For several years, I worked as an orthodontic assistant and a receptionist. The office had several hundred patients that came on a regular basis, and hundreds of other patients whose charts were archived as a result of them no longer needing to come on a regular basis. We still kept the charts for a number of years in case we needed to refer to them or send the information elsewhere at a later date. The office had only one computer, which was rarely used, that kept track of some financial and billing information. We logged appointments in a book, and as patients came in we checked their names off a list. There was a lot of paperwork that filled the small office, it was often hard to keep track of. If we needed to find a patient's contact information, we had to search through all of the filing cabinets to find it. If someone misplaced a chart it was especially difficult, since we had so many different files we would need to search through. After about a year of this system, the practice was bought out by a different dentist. She installed new technology including computers, and an electronic check-in system for the patients. She had a database called Orthotrac downloaded onto the computers and the computers linked to each other. It enabled us to make appointments, upload patient information, log our work hours, and process billing information and credit card payments. By changing from paper to a computer database system, we saved a lot of time, effort and office space. Orthotrac made us able to focus more on caring for our patients.
Some extra features of Orthotrac include that it incorporates Kodak imaging software [1] that allows the dentist to store images such as x-rays into the database. Carestream Dental explains the many uses of Orthotrac, and helps us to understand what areas it will be useful in. It also explains which versions of the product are good for each computer, and introduces the option of connecting the system to the cloud to increase storage ability [2]. Masterworks.learn.com explains how to convert to a paperless practice. It has many helpful handouts as well as lessons about how to properly navigate the Orthotrac system [3].
1. What specific challenges does your database system implementation have?
There is a lot to learn about the Orthotrac system, it can be very confusing and time consuming. There were also bugs in the system when it first came out that needed to be fixed, as well as it overloading older computers so they would run very slowly when the system was uploaded into them.
2. In what ways does it provide competitive advantage for the organization using it?
We were able to work faster, and to be much more efficient. We were able to say we were an environmentally friendly office, which attracted more patients. We also saved a lot of time and space and were able to spend more time on each individual patient. When a patient called or stopped by to make an appointment, we could look up their chart in a matter of seconds on the database, instead of searching through filing cabinets for their information.
3. What improvements would you suggest?
I would suggest making sure that the computer the office has can handle the software, so that it does not run too slowly. It was helpful to our office to have an Orthotrac expert come in and train the employees for about a week since there is a lot to know about the system. Over the years, Orthotrac has greatly improved with each new update. Many of the bugs and problems we dealt with at the start were resolved in the next year or two.
[2] http://www.carestreamdental.com/us/en/practicemanagement/ORTHOTRAC#Features and Benefits
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