Let’s face the facts: when your patient is done, your patient is done. It is a rare day that a dental patient will want to hang out and chat following dental work. After all, you poked, probed, blasted the laser, photographed, irrigated, X-rayed, administered anesthetic, cleaned, forced them to hold their mouth open (for what they will claim was hours and hours) and, finally, worked on their teeth. Trust me when I say the checkout attendant is the last person your patient will want to host social hour on their way out the door.
The Process
Checkout is generally defined as the moment when today’s services are reviewed, an insurance claim is created and payment is accepted. For the average person, this can be the least favorite moment in their dental office experience and they are ready to go home and relax, or move on with their day, as soon as possible.
Speed it up with Easy Checkout
Some of you have read enough of my blogs by now to know that I am a huge proponent for efficiency in the dental office. Simplifying processes and generating extra time for other meaningful projects is a passion of mine. So any opportunity to enhance the patient visit is definitely a challenge I am willing to accept.
The opportunity for efficiency I want to introduce to you today is the Easy Checkout. Easy Checkout is everything. It is the icing on the cake. It is the cherry on top. It completes your patient visit and eliminates unnecessary extra steps all at the same time! Earlier, we defined the checkout process as the moment when services are reviewed, a claim is created and payment is accepted. Easy Checkout seamlessly completes all 3 of these steps AND provides a walkout receipt with the patient’s next visit printed at the bottom.
The Easy Checkout default options (shown above) are triggered when you click on the Easy Checkout button. These defaults can be set per workstation, and you have the ability to select one of the options or all of them. You can even further customize the options by indicating whether a claim should batch, send electronically or print. Similar options for the walkout allow you to default to print or batch the walkout, which gives you the opportunity to ask the patient if they wish to have a receipt.
Easy Checkout is located within the Accounts screen in Easy Dental. The icon to activate Easy Checkout is an image of your patient walking toward the door. (A nice depiction of where your patient wants to be during checkout, don’t you think?)
Easy Checkout can be customized to fit your needs. The default options we reviewed can be accessed through the Setup icon below. This icon is located within the Accounts module. Select this icon, then choose Easy Checkout Options.
Efficiency in the dental office really goes a long way to making a happier, more cheerful environment. It really is a very simple equation, with little to no math required. Happy Patients = Happy Staff = Happy Doctor.
My Challenge to You
Practice using the Easy Checkout button for a day to see the impact this single action can have on your checkout process. Report back and share any ideas or thoughts on the checkout process.
David Broom is Senior Director of Product and Business Development. David has a master’s degree in Information Technology (IT) from the University of Texas in Dallas and has more than 35 years of experience from many global companies such as Hitachi Vantara, Methode Electronics, and Keane, Inc. In his current role, he is responsible for all aspects of the product management and field service teams at Henry Schein TechCentral, which identifies the ideal advanced technologies to meet the unique needs of the dental market and ensure that dental offices are using the right IT to be more efficient and effective.
