directly to the patient’s pharmacy which adds convenience to the patient’s experience.
In addition to the prescription writing feature, e-Prescribing includes high value functionality for the dentist, patient and management teams such as:
- Insight into a patient’s current medication regimen.
- Ability to check for drug-to-drug and drug-to-allergy interactions at the point of care to help improve treatment decisions.
- Reporting capabilities that share what is prescribed and in what quantities to assess for in regards to compliance. This is especially crucial with the current opioid epidemic and having the ability to track prescriptions for controlled substances.
- Documentation for both the dentist and the patient including dental specific dosing information, as well as medication monographs.
What’s Ahead for DSOs
DSOs are continuing to shake up the dental industry. New DSOs continue to emerge, while existing ones are frequently acquiring new dental practices, therefore expanding and continuing to growing throughout the country. As previously discussed, cost and limited access to care were the most popular barriers, but DSOs offer streamlined solutions for both barriers as they are committed to the improvement of oral health in the United States through the accessibility of high-quality dental care. It is only a matter of time before more and more dentists hop on board.
Sources: American Dental Association; Association of Dental Support Organizations (ADSO); ADSO Whitepaper; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dental Care Alliance
About DoseSpot
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.
Posted: January 27th, 2017 | Author: DoseSpot | Filed under: Basics, Dental | Tags: Dental, Dental e-Prescribing, Dental Software Companies, Dental Support Organizations, DSOs, e-Prescribing, e-Prescribing Benefits, e-Prescribing Integration, e-Prescribing of Controlled Substances, e-Prescribing Software, e-Prescribing Solution, e-Prescribing Value, Electronic Dental Record, electronic prescribing, EPCS, Practice Management, Practice Management Software, Value Based Care | No Comments »
The role of oral health and its contribution to the population’s overall health, as well as the nation’s bottom line, has been in frequent discussions lately. With advocated access to dental care by a number of entities, governments and foundations, patients now understand that visiting their dentist is much more than receiving that fresh, clean feeling. It’s improving their quality of life.
However, with the ever increasing numbers of dentists and patients, along with Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) gaining significant prominence in the industry, the practice of dentistry is becoming more and more competitive. Patients now have more options to choose from when selecting their dentist and several factors weigh on their decision.
To align with this market shift, what is one component that the dental community can implement with ease to enhance their competitive advantage and attract and retain more patients? Or better yet, increase patient satisfaction, efficiency, and revenue, while simultaneously decreasing risks for dentists?
The solution: e-Prescribing.
Electronic Prescribing, known in short as e-Prescribing, has become a pertinent technology within dental practices that addresses the above conflicting goals. By incorporating e-Prescribing into the dental workflow at the point of patient engagement, several inherent efficiencies are presented:
1. Medication History
During a patient and dentist encounter, e-Prescribing enables dentists to verify a patient’s medication history and view up to two years of prescribed medications. This level of transparency allows for smarter treatment decisions and recognition of a patient who may be “doctor shopping” for controlled substances.
2. Safety
From a safety perspective, any drug-allergy or drug-drug interactions are flagged instantaneously while the clinical judgement of the dentist is still maintained if he/she elects to prescribe the medication. Dental-specific information such as a medication’s particular dental use, effects on dental treatment, and effects on bleeding are all seamlessly provided at point of care as well.
3. Productivity
With e-Prescribing, the totality of time to write a prescription for the patient is reduced from the traditional manual paper method, resulting in more time for direct interaction with the patient. The intrinsic productivity of e-Prescribing and its resulting patient interaction time may lead to incremental revenue as the opportunity is presented to discuss other dental issues and procedures.
4. Quality
Assessing e-Prescribing from a quality perspective, patient outcomes are significantly more accurate, consistent with quality initiates practiced in industry. It is getting it right the first time. As healthcare in general shifts to more measured and predictable patient outcomes, e-Prescribing goes a long way in addressing this new dynamic as it assists in providing a full panoramic view of a patient’s health.
5. Risk Reduction
Another benefit of e-Prescribing is risk reduction, especially when it comes to prescribing controlled substances. When controlled substances are electronically prescribed, the patient cannot lose the prescription or alter the dispense quantity or the medication itself. The prescription will be sent directly to the pharmacy with no chance of intermediaries touching it. In turn, this also banishes the need for paper prescription pads, thus eliminating the risk and liability involved with stolen prescription pads.
6. Patient Satisfaction
Perhaps the most significant aspect of the e-Prescribing equation is the increase in patient satisfaction. The extra time spent on dropping off and waiting for a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy is essentially eliminated as e-Prescribing diminishes the middle man and creates a seamless transaction for the patient.
7. Profitability
Due to improved efficiencies and increased patient satisfaction with e-Prescribing, a snowball effect is created relative to rising revenue. Not only will an increase in patient volume and retention occur, but administrative duties for office staff will lessen. Thanks to the more cost-effective vehicle of e-Prescribing, there will be no staff time required to manage the ordering and stocking of costly paper prescription pads and tamper-proof printing paper for controlled substances.
Overall, e-Prescribing is one tool in the dentist’s arsenal to meet the challenges of practicing dentistry today, which will allow for a more patient-centric strategy to be implemented, resulting in happier patients and dentists!
Author: Mark H.
Sources: Science Direct; Deming; Surescripts
About DoseSpot
DoseSpot is a Surescripts certified e-Prescribing platform specifically designed to integrate with electronic health record, electronic dental record, practice management and telehealth software. DoseSpot is certified to e-Prescribe controlled substances and has provided simple, affordable and integratable e-Prescribing solutions to healthcare IT companies since 2009. For more information, please visit www.DoseSpot.com.
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