October 2017

Here is what's new in October

The October DQB 1.52 release for DentaLab for QuickBooks is now available for download from the Support section of our website:  www.mainstreetsystems.net

If you have an up-to-date service agreement, please call just before you are ready to download to get the current authorization codes and to have your questions answered.  If you are new to this and would like tech support, just let us know. The download is very fast and very easy.   The guide and a list of enhancements is posted on our website in Support/Quarterly Releases and below in this newsletter.

On behalf of everyone in the DentaLab user group, we thank all of you who contributed your very bright ideas for this.

How DQB helps to support the digital workflow

From the calls we receive from dental labs, it is clear that the increase in digital dental technology is proving to be worthwhile in saving steps, reducing turnaround times, and providing for more accurate communication between the dental office and the lab.   Some of the features that have long been a part of DentaLab for QuickBooks are being used by labs of all sizes to help support the digital case workflow.  Here for your review are some of these:

DQB Image Supplement:  When this was first designed it focused on capturing images with a scanner in the lab.  Some of these included prescriptions, charts, photographs, and completed work tickets.  As digital technology grew, we added electronic images sent from the dental office via email or directly from software, use of a camera to capture images, inclusion of digital files with a wide variety of formats.   Each image is associated with a case and can be easily accessed in the same variety of ways as the case record.   This has been the most popular supplement and is in use in labs of all sizes.

DentalRx Supplement:  This was originally created so that each lab's website could provide a way for the dental office to submit prescriptions directly into DQB that would be easy to read and accurate.  It was expanded to include submission of preferences, lookup of case status, pickup and other requests. Options were added so each lab could customize the presentation to coordinate with their website.   We also added capability for the dental offices to send digital files associated with CAD/CAM workflows.    For those labs that do not already have a website, we offer a way to easily and affordably create a modern website with the DentalRx web portal.

DQB Notifications Supplement:  This provides an alternate way to let the dental offices know via email that you have received their cases and which cases have recently been shipped.   If the lab is using one of the major delivery services with online tracking, this information can be included in the notification.

DQB Features for Emails, Case Communications, Activity Logs:  Built into DQB are many features to keep notes and complete accurate records to help support vital communication between the dentist and the lab and assure that details and promised follow-ups are not forgotten.  

Looking ahead

There are no holidays in October but in November, our offices will be closed for the USA Thanksgiving holiday on the 23rd and 24th.  

If you are planning to update your system in any way, we strongly recommend that you begin in October or November and not wait until the hectic end-of-year and holiday season of December.   

To answer your questions....

Q: Sometimes we end up with duplicate records for the same case because we did not realize a record had already been setup. How can we prevent this?

A:  In Options/Case Settings there are several indicators you can set on to have the program check for a match on patient name.  You can elect to have this done for prebooked, out-for-tryin, on-hold cases or all cases. You can also have a Patient Search button placed directly above the Patient Name field in Case Entry to perform a search upon entry of the patient name.  The results of the search will be shown and if there are one or more matches, you can pick one from the list to continue on with that case rather than creating a new one. 

You can also go to the Case List/Find Case search criteria and enter the customer and patient names to determine if there have been prior cases that match.

Q: Is there a way we can at case entry also take care of setting up a special price we promised for the case? 

A:  Yes, once you have designed the case and saved it, go to the Action menu (located near the bottom left of the screen), click on Advance Bill.    In the advance bill, you can setup your special pricing and if you wish, a message to be printed on the invoice once the case is billed. The invoicing algorithm checks to see if an advance bill has been established for the case and if it has, it is used to create the actual invoice.  An advance bill can also be used to generate an estimate to be given to your customer. 

Q: Can you warn against the most frequent errors users make when using DentaLab for QuickBooks? 

A: DQB, like QuickBooks, has been designed to be very forgiving of user errors.  Whenever anything comes to our attention, we put our heads together to see if we can prevent or correct user errors.   One example of this is being able to change the doctor at the top of the case entry/edit screen if the case was entered for the wrong one.  

We would say that the #1 error is when users are new to the system and do not take the time to build their infrastructure and make their choices before jumping into case entry.   We recommend that everyone browse through the Basic Lists and Options/Settings to see which tables of information and settings will be useful to their lab and use the Help indexed user guide or call us whenever clarification is needed.  While doing this, it is good to tune in to the basic rules of the system, such as having at least one work center, having shipping addresses and default prices established in QuickBooks  Doing this will help to prevent other errors from occurring.

Not truly an error, but we have noticed that some labs do not tune in to the Action menus available on a number of screens that provide further options and thereby miss out on some important capabilities within the system.    

DQB 1.52 has been released

The October 2017 release, also known as DQB 1.52 has been posted on our website along with a guide to download.   

Available for both the starter and standard DQB versions:

Credit Memos in DQB:  From the case action menu, you can create a credit memo based for a selected case in DQB, rather than having to go into QuickBooks to do this.   This action will first generate a credit based on the full value of the case, but you can then edit it.   Saving will create a credit memo in QuickBooks, add a credit transaction to invoice history, and provide for viewing/printing of the credit memo in DQB. You can request customization of your credit memo format. 

Contact Preference:  This is a new free-form field added to the customer record to note how they like to be contacted.  You can enter a general preference such as "Email or phone" or be more specific such as "Takes calls from 11-12 daily" or any appropriate note to remind yourself how it is best to contact the customer.  This will be displayed in the customer record, in the Doctor frame in Case Entry, and in the Customer Profile.

More Reporting by Rep:  For Reports/Sales Analysis by rep, we have added counts for customers and invoices. For Basic Lists/Customer Groups, we have also added a rep column to the customer selection grid.  When creating a group for new customers this will make it easier to see which rep added each new customer.  It can also be used to create a customer group for a specific rep. Note that reps can be actual sales/marketing personnel or any other classification you may need to create categories for reporting sales. 

Available only for the standard DQB version:

Activity Logs Query and Report:  A new menu option called Activity Logs has been added to the Reports/Daily section. This will provide an additional way to track follow-ups needed on a specific day or date range.  The Activity Log query and report that has been available in the Customer Center has been adapted for reporting on all customers by either the enter or alert date range and/or topic.  The report has been enhanced to show more contact information and the full memo.

Technician Productivity Units   For the labs that rely on technician productivity reports, some like the reports to be based on case entry units while others like to have these multiplied by the item's schedule factor.  Now in Options/Case Settings/Technicians, you can indicate your choice on this.  You can also easily change the setting if you want to run your reports both ways.

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