It’s just human nature. When you travel to a place you have never been, one can be overwhelmed with trying to take in the sights of the new surroundings. Just like the time you were learning Easy Dental for the first time, it was no simple task to become familiar the icons and their individual functions. After working in the software for a short time, I am certain that you became familiar with the buttons and functionality of the software.
Similarly, when you are in your hometown of many years, you grow accustomed to the normalcy of your surroundings. It is often those times that take you out of your normal routine, like touring a visiting friend or family member, when you find yourself remembering the unique qualities of your hometown.
Incorporating this familiarity concept to Easy Dental is just on the horizon. With the new release of EZD 12, you may be wondering if the new features will take you out of your comfort zone. Well, I am here to say that I hope they do! I hope you find these new features providing you with not only new tools to make your daily processes easier, but challenge you to evaluate your daily work flow to consider enhancements to make it better.
Here is one feature I know you will LOVE: The Patient Banner
How the Patient Banner Works:
- Locate the Quick Search field in the top right corner of the screen and start typing in your patient’s first or last name.
- Matching results will appear. Click on the patient name in the list to display that patient’s information in the Patient Banner.
- The Patient Banner shows the following information:
- Patient Photo – With a patient picture added to Easy Dental, you will see you patient in the banner.
- Guarantor Indicator – A green “G” icon indicates the patient selected is the guarantor on the account.
- Name, Date of Birth, Age and Gender – This information helps you quickly identify the selected patient.
- Phone Number – Quickly view phone numbers to contact the patient.
- Primary Provider – This field displays the assigned primary and/or secondary provider on file for the patient.
- Primary/Secondary Insurance – This field displays the insurance carrier name on file for the patient.
- Any field with a drop-down arrow indicates options. For example, the drop-down next to the patient name allows you to switch between members within the same family. Switching family members in the different Easy Dental screens (Patient, Accounts, Tx Plans, etc.) will change the information displayed on the screen to match the patient selected.
- The Patient Banner displays in the following screens:
- Patient
- Accounts
- Tx Plans
- Chart
- Prescribe
- Contacts
- Schedule
- Documents
Implementing this new tool, the Patient Banner, will forever change the way you select a patient.
Try this:
- Open the Patient screen.
- Type a few letters of your patient’s name into the Quick Search box on the right side of the Patient Banner (Hint: Try skipping the first letter of their name and see what happens).
- Click to select your patient from the list.
- Watch your Patient screen to see what happens–if the patient’s name in the Patient Banner has a down arrow, click it–the end result is the ability to select a new family member without opening the Select Patient Window.
To see the new Patient Banner in action, view this Patient Banner: New Feature video.
So here’s the challenge. How will you use this new feature? How will it change your daily routines?
Please give me some feedback and share your ideas in the comments!
**UPDATE**
Thank you to those who have provided feedback on Easy Dental 12. Here are answers to some of the questions that have been posted:
- The Class V issue is noted and will be fixed in a future release.
- The buttons on the left side of the screen are under user control. By right-clicking them, you can unlock them. You can then modify the size, the order, and the use of labels to your preference. Be sure to right-click and re-lock the Toolbar after setting the buttons to your preferred size so that you don’t accidentally grab and re-size the buttons again.
- The new colors on the left buttons reflect the color palette used by Microsoft in applications such as MS Office. Easy Dental is adopting these industry standard colors.
- Regarding back-end integrations that other software providers have done to earlier versions of Easy Dental, unfortunately, we do not have visibility of these integrations. It is the responsibility of each software developer who has made such a link to update and maintain their links as needed. If you encounter issues with bridges that we provide, please call our technical support, and they will work with you to be sure they are working properly.
- Speed of software reflects many things including the software, the hardware, the configurations, and the settings of each computer. Tests done in our testing labs show the speed of Easy Dental 12 to be comparable to Easy Dental 11.4. We have heard from users who report that version 12 is comparable in speed while providing a smoother experience. However, for practices who experience slowness with version 12, here are several suggestions: (1) Please install the hot fix available in the Easy Dental update manager, and (2) consider adding RAM to the affected computers to a minimum of 4Gb. If you continue to experience slowness contact a qualified computer specialist to examine your operating system settings, network configuration and other environmental elements.
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.
