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January 2019

DentaLab NewsJanuary 2019
from Mainstreet Systems & Software

FAQ  DentaLab News

 

A great start for the new year!

January has, between the northern winter weather and the post-holiday recovery, traditionally been one of the slower months of the year but not so this year.   In the first week of 2019, we added five new licensees for DentaLab for QuickBooks.   The majority of these switched to DQB because of the lack of timely responsive service for their prior software.  

If you are open to making new year resolutions, here are some suggestions for you:   

  • Be open to ways a small investment in new technology can add thousands to your revenue.   
  • From time to time monitor the availability and performance of your computer resources. 
  • Make a pact with yourself to not be afraid of small learning curves.
  • If you are the administrator/expert for your computer system, make time to educate others in the lab on its capabilities and resources. 
  • Know that although the term magic is sometimes applied to technical achievements, these are the result of planning and details, not magic. 

Already obsolete and no longer supported or soon to be in 2019 are SQL Server 2005 and 2008, Windows 7 and prior, QuickBooks versions older than 3 years if you are using any of Intuit's web-based services.   It is a false economy to take a chance on unsupported computer resources.

Here at Mainstreet we have also been very busy with the final testing, review and documentation for the January release, expansion of the notifications supplement and the upcoming local driver app for smart phones and tablets. 

For your walk around the lab....

While discussing the DQBT workflow app that has been designed for use by technicians and their managers, several labs asked about the possibility of using a tablet to make entries while they walked around the lab.  Some of the things they said they would like to accomplish are:

  • edits to a case and/or its schedule that become evident as the case is being developed 
  • creating the case invoice as it nears completion 
  • adding notes, case communications or actions required for the customer or case

In recent years, computer manufacturers have introduced new laptop models with detachable tablets such as Microsoft's Surface line that are ideal for this. The tablet can be used to access either the full DQB menu or the DQB menu options authorized for the user's security level.  You will need to have your Wifi range cover your walk-around area.

 

Some help for winter weather

At this time of year in Pennsylvania, we are ever watchful for the possibility of snowy icey roads and loss of power due to high winds and storms.   In our role as software developers, however, we are also watchful for advances in technology that will help us provide support to you whenever needed. 

We now use Verizon's Digital Voice system to have calls coming into Mainstreet directed to our smart phones.   One of our locations has a Generac standby generator with two large propane tanks that will provide electrical power should we lose our main source.   Some of our services that rely on internet capabilities use Amazon Web Services with its high levels of security and co-locations to assure ongoing service.

Not 100% yet...but getting closer.  Should you not be able to reach us on your first try, we recommend that you send a message both by telephone and email and include the best way to respond to you.

 

    Easy, versatile software for the modern dental laboratory.

To answer your questions...

Q: When we enter a combination case, we sometimes need to add a specification such as shade, material or tooth number to one item in the case.  Is there a way to do this ?

A: Yes.   When you design the case in the Add Items tab, the grid at the bottom will include the case items.  You can click on any item to display another screen with more details.   Here you can enter your specification in the item notes field.    In Options/Invoice Settings, you can also setup to have the QuickBooks Other1 and Other2 fields available for the item.  If you do, these will appear to the right with the name of the field and an entry box. These extra specifications will be transferred to the case item record and the standard work tickets. 

Q: When a case comes back into the lab that we marked as finished and invoiced but now needs changes, how is it best to handle the case records and invoicing?

A: First, from the action menu in the case list or case entry, select Reactivate Case to open it.   If it is now a remake, click the Remake? indicator.  In the add items tab, go to the case item grid and click any items to bring up the detail screen and reschedule as needed.  You can next print a new work ticket.  

When it is time to invoice, the program will tell you that the case has already been invoiced.  You will have a choice of 1) overwriting the prior invoice  2) transferring all items into another invoice  3) keeping only the items that are to be re-invoiced.   You can adjust the amount to be billed for each line item.    If this amount is less than the standard pricing, the difference will be entered into the remake amount field to reflect lost revenue in your reports. 

Q: We want to set some of the items we are eliminating to an inactive status.   How can we make sure that we don't have  any of these in cases that are not yet finished?

A: You are wise to be cautious about this.  In DQB/Basic Lists/Product Groups, you can set up a special group for this, perhaps giving it a name such as "Items to be eliminated"  or "Items no longer in use".  Then in the Cases menu, chose Special Items by Product  or Case Items Sorted and select the product group you have setup for items to be eliminated.   Chose a scheduled date range that would typically cover the possibility of having an unfinished case with the item.  Generate the report.   If it is empty, you can proceed with setting the item(s) to inactive status in QuickBooks.  If there are still open cases with any of the items, take measures to finish or clear these.

