More dental practices are moving toward technology and the accumulation of patient information in a digital format. This means that our ability to more efficiently and effectively communicate with patients and other practitioners is now possible. The chartless practice is upon us. Ushered in by the growth of digital x-rays, digital photography, and practice management software. The real benefits of this data however are yet to be realized. The real benefits are realized only when we use this information to communicate needs to our patients. Our goal as health care providers is to help our patients to a healthier state. This simple goal is often made more difficult due to insurance issues, misunderstanding of treatment objectives by patients, their spouses and specialty consultations. Coordinating all of these facets is many times the obstacle that defers or completely halts treatment completion.

The solution is to communicate with patients and dentists using the internet. This timely and efficient tool is however not available without some forethought. The most important consideration is HIPPA! HIPPA law does not allow transmittal of private patient information over the internet. This is because the internet is not secure. THE SOLUTION is to use a secure application to exchange information with all parties. Just such an application is now available and caters to dentists and their patients.

Experience Dentistry ® is an incredibly easy and efficient internet application. It is an encrypted secure vault and server (like your internet banking) application with simple mechanisms to upload patient information including digital photographs, x-rays, and patient education slides. In addition you can upload written treatment letters, treatment discussions, and treatment estimates. All of this data is “stored” in the Experience Dentistry ® secure vault and an automatic e-mail notification is sent to your patient that it is available for their review and comment. A polite e-mail notifies your patient that you have sent them some information. It also provides them with a “User Name” and “generated password” that will allow them to log on to the Experience Dentistry server. The patient can change the “generated password” to their own if they so choose. Simple “point and click” is all that is then needed to access the stored information, whether it be photographs, x-rays, treatment letter, or treatment discussion estimates. We have found that using the tools in Photoshop, or “Imaging Software” to circle or point to the affected areas on the teeth where we are proposing treatment, is a very effective way to demonstrate need to the patient and their spouse. A treatment discussion about cosmetic changes, when accompanied with a digitally altered image, is always met with interest by both parties. Periodontal treatment needs are many times misunderstood by patients and family. We send a simple, readily available, diagram about the progression of periodontal disease along with the treatment discussion and estimate.

If you have a website and you include on it treatment that is of particular interest to you, provide in your treatment information a link to your site and the information in it that pertains to their treatment. Since your patient is already online, provide a link in their treatment information to the ADA online site devoted to patient treatment information. This is an excellent way to “back up” your information. If you do not have a website (or even if you do) Experience Dentistry ® has a very nice co-branding feature. This allows you to use your logo and choose from several different page layouts on the front page of your Experience Dentistry ® site. This is a real bonus because it allows you to personalize the site thus giving your patients a more comfortable feeling about using it.

Once logged on your patient will have no problem navigating the information and sending you a reply right back through the security of the Experience Dentistry sever. If they have questions, a running dialogue is possible until the issues are resolved and treatment acceptance is given. Your patient, your front desk and you can all carry on this exchange of information without the need to play phone tag or the bother of interruptions during everyone's busy day. Furthermore, the same scenario can occur after business hours or from any location the patient chooses to access the internet. If the doctor so chooses, a treatment discussion of this sort could continue when your patient is at home with an interested spouse. Your ability to save time, including chair time, in office consultation time and front desk phone frustration time will prove Experience Dentistry ® to be a very rewarding asset to your practice. Moving treatment decisions along to your patient in an informational, organized, secure and time efficient manner will prove your commitment to their health and decision making (like choosing your office to begin with!).

The problems associated with specialty consultations can be a thing of the past with Experience Dentistry ®. Many times we lose the patients' interest and commitment to proceeding with treatment because of the delay associated with a necessary consultation with a specialist. This will not negate the need for personal observation and examination. But the simple treatment question, or delays (and cost) associated with letter writing and mailing of x-rays and photographs can now be avoided. Your office is the administrator and can enroll other dental offices and as such allow them to access the mutual patient files. Therefore, once the patients' file is uploaded to the Experience Dentistry ® server you can send an e-mail notification to a specialist who can review the information, and send a reply. Ideally the specialty office is also an Experience Dentistry ® client. Once they have seen the patient for an examination, their treatment letter and recommendations can be directly uploaded to the ED ® site. Once there, the referring dentist and the patient and/or the specialist can review all of the information from both offices, work out the details of the treatment together, settle on a best course of care and agree to proceed. Clean lines of communication unencumbered by lag time and misunderstandings open up avenues for completing necessary treatment, efficiently and in an effective time frame.

We have found that Experience Dentistry's ® application is extremely user friendly, secure and versatile. Our patients love the additional information and our staff finds it easy and fun to use. The benefits are substantial for all parties. Saving time, communicating clearly and efficiently has resulted in more case acceptance and fewer problems with financial issues. Remember, unless you follow the rules and use a secure site the transfer of personal information over the internet is against HIPPA regulations. So log in and check it out. I know you will be pleased with what you find.