Achieving accessibility with DentiMax Cloud

Kent W. Stapley, DMD, has practiced general dentistry in Mesa, Arizona, for the past 20 years. He and his staff were already using DentiMax software in his dental office, and he recently made the decision to move to the cloud.

Here, Dr. Stapley explains why he made the switch and how it has improved accessibility and security within his office.

Why did you choose to go to the cloud?

It made a lot of sense to move to the cloud. I was interested in the security of my data as well as the continuity of my business.   

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Once I learned that cloud software was available, I knew there could be a situation where I would kick myself for not looking into the cloud. A large concern for me was hardware failure. I’ve known dentists who’ve had problems with their software and images and have lost data [from their server] and that’s a nightmare.

Not only are they missing all of their data and have a lost or messed up schedule, but they also have a responsibility to their patients and part of the nightmare would be letting down patients. It’s a dentist’s responsibility to keep their data safe and secure. There’s a trust between the patient and dentist. You don’t want to the let patient down by being irresponsible with their records.

Another reason I went to the cloud was to allow employees to work from home when they need to. It’s a pretty nice thing to be able to do. It works well. It’s all out there on the cloud when you need to access your data.

Why did you go with DentiMax on the cloud? What has been your experience?

My staff and I were already using DentiMax software and liking it, so it was a logical move to give it a go. My experience moving to the cloud wasn’t that different than using a local network. Really the only change was I was not going to the local network for information but was logging in from the internet. Once everyone got used to that little shift, we would log in online and all the information was there.

As far as the online imaging is concerned, the X-rays upload onto the cloud quickly and integrate well with the software. We can send X-ray images with insurance claims electronically, which makes it easy for the front desk. We also can send them to specialists faster. The front office has just loved being able to do that and are happy with the software. It has been something that’s very nice and definitely helps get the money faster. The easier you make things for employees, the more they like their job and the longer they staywith you. That has been wonderful for my front office.

I’ve had peace of mind knowing DentiMax has confident backups both local and offsite. They have multiple redundant backups and separate locations for storing information, so I’m not worried about losing my data.

What were your concerns before committing to moving to cloud practice management and digital software? How did you, your practice and your software provider (DentiMax) address them?

Relying on an internet provider and putting faith into them for the speed of our system was something we were worried about. DentiMax recommended a jetpack or mobile hotspot to stream from in the case of internet going down.

One time we had the internet go down, but we were able to continue to function for the couple hours while it was down because we were still able to access images. The X-ray images are uploaded to the cloud but are also stored locally. With the direct connection between software and sensors, you can always find your X-rays. We were able to work through it pretty easily.

How has the cloud helped your practice?

Because it’s cloud software, you can access your schedule and data from anywhere. On your phone, at another office, at home, or any location where you have internet access. It’s accessible no matter where you go.

Is there anything that you miss from the traditional software? What do you think cloud software could do to fill that void in the future?

You don’t really think about it much on what you miss. It’s similar enough and actually even better because you have everything you had before plus extra capability to access everything. And you have extra security with the online backups.

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Dentimax is unique because they offer a complete system with sensors included. How has working with one company benefited your practice?

Working with one company for practice management software and sensors helps keep the costs down.  You don’t have redundant costs on top of each other for maintaining software from multiple companies. It ends up costing less and being less complicated on the books and in the office.

What recommendations and tips would you give to a new provider who’s trying to decide whether his/her practice should go to cloud or on-premise software? What would you say to anyone considering going to the cloud?

If you have confidence in your internet, then you should be confident in DentiMax on the cloud.