Palumbo Family Dentistry Business Manager, Tyler Kerr, has single-handedly boosted front office productivity and maximized scanner value with one simple software subscription. When Mr. Kerr was hired to introduce greater efficiency, it quickly became clear that new digital scanners necessitated new digital processes. “I’m not going to pay for a digital system but still print radiographs and mail them, that’s going backwards,” explains Mr. Kerr regarding how he is using Brightsquid Secure-mail to maximize clinic’s return on their new x-ray equipment.
Increase Dental Office Efficiency and Effectiveness:
For Palumbo Family Dentistry, Brightsquid Secure-Mail is an integral part of front office process. As a digital office, Mr. Kerr has access to all scans and patient information directly on his computer, which makes printing and stuffing envelopes more work and ultimately a greater expense. “We’re extremely busy,” says Mr. Kerr. “As a general office we send a lot of referrals. For me to be able to just click a button and send files while I’m on the phone with a patient, it’s huge. It’s a MASSIVE time saver for your office.”
Accelerate specialist collaboration:
Using Secure-Mail has streamlined the process of working with specialists and cut costs for both offices. Mr. Kerr describes his new referral process as easy and fast. “If an office calls about one of our patients they’re seeing in five minutes, we can send the referral form and x-rays immediately. If they aren’t on Brightsquid, I can just invite them. If they don’t want Brightsquid, they have to wait a week for the mail.”
While digital collaboration tools like Brightsquid Secure-Mail strengthen the relationship between collaborating offices, Mr. Kerr says, “I find myself not referring as much to the couple of offices that haven’t set up their free account. When I do have to refer to them, it goes right to the bottom of my to do pile, because I have to find a window of time big enough to put a physical mail package together.”
Cut Costs and Protect Patients:
Mr. Kerr knows patients and quality of treatment suffer when other offices continue to rely on snail mail to send and receive printed radiographs. “No matter how good your printer is, it’s never as good as digital format. And that can limit diagnostic usefulness.”
One pediatric specialist he works with demands to wait for printed images to be mailed. If the print quality doesn’t meet the doctor’s needs, or the prints don’t arrive in time, children are needlessly exposed to a double dose of radiation to re-do the images. The time and effort spent on the original images is then wasted, and the patient is at risk of surpassing frequency limitations on their insurance.
Keep up with the Pack and Stay Compliant:
Mr. Kerr says offices afraid of losing patient information sent or stored digitally have it wrong. He has had to explain to at least one doctor that HIPAA requires all data be securely backed up (so HIPAA compliant offices should never be worried about data loss). In one case, “she had a friend that had lost everything in a crash. Which, of course, means they didn’t have a back up. Which, of course, is a HIPAA violation.”
“Compliance is huge. HIPAA is so simple, if you have the right tools,” Mr. Kerr says. “Brightsquid is an easy and secure way to communicate that allows us to go digital and stay compliant. It also shows our patients that we’re keeping their information safe.
The entire industry is going digital. Mr. Kerr says that offices that continue to rely solely on mail and fax are going to fall behind and lose business. “It gets very difficult and expensive for a general dentist that has transitioned to digital to send information to those offices still holding on to paper.”
Realize the Value of Digitization with Secure-Mail:
The value Mr. Kerr receives from his Brightsquid subscription far outweighs the small monthly subscription. He says, “It’s not a huge expensive tool but it makes a large impact. The ease of use and everything about how it works just makes life for offices that use it so much easier.
If I didn’t have Secure-Mail, I’d need two of me. I can’t imagine not having Brightsquid. We would have put all this money into updating our technical capabilities without being able to really realize their true value. Brightsquid has allowed us to unlock the full potential of a truly seamless and ultimately paperless system and I highly recommend it to everyone.