In the last 10 or 15 years, we have seen an explosion of technology added to dental practices. It began with innovations that were often difficult to implement due to the complicated nature of a new technology, the ability of different technologies to integrate with one another, or other tech--oriented challenges. Today, we have a far better and smoother situation when it comes to integrating new dental technology. We call it workflow.
How workflow increases efficiency and production
As the CEO of a practice management consulting firm, I am always looking for opportunities that will enhance practice performance. When practice performance is improved, dentists have better and easier days, greater satisfaction, and higher production. All this allows dentists to reach financial independence at an earlier age. Finding these opportunities is more challenging today than it was 20 or 30 years ago due to the more competitive nature of dentistry, flat or lower insurance reimbursements, and the overall complicated nature of clinical care and operating management systems in a dental practice.
The emergence and evolution of workflow technology—ranging from the introduction of digital radiography years ago, to digital impressions (scanning), to management software that interfaces with most or all of these other systems—is changing the way dentistry is practiced.
There are clear efficiency benefits to workflow technology. The most foundational is the ability to integrate different technologies extremely well. Dentists who began with technology years ago may remember the battle that took place between companies blaming one another when the integrations did not work seamlessly. Today we have much fewer integration challenges, and the efficiency gained by workflow technology is immense.
Workflow technology can be expensive and add to overhead, but this shouldn’t prevent you from participating. The key is to have a solid plan of integration. Determine as much as possible how the workflow technology will be integrated within your practice and what you will add today, tomorrow, and in the future. Some practices will choose to add all of the technology at once, and some will pace themselves. Whichever path you select, be sure to understand the return on investment you should experience from taking this step.
The return on investment of technology
The fact is that you can still practice excellent dentistry without adding many of the new technologies, but along with enhanced quality of care, these technology improvements create a financial and management opportunity as well as an expected return on investment. Simply stated, return on investment means that as a result of the investment, production will rise faster than without the investment, leading to higher profit.
Most new technologies will deliver a return on investment if they are properly integrated into the practice. Many dentists look at the total purchase price of implementing a new technology (or multiple technologies simultaneously) and get sticker shock. It may be easier to recognize the return if you break the cost down into monthly payments and focus on increasing your total production by more than the monthly bill for the technology. When you achieve that, you have a positive return on your investment.
Here’s another way to look at it. Once you make an investment in technology, you will have a monthly payment that is due. That payment is fixed and will not change. However, the opportunity to increase production is not fixed and can change. We have seen practices that implement new technologies without implementing new systems actually lose money on their investment. We have seen many others that understand how to properly implement the new technology, modify systems accordingly, and train the team to accept much more delegation have a dramatic return on investment.
The entire opportunity of technology is to change the way a practice operates to achieve objectives such as greater production, more overall satisfaction, and an earlier pathway to financial independence, which every dentist should be concentrating on every year.
Training the team
Workflow technology creates perhaps the best opportunity in dental history to train the team and have them take on more. The key here is delegation. I was speaking recently to a highly successful dentist and providing him with some executive coaching. He reminded me that years ago I “forced him” (I didn’t actually do that!) to make a list of everything he could possibly delegate. He told me that that list literally changed his practice and his life. He had been oblivious to all of the delegation opportunities and was personally conducting different tasks every day, many of which could have been done by the team. Once he made the list and became focused on training team members to take over responsibilities, his practice and life changed forever. He had more free time and even applied the concept of delegation to his personal life.
Workflow technology creates the greatest opportunity for delegation in dentistry. The staff not only learns how to handle most functions, but they also have the opportunity to remake, redo, or correct mistakes as part of the normal course of operations.
Here’s another example. One client used to have 10 steps in crown and bridge appointments that were all assigned to the doctor. He now has only four of the 10. The team handles the six other steps while the doctor is in other operatories treating other patients. Not only has production increased significantly, but satisfaction has also gone way up, because team members generally love learning new techniques and methods, carrying them out, and feeling responsible. Surveys also indicated that patient satisfaction also rose due to the better experience with workflow technology.
Technology improves practice production
There are many ways to improve practice production, and any practice can take advantage of them. One way is by implementing excellent technologies that allow higher levels of efficiency and improve practice performance. Here are two examples.
Increased case acceptance
Patients are impressed with practices that have leading edge technology and believe that those practices deliver higher quality treatment. Consequently, they tend to accept more treatment, refer other patients, and be more impressed with their dental practice. Technology can play more than just a superficial role in case acceptance. A patient who can see what the dentist is recommending based on digital images presented on a large screen in front of them is much more impressed than a patient who is simply told what they need. A patient who sees their mouth on an intraoral camera or has any type of artificial intelligence applied to their exam will become more engaged. Patients who can experience fewer appointments and understand how technology can produce better results are more likely to accept treatment due to a higher level of trust.
Advanced customer service
Practices with advanced technology often have advanced customer service. It’s not that they have necessarily figured out a better customer service model as much as it is the technology that impresses patients and leads to increased word-of-mouth referrals and a higher level of patient satisfaction. If a practice creates a technology communication program to educate patients about the technologies and advancements in dentistry, that practice will be seen as a leader in the field. Patients who have high expectations for their dental practice will be impressed with the investments the practice makes to bring the most current techniques and technologies to them.
Summary
Technology can be a major factor in increasing practice performance. The implementation of workflow technology, following a technology implementation program and plan, will help revolutionize the practice, thereby increasing overall satisfaction, clinical results, and practice production. These are opportunities to take practices to the next level and keep them there.
Editor's note: This article appeared in the March 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.
