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May 2019

DentaLab NewsMay 2019
from Mainstreet Systems & Software

FAQ  DentaLab News

 

What's happening in  May

This month we will be honoring the USA Memorial Day holiday and closing our offices on Monday, May 27.  

The local driver app for smartphones is being beta-tested by two labs for the pickups and deliveries on their local routes and will hopefully be ready for general release in June.   With this app, you will be able to sequence the stops on each route for the best efficiency, have the driver record notes, access Google navigation, send alert messages to the driver and monitor the progress of each route from the lab.  If you are interested in this for your drivers, you can request the guide to review the details.

We have a waiting list of prospective customers who want to synchronize DentaLab case management with the online version of QuickBooks.  Work on adapting DQB to do this was begun in April and will continue into May.

Pivotal to success....good cash flow

Particularly true for small businesses, having adequate cash flow is a major factor in both survival and success.   Intuit has always focused on small to medium sized businesses and has made getting paid and on time a primary goal of their payment processing features.   They have announced that they are now providing one-day turnaround to have the ACH funds in your bank account.   

It was not too long ago that many labs resisted having their customers pay in ways other than physical checks.  Now there are a variety of ways such as debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, eChecks and labs are willing to pay the processing fees rather than having their employees spend time chasing down money and worrying about cash flow.  Many labs now require signed authorizations concerning payment.  

There are features in both QuickBooks and DQB that provide for monitoring sales and accounts receivable and keeping notes on customer payment habits and activities.

Just once a year, for the small labs

The starter version of DentaLab for QuickBooks has been enormously well-liked for its simplicity, reliability and low cost.  It is a special subset of the standard version and is limited to one user.   The normal license fee is $500 but to help those running on a tight budget to get started, we are offering it for $400 until the end of this month. Call us before May 31 with your order to take advantage of this special offer.

DQB Starter can be installed on more than one computer station but is limited to one user at a time.  With the starter service agreement and an affordable security setup fee, you can elect to offer the DentalRx Direct web services to your clients.  

Note that the DQB Starter can be updated to the standard version in the future if you wish to have more users or to implement any of the supplements such as digital images, email notifications, barcoded case tracking and technician productivity.

 

 

    Easy, versatile software for the modern dental laboratory.

To answer your questions...

Q: We have had success with the dental offices that are using the DentalRx web portal, but some are resistant.  Have other labs had success in persuading their customers to use it?

A: We recently asked a number of the labs using DentalRx about their experience.  It is true that some of the dental offices want to continue doing things the same way they have for years.  Others that have adopted digital methods have found it very convenient to submit their digital files via the portal.   Some labs have told their customers this is the most preferred way as it automatically stores the digital files with the lab's case record providing for easy accurate access whenever needed. 

A strong selling point is that all of their submittals, including the prescription, communications and requests, tend to be more complete, accurate and readable and this reduces the need for adjustments, remakes and time delays. 

Another time-saving benefit to the dental office is having a very convenient way to check on the status of both current and historical cases.

Q: We really like the simplicity of the new outsource case entry.  Can we use it for in-house cases too?

A: Yes, for now you would just have to go to Basic Lists-Work Centers and set on the outsource indicator to be able to select the work center in this option.  Keep in mind that to use this option, all items in the case must be assigned to the same work center; otherwise, you will need to use the standard case entry since this provides for more detailed case design and workflow.  

We have had lots of compliments on this new alternative for case entry.  Let us know your thoughts on this.  Keep in mind as well that having prescriptions submitted by the dental offices via DentalRx or DentalRx Direct is the easiest way to create new case records, as most of the details are entered by the dental office.

Q: We would like to offer to a certain group of customers both special schedules and prices.   Can we do this with DQB?

A: Yes, for special scheduling it is best to set up standard procedures to match the time commitments.  The set can be distinguished by a preface to the standard procedure name such as PREMIER, RUSH or even the practice or group name.   You can also set up a customer alert to guide your entry personnel to choose from the special set when designing a case.

For pricing, you can set up one or more price levels either by item or by percentage and then assign each price level to the appropriate customers. Then when invoicing, the special price level will be automatically applied.  

Go to Basic Lists and then Standard Procedures or Price Levels to enter or edit these.


      With the same look and feel of QuickBooks.

Humans and technology working in tandem

Just as DentaLab and QuickBooks work in tandem to bring you the highest quality software at affordable prices, it is also important to think about how humans and technology can work in tandem to do the same.  By taking care of the standard tasks that do not need intervention, technology can be used to free up human energy for more personalized service when this is needed. It can also open up time to be more creative, to communicate and to do more planning.  

If you approach potential advances in your technology with this concept in mind, it becomes more compelling to tackle the investment in time and money to move forward.  We can help you in many ways for the aspects of your business that involve technology for case and financial information, communications and customer service.   There are other providers eager to help you when it comes to technical advances in fulfilling dental prescriptions. 

Like you, we sometimes mull possibilities for a while before we budget the time to implement something new.  This happened with our projects to develop a new website, to create the lists and formats for an emailed newsletter, to develop the code for the DentalRx Direct services and many others.   But we can tell you that we have always been happy that we made the leap because of the great results.  It is good to think about better alternatives, fun to be creative, and rewarding in many ways.  

Tune into these very useful features

As we respond to support requests, we find that sometimes the lab personnel in charge of the computer system are not aware of very useful features in QuickBooks and DentaLab for QuickBooks.  Here is a sampling:

To track who deleted or changed transactions:  

In QuickBooks, the login ID is carried in its records.  For example, if you go to Reports/Accountants and Taxation/Deleted Transactions, you can see the date and identity.    In the standard version of DQB, you can go to the Event Log, select your criteria and then track the date and login.   To do this well, be sure to tune into the security measures and user roles in both systems to identify personnel and, when appropriate, limit access.  

To set up automatic actions: 

Many of these can be found in Options/Case Settings and Invoice Settings.   For example, in Case Settings, you can indicate that you want a patient name search to find matches in already existing Prebooked, Out for Try-In, and On Hold cases.   In Invoice Settings you can set up to have a selected label or quality control feedback form generated every time you create an invoice.  

In the Notifications supplement, you can set up to have reports on cases received and recently shipped emailed to designated customers on an automatic schedule.  You can also generate in-house reports to be automatically emailed to lab management at scheduled times.  

In the Advanced Backup Protocol, you can choose to have secured backups automatically performed and directed to both local and cloud-based media at designated times. 

To customize the columns that are displayed in grids:  

For tables that have a lot of fields such as the Customer List, there is typically an Action Menu on the bottom left.  The menu will include an option to Customize Columns.   You can check which ones you want to see and change this whenever needed.    From the Case List and Case Item grids in Case Entry, you can right-click to select the Customize Columns option.  Remember also that you can click the header on each column to sort forward and then backward.

Give us a call if you need guidance on these or any other features.   Also available from the DQB Help button is an indexed user manual that can be searched and/or printed.

If you wish to be removed, reply to this email with the subject "unsubscribe".

     

Customization is available for all products.

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

"Great program, I love it! Just wonderful and saves a lot of time."

Mike Campos
Campos Dental Studio
Connecticut, USA


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