Establishing Your Business Rules

Use Software to Establish and Enforce

Whenever possible, your computer software should be setup to establish and enforce your rules and procedures. Most often, this is done through system tables, parameters or information stored in data records. If something is very important to you, but not available in your software system, you should work with your software support team to determine if it is possible to make it part of the standard system or to create a custom feature for your needs.

How Do I Begin?

To begin this process, it is best to begin with the introduction of a new customer and then follow the normal process of receiving cases, getting the work done, then shipping and billing the case. Here are some topics for you to consider.

• Basic Customer Information: Exactly which fields of information must be obtained for each customer…what are the standards for indexing and retrieving customer records…how to handle ship-to vs. bill-to accounts vs. doctor names that are for reference only…which telephone and communication numbers to record…assignment of price lists, shipping methods and many other specifications
• Credit Standards: Obtaining Social Security numbers and credit checks, whether to set credit limits, requiring credit/debit card authorizations
• Safety Standards: When cases are unpacked, what are the health and safety procedures that must be followed…will a billing item be added to each case to cover compliance with OSHA and other standards?
• Case Entry: How to determine if a case is new, has been in the lab before or if it is being reactivated from an on-hold status…how to setup cases that go through multiple stages…how to determine whether to charge for remake cases and how much…which fields must be entered, which are optional…whether to track enclosures sent with the case
• Special Requests, Situations: How to handle special requests for rush cases, courtesy discounts, special pricing, credit and collection problems, cases that require more information from the doctor, unusual shipping methods…who is authorized to make judgments on specific situations
• Billing Cases: How to handle billing for try-ins, remakes, rush cases…whether to bill items a la carte or as flat-rate procedures…who determines credits and amounts…notes that need to go back to the doctor with the case…return of doctor's materials…coordination with shipping/tracking systems

These possibilities should give you a good start toward developing and documenting the specific rules for your business. There is another set of rules, however, that should be added when you are working with a computer system.

• Computer Training: The personnel you assign to computer-related tasks should be trained both on the general workings of the computer and the specific software systems you use. They should know also how to procure help when it is needed for hardware, software and operational issues. All too often, labs throw just anybody into these tasks with little or no training, then allocate little or no time for on-going training in new technology and procedures.
• Access to Your Records: Over the years, we have found that restricting access to specific areas of data can be very critical to the integrity of the system. Sometimes it is a question of trust, other times of proper training. Not everyone should be allowed to edit and delete customer records, to work with accounts receivable balances and credit card information, to see technician pay and performance records.
• Security of Your Computer Information: The information that is stored in your computer becomes a very important business asset for continued development, customer relationships, analysis and financial prosperity. You should never let your staff become haphazard when it comes to the important tasks of backing up your data to another media at least once each day, storing it off-premise, and knowing how to restore it if necessary.

© Elaine P. Whelan
As Published in the Canadian Journal of Dental Technology September/October, 2002 Volume 5 Number 5