September 2023

Ready for autumn in Pennsylvania

Just as so many of our winters here in Pennsylvania want to hang on well into spring, this year the heat and humidity of summer has continued on and on.  But this week the forecast is finally for those cool crisp days that can inspire everyone to get back in action.  

For the next release, we have had requests to expand the reports that focus on one customer to provide for reporting by customer group for the group and organizational dental practices.  Let us know soon the specific reports that would be most useful for you.  

This newsletter will focus on several of the convenience features that are unique to DQB.

Creating your own dictionary with lab notes

In DQB Basic Lists-Lab Notes you can enter a single word or a phrase for any you want to assure accuracy or will be using frequently in the note-taking fields within the program.   Here are some of these fields: 

• Case Entry -Additional Case Notes, Notes for Case Item, Tech Notes, Case Communications/Alerts, Action Requests 
• Customers -Activity Logs, Preferences by Work Center, by Item, Schedule Pickups 
• Invoicing - Additional Customer Message 
• Options/Email Settings - DQB Email Setup
  

When focused in a note/memo field, simply right-click to access this feature.  From the sub-menu, you can choose to Add to Standard Notes or Insert from Standard Notes. 

Let us know if there are more places in the program where you would like to have this convenient feature. 

Internal notifications for managers and those away from the lab

The DQB Notifications supplement was originally designed for scheduling and sending reports via email to customers on their cases received and recently shipped. 

Along the way, we had requests to add more reports to convey what was happening in the lab to managers and those who are at another location or travelling.   These have several advantages over other access methods because the emails are readily available on all mobile devices without having to enter criteria or elaborate security measures or compete with others using the program at the lab. 

Here are the internal notification reports already developed:  

• Work in Progress   
• Cases by Ship Route  
• Cases on Hold
  

You can create a report template with a guiding message and schedule the automatic dates and intervals specifying which report(s) are to be sent to each specific email address.  

To answer your questions....

Q: At this point, which of the DQB features are web-based? 

A:  The internet applications that are currently part of DQB are:

• Advanced Backup Protocol
• DentalRx
• Lab Lookup
  
• Local Driver App
• Notifications - Customer and Internal Personnel
  
• Remote Access
  
• Synchronization with QuickBooks Online
  
• Tablet Workflow App

The Advanced Backup Protocol provides for both local and web-based backups with your choice of automatic backup schedules, encryption levels, media and locations.

Having a web-based portal for the dental offices to submit prescriptions and digital files, lookup cases and other communications was the first of the DQB supplements designed to work with the internet.   This is called DentalRx.   The successful implementation and ongoing reliability of this over the years led to many new features and choices developed at the request of both the labs and dental offices.  We now offer three choices on how to implement this:  

1. Inclusion in your existing website with customization to coordinate with its look and standards. 
   
2. Development of a new website with the standard web portal. 
3. A simple link for the standard web portal available as part of your service agreement.  
   

Lab Lookup provides a service for your customers to lookup their current and history cases and to communicate with the lab.

The Local Driver App provides for pickup and delivery lists available on the driver's smartphone with the ability to mark completions, record notes, interact with the lab, access maps and directions.   It also provides for monitoring the daily pickups and deliveries from the lab.   

The Notifications supplement began as a simple email transmission program to send reports on cases received and recently shipped to customers at scheduled times.   This has been expanded to include marketing messages and shipment tracking information, as well as the possibility of custom reports.   More recently we added internal notifications to send designated reports via email to lab management personnel at scheduled times. 

The DQBT Tablet Workflow App provides for technician and work center assignments, lookup of related case and customer information, marking start, pause, restart and finish on case items, timing and production analysis, monitoring by lab managers.   This was designed for use on tablets with touch technology but can also be used on desktop/laptop computers.

DQB can synchronize with the QuickBooks online subscriptions as well as the desktop versions such as Pro, Premier and Enterprise. 

