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March 2016

DentaLab NewsMarch 2016
from Mainstreet Systems & Software

FAQ  DentaLab News

 

March schedules and specials

Our Pennsylvania groundhog known as Punxatawney Phil most often predicts six more weeks of winter but this year he predicted an early spring for us.  He was correct!  We have been enjoying 70 degree temperatures, no coats, no boots, no thinking about black ice and blizzards.   Easter also comes early this year on Sunday March 27.   Our offices will be closed on Good Friday, March 25.  

Our March specials continue to include two of the most popular choices by the labs:   

If you would like to store scanned images and electronic documents sent by the dental offices as part of the case record to save both time and money,  the license fee for the DQB Image Supplement will be reduced from $400 to $320, a 20% saving. 

If you have been wanting to add another user to DQB for greater efficiency, the license for each additional user will be reduced from $300 to $240, a 20% savings.

These special savings will be in effect until March 31, 2016.

Teaching yourself and your staff about cybersecurity

The internet has created many wonderful capabilities for all of us but it has also created many challenges for software providers and users to protect and keep private information.    As the cybercriminals continue to become more proficient at hacking, data breaches and creating malware, it has become a continual challenge to keep up with the protective measures needed.   It definitely adds to the expense of software development and maintenance.    If not done properly, it can lead to both liabilities and governmental fines.   We have been told that one of the software providers for the dental industry was fined $250,000 for not having adequate protection of patient information.

What are the cybercriminals after?   In the world in general, the most frequent goals are acquiring customer profiles, credit card information and intellectual property specifications.  For labs, the dentist profiles and credit card details have been the primary targets but patient information should also be protected.

The standards for security have continued to increase.  For web-based software, the two focal areas have been high levels of encryption for transmissions and at least two levels of user authentication for access.   For in-house software, it is also recommended that the detailed user security controls be setup and maintained to limit access to only those with current authorization. 

It is important to establish standards within your lab that are also in compliance with PCI for credit card information, with the FDA or comparable agencies in other countries for patient and safety information and any state/province regulations. It is vital that your staff receive ongoing training in your standards and the measures you are taking to uphold these.  

One of the more recent trends has been ransomware where opening an email with malware will cause a computer system to go into a locked condition that can only be unlocked by paying a ransom.  For this, training on what to open and not open and having a good reliable backup system to restore your information are key.  

 

The best kind of advertisement

With the ending of the winter season there have been an above average number of labs moving ahead with licensing DentaLab for QuickBooks.  Half of these told us we were highly recommended by other labs already using the system.   We very much appreciate this great word-of-mouth advertising and know that it helps to make the DentaLab systems and user group even stronger.   Thank you! 

 

    Easy, versatile software for the modern dental laboratory.

To answer your questions...

Q:  We would like to know the items being ordered in the cases for just one customer.   Do we need to run analysis for a whole customer group to do this ?

A:  No.   This information will be in the reports for the default customer group that includes all customers but you can go to the Customer Center in the standard version of  DQB to generate a variety of reports for just one customer.   See the topic below for even more worthwhile features that can be found in the Customer Center.

You can, if you wish, also create additional customer groups to include one or multiple customers to generate production and sales reports in both versions of DQB.  

Q:  What is the best way to correct an invoice that has incomplete or incorrect information in it?

A:  You can re-invoice the case in DQB.   If an invoice already exists for the case in QuickBooks, the program will detect this and ask if you want to replace it or create an additional invoice.   You are the one who would determine this.   Typically if the invoice has not yet been sent to the customer, simply replacing it and reprinting it would be the best option.   

There is great flexibility in the invoicing process for this as well as for handling multi-stage cases, adjustments and special circumstances.  If it would be appropriate to review that has already been invoiced, the invoice history can be accessed from both DQB and QuickBooks.   The invoice number will begin with the DQB case number and will be appended to distinguish multiple invoices.

   With the same look and feel of QuickBooks.

The power of choices for yourself and your customers

One of the fundamental reasons the combination of QuickBooks (QB) and DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB) has been so well accepted and liked has been that is offers many choices.   Here are some of these:

  • One can start as a novice performing only simple tasks then gradually step by step become both confident and expert.  Both QB and DQB are intuitive, forgiving and reliable, making this transition easy.  
  • You can choose to have your computer perform only in-house and on the desktop or have this all web-based or choose specific functions you want to have available remotely for your customers, your management, your staff or your service providers.  
  • Completions can be marked quickly just by invoicing the case or you can record who performed the work and when using barcoded work tickets and scanners or even more precisely via the tablet workflow app.   Work completed by outsource points can be date/time stamped in a batch.   
  • Forms such as invoices and statements can be printed or sent via email.  Both current and history are readily available.
  • Reports can be simply viewed or printed or generated in a number of industry standard formats such as Excel, PDF, CSV. 
  • You can work with just the critical case dates such as start, ship, requested to monitor cases or schedule and track more precisely by tasks.  Any combination of standard procedures and items can be used to design cases. 
  • Digital documents and files can be captured with a scanner or camera or received via email or a web portal, then stored with the case for fast and easy retrieval in a variety of ways. 
  • Through the options/settings and basic lists, each lab can customize the system to a great extent without having to pay for customization.   If customization beyond these is needed, this can be accomplished at very reasonable costs through our service agreement/user group program.

Very importantly, you can in turn offer your customers many choices in how they submit, communicate and pay for their lab work because your software provides the support for this.

Focusing on customer relationships and developing business

If  one of your roles for your lab is to develop customer relationships, retain business and promote new business, the Customer Center in DQB gives you a great tool to keep track of the details, communicate, setup reminders and analyze your results.  

The center has two alternate focuses, one by customer and the other by one or a range of dates.  For customers, you can request one and then browse back and forth to other customers if you wish.   Here are some of the details you can request and update as you work with each one:

  • Cases in progress, out for try-in, on hold, pre-booked, action required
  • Case histories
  • Case communications and alerts
  • Preferences by work center or item
  • Case planning for more complex cases
  • Invoice histories
  • Digital documents and files
  • Activity logs
  • Price levels
  • Emails
  • Requests to be fulfilled
  • Notification schedules
  • Analytical reports by individual customer
  • Schedule pickups

The other focus is by date or a range of dates.  This helps to assure that promises are kept and that follow-ups are timely:   Included in this set are:

  • Activity logs
  • Alerts
  • Cases
  • Communications

In some labs this role is a full-time job but for most labs it is one that is performed by someone who also has other responsibilities.   Having DQB as a very able yet inexpensive assistant can make it more efficient and rewarding.

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Customization is available for all products.

Contact us at 1-800-257-4535 or www.mainstreet-systems.com.

"Thanks for the excellent instructions. You make my job easy."

Shane Purnell
Root Dental Laboratory
Kansas, USA


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