Dentrix Ascend Dental Case Study: Woodside Family Dental

Introduction

Dr. Shikha Puri and her team at Woodside Family Dental prioritize their patients’ experience and care — they always look to do what is right for the patient.

When their practice workflows became too costly and complicated, the team wanted a solution that would save them money without sacrificing patient care. Dentrix Ascend allowed them to economize and still give patients an exceptional experience.

Wasting Valuable Time and Productivity

Before Dentrix Ascend, the team at Woodside Family Dental was using five different software applications for essential tasks, including scheduling, billing and appointment reminders. Each software was from a different company and had its own separate bill, which added up fast. “If you are using more than one software, your productivity goes down and the cost goes up,” said Dhiraj Sehgal, Woodside’s chief operating officer.

Despite having different software applications to make daily tasks easier, the team spent more time trying to fix and manage the software than using it. “You spend all your time managing when you have multiple software vendors, and once you fix one thing in one software, you have to fix it in another. We were wasting valuable time and losing productivity,” said Dr. Puri.

Spending so much time managing software also meant less time to focus on patients, which was taking away from patients’ experiences at Woodside. “Patient care is our top priority. The most important thing to us is doing the right thing for our patients, and with frequent problems with our practice software tools, it was difficult to provide the care we wanted to,” said Sehgal. Even with all the different software programs the team was using, they still couldn’t offer the flexibility patients wanted, like online booking, patient-centered billing and two-way communication.

“If you are using more than one software, your productivity goes down and the cost goes up”

Dhiraj Sehgal | Chief Operating Officer

Finding a Single, Integrated Solution

The team at Woodside wanted a complete practice management software solution that would benefit them in two main ways. It needed to cost less than what they were paying for multiple software applications and help them enhance their patient experience.

“We wanted something integrated and easy to use, something that acted as a software-as-a-service solution,” said Seghal. “Something with just one monthly bill that would also keep our patients happy.”

The team at Woodside can now save money, increase productivity and enhance patient satisfaction with Dentrix Ascend. This integrated solution gives the team all the capabilities they had with multiple types of software applications in a single, comprehensive platform — saving them hundreds of dollars in bills a month, not counting productivity savings.

Dentrix Ascend helps the team increase their productivity by streamlining data entry and communication within the practice. Instead of constant back-and-forth communication between the front desk staff, hygienists and the doctor, everyone can view all patient information when and where they need it. And instead of wasting time manually entering patient information — also introducing the chance for errors — they only need to enter in patient information, such as patient history and appointment information, once.

“That’s one of the things I love most about Ascend,” said Dr. Puri. “You can see everything all at once and go from there to be more productive. That wouldn’t be possible without an integrated software.”

Dentrix Ascend also allows Woodside to give their patients what they want: flexible ways to make appointments, pay for services and submit information. By giving patients this flexibility, Woodside is better able to keep their schedules full and cash flow steady.

“Online Booking saves us so much money but also makes us so much money.”

Dr. Shikha Puri

The Dentrix Ascend Difference

Before Dentrix Ascend, Woodside used five different types of software programs to meet all their practice needs. Now they can meet all their needs efficiently with this integrated software solution, including:

Patient-based billing. With Woodside’s previous billing software, they could only bill by patient procedures. With Dentrix Ascend, they’ve implemented patient-based billing to increase productivity and patient satisfaction. “It makes life easier for us and the patients,” said Dr. Puri. “They pay for what is being done, not how many times they visit us.”

Online Booking. Before Dentrix Ascend, the team at Woodside depended on patients calling the office to make appointments. With Dentrix Ascend, they can offer patients convenient ways to schedule their appointments online 24/7 so they are more likely to fill their schedule. “Online Booking saves us so much money but also makes us so much money,” said Dr. Puri. Online Booking is accessible and intuitive — so much so that even their 90-year-old patients use it!

Online patient forms. With their previous patient information software, the team at Woodside had to manually write down all patient information when a patient called the office. With Dentrix Ascend, the team can gather data electronically from patients with online patient forms, saving time and money.

Comprehensive practice reports. Before Dentrix Ascend, the Woodside team had a hard time staying productive because they oftentimes didn’t know what they were working toward. With practice data spread across five different types of software, Dr. Puri and her team lacked the comprehensive practice view they needed to create goals for their practice. With Dentrix Ascend, they can easily view practice data and discover how they can improve both cash flow and patient satisfaction.

Decreased Cost, Increased Patient Care

Dentrix Ascend helps the team at Woodside provide patients with a high level of satisfaction by offering exceptional care while saving them money.

“We wanted to focus on our patients,” said Sehgal. “So, we took out all the distractions by having an economical and complete solution like Dentrix Ascend.”