For remote access, you have a choice of many options now widely available.  We typically use AnyDesk to provide support to you and join.me for training webinars.  You can host in-house or choose a secured webhosting service.  For this, we recommend using a VPN (virtual private network) or Amazon Web Services.

Because of the increased mandatory security standards for internet transmissions, we will need to comply with those standards on a regular basis.  Installations and setups will need to be performed by our trained technical staff.   Typically, there will be a small setup charge for this.   Then ongoing participation in a service agreement will be required to maintain compliance with security measures.

Q:  We accidentally deleted a case.  Can we reactivate it? 

A:  In the standard version of DQB, the Cases menu has an option Deleted Cases.  From the list, you can select the deleted case, then right-click and select Reactivate.  

In the more limited starter version, this option is not available.  If you have printed a work ticket, use the information to create a new case snd then print the new ticket. 

Doing a lot more from the Case List

In DQB, the Case List is most often used to search for and then select a case for further review and/or editing.  It can, however, be a powerful tool for pinpointing issues, improving your workflow, providing superb customer service and many other management functions. There are many reports and queries to provide information but often the case list can provide faster answers.   Here are some good examples:

• To pinpoint cases that may be incurring too many try-ins or remakes
• To help assure that cases are being shipped on schedule
• To quickly pinpoint cases to be shipped but still in the lab
• To provide priority service or special attention to your customers
• To know which cases were submitted by the dental office via DentalRx
• To determine if cases have been on hold or out for try-in for a long time

Here are six basic rules to help get you started:

1. Whenever applicable, you can select the type of date and the range from the two graphic calendars plus any other criteria you wish.
2. For text fields, you can choose whether to match from beginning or anywhere in the field.
   
3. From the action menu (bottom left) you can customize columns to choose which fields you want to see.
4. You can click each column header once to sort in one direction and again to sort in the opposite direction.
5. After each search, the program will provide case counts and from the action menu, you can export the results to Excel.
6. Remember to refresh to clear all your prior search criteria.

We also have a white paper titled DQB Mastering the Case List that can be sent to you via email if you would like to have a handy guide. 

The advantages of creating a case invoice in DQB

Many of the labs that now use DQB for case management began with using just QuickBooks for invoicing their cases.   There have been two major factors in their decision to add DQB.  One has been keeping track of request dates and the dates involved in the workflow to produce and deliver the cases.   The other has been the unique needs involved in invoicing their cases.   Here are some of them:   

Assuring accuracy and completeness: 

In addition to the main service, the invoice may need to accurately cover materials used, safety measures, shipping fees, rush fees. 

Clearly showing case information: 

The case fields most frequently added to invoices are the patient name, shade, tooth numbers, short memo.  Others include received date, request date/time, pan code.  

Group Practices: 

For some group practices, invoices are directed to the group while patients, scheduling and preferences are aligned with the individual doctors.

Special pricing: 

For many labs, there has been the need to negotiate pricing, sometimes for specific services, sometimes by percentage and then assuring that price commitments are applied to invoices. 

Tracking revenue lost due to remakes:  

Whether and how much to charge when remakes are requested, determining responsibility, tracking patterns by dentists, internal work centers and technicians, quality control issues.   

Special discounts:  

These are typically for one-time scenarios or requests, for courtesy discounts, introductory specials, marketing campaigns.  Being able to track the outcomes is important.   

Multi-stage cases: 

Determining how much to charge for each stage, having the case invoice history readily available when creating new invoices, assuring that billings are accurate and complete.

Continuation cases: 

These are multiple cases for the same doctor plus patient, where it is important to know the full details of the history.  

Adding technical details/messages: 

The standard item description may need to be edited or appended with technical details or messages for the patient's history.

No cost advertisement and marketing: 

To let the dental offices know more about your offerings, strengths and events, you can very easily include your messages with each invoice.  

Recalls/safety concerns: 

If the need develops for recalls or safety measures on specific manufacturers, products, batches or lots, the ability to find all corresponding cases is critical.

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