Once this is done and you have deactivated an item, you can also remove it from your special product group.  Note that if you want to make a customer inactive, you can work from the Case List, setting up your criteria with the customer and case status to see if there are still any open, out for try-in or on-hold cases for the customer.

   With the same look and feel of QuickBooks.

Shipping and delivering cases

In DentaLab for QuickBooks (DQB), there are a number of features designed to provide for marking cases as shipped, specifying the shipment method, local delivery services and for the major delivery services, generating and monitoring with the shipment tracking number.  A variety of reports and queries are available to support the shipping and delivering of cases.  

For those services with online tracking such as FedEx, UPS and the USPS, the tracking number can be used to link to the service for more specific details on the pickup, transit, and delivery of each shipment.   This tracking number can be given to the dental office in a variety of ways such as printed on the invoice, email notification, DentalRx web reports.  

For local services, DQB provides for pickup requests, reports to gather cases to be shipped, pickup and delivery lists for local drivers. 

NOTE:  New white paper on DQB Shipping and Delivering Cases

Because we have had a lot of interest and requests involving shipping and delivery of cases, we have updated our white paper to review all the features in DQB that cover the shipment, delivery and pickup of cases.  You can request to have the white paper emailed to you.

DQB 1.57 January Release

The full release notes are posted on our website www.mainstreetsystems.net in the Support/Quarterly Releases tab. along with a short guide on downloading.   Those with an up-to-date service agreement can call for the latest authorization codes when ready to download.   Here are the highlights of this release.    

The following are available for both the starter and standard versions of DQB:

Marking Cases as Shipped in Case Entry

The primary way to mark multiple cases as shipped has been through the QC and Ship option in the Cases menu.   For those who would like to mark just one case, we have added an option for this in the Case Entry and Case List action.  Once a case is saved, next to the Tracking field where you can scan or enter the shipment tracking number for the major delivery services is a button QC/Ship to also mark the individual case as shipped.  

The Actual Date/Time Shipped field will be set to the current date/time.   Note that for the delivery services such as UPS and Fedex that provide online tracking,  the specific pickup, transit and delivery date/time will be available from their website.

Also note that the Ship Date at the top of the case entry screen is the planned ship date.   The Actual Shipped Date/Time is a separate field.  When entered, this will be displayed in the Case Activities frame. 

Add Case Barcode to the Cases Shipped Report

The barcode for the case number will be in 39 (also called 3 of 9) format.   You do not need to have the Barcode Case Tracking supplement to have this barcode printed on the report.

Customers by Ship Method List

In Basic Lists/Print Lists is a new option to list Customers by Ship Method.  You can choose to list all ship methods or select one ship method.

Additions to Case Settings to Disable/Require Entry Fields

In Options/Case Settings for the Disable/Require Fields set, we have added: 

  • Class (NOTE:  Always coordinate this with QuickBooks classes.) 
  • Adjustment Reason 
  • Remake Reason 
  • On Hold Reason

We have also added an option to hide the Prescribing Doctor field.   This field has been primarily used by those who have not used jobs in QuickBooks for the individual doctors in group practices.

Case List:  Convenient Reset for Criteria

In the Case List, you can find cases in a variety of ways, some simple, others with multiple criteria.  We have added a convenient Reset button to completely clear the criteria from your prior search and give you a clean slate to enter your new criteria.

Improved Patient Matching in Case Entry

In Options/Case Settings  you can click on the indicator for:   Prebooked/On Hold/Out for Try-In Patient Match. Show auto-complete matches under the case entry patient name textbox when typing.  You can also indicate that you want to search On Hold cases for the doctor with a matching patient name.

If the  above are clicked on, once you enter 3 or more characters in the patient name field,  the program will display a frame with cases that have one of the designated case statuses.  The columns shown will help you to determine if you already have a case with a matching patient name.

If you determine that one of the cases matches the case at hand, you can choose to switch to it for the current case and continue on with your entry. 

There is also an option to show the Prior Patient Search button in Case Entry.  If shown, you can click to provide for entry of a full or partial patient name and a choice between matching at the beginning or anywhere in the name.  This will generate a list of matching patient names. You can select one name to insert into your current case.  

Invoice Register Added to Starter

The invoice register that has been available in the standard version has been added to the starter version.  You can show or print the register for one customer or all customers for a specified invoice date range.

The following are available only for the standard version of DQB:

Transfer Customer Auxiliary Information from