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June 2009 | Dental Products Report What free means to me Practice management software that truly adds value.  Photo: Curtis and Dr. Anderson Last summer, my wife, Dr. Denise Anderson, and I were suddenly placed in a very anxious situation. After practicing dentistry for more than 10 years as an associate at an office in Seminole, Fla., Denise’s contract was unexpectedly not renewed. She was suddenly scrambling to find a new position, and we were both faced with some stressful choices about how to move forward. Coincidentally, a dentist down the street from the bank where I was employed was looking to sell his practice and retire. We visited the practice and found it had not been updated for some time and had next to nothing in the way of technology. However, it did have an existing patient base and a location convenient for us. Denise decided to make the leap and buy the practice. We closed on the sale in mid-August and worked 16- to 17-hour days for the next several weeks to update the facility, before opening for business on the day after Labor Day. It was a hectic process—we did 90 percent of the work ourselves including installing new flooring and lights, painting and acquiring everything from x-ray units to a copy machine. With the costs incurred in purchasing the practice, budget was a serious concern for every purchase we made to update the office. When our Patterson Dental representative, Jill Obrachta, inquired what kind of practice management software we planned to use, we told her we weren’t sure if we were ready to install anything at that point. Our plan was to get the practice up and running before we committed to any more expenses. Jill then explained that Patterson had recently begun offering its EagleSoft practice management software for free, with the only financial commitment being a one-year service agreement. We decided to look into it further, and Jill invited a Patterson technician to visit the office and give us a presentation. After seeing the options and capabilities EagleSoft offered, I was impressed with the program. Knowing that practice management software was something we would need anyway, we decided to try EagleSoft. The fact that the software was free made the choice even easier. EagleSoft practice management software has been a great help in building my practice. Its user-friendliness means that even though I have not gone through substantial training like Curtis, I can work with the program and navigate through the system relatively easily. The support offerings have also been invaluable, and I know if I have a problem, the friendly support staff is waiting to help. For someone like me, who is not as computer savvy as many others, EagleSoft has been very simple to work with, and I know I don’t have to worry about making a mistake that can’t be easily fixed. When we started this practice we had to make a lot of difficult decisions about which equipment to acquire and investments to make, but getting EagleSoft was an easy choice. I know it has helped me build my practice in a cost-effective way. —Dr. Denise Anderson  lets users make notes within the practice schedule to keep all staff members up-to-date on notices and changes. Photo: Patterson Dental Training and transitioning Our EagleSoft installation was relatively easy—a Patterson representative spoke with us on the phone and set up our system, remotely customizing our preferences, hours, number ofchairs and many other individual settings. I had several more training sessions over the phone, during which the representative explained everything from how to use the billing features to how long to allow for different procedures. Despite the fact that I knew next to nothing about dentistry, support staff members were incredibly patient and reassuring. Their ability to remotely control the computer was also very helpful—they were able to take over the mouse and guide me to different areas of the program to teach me about each feature. The instructors were diligent in making sure I understood what was going on, and before long I had a good command of the system. Simple navigation, advanced features Our assistant is able to handle the scheduling when I am away from the office, and Denise even uses the scheduling features occasionally. Despite its simple navigation, the system is very robust. Additional features like treatment planning and SmartDoc are very helpful to us, and we recently purchased a digital camera so we can incorporate patient photos into our files. I can easily pull information on production, goals, billing, accounts receivable and insurance filings. Too good to be true? Our practice gets a product that helps us run more productively, and Patterson receives our business with their support offerings and our continued loyalty to their company. From a business standpoint, it makes a lot of sense. For anyone who is faced with the challenge of starting an office on a small budget, I don’t think EagleSoft’s offerings can be beat. The support staff, quality training, and the user-friendly product features make it an incredible value to our practice. Especially now, when many doctors must watch their costs closely, EagleSoft gives them one less expense to worry about. We are very pleased with the way our practice is growing, and are appreciative of the way Patterson has helped us keep our costs in line. We have developed a true partnership, and plan to continue to grow our practice with EagleSoft. Curtis Anderson is office manager at Denise Anderson, DMD, PA, General & Cosmetic Dentistry in Pinellas Park, Fla.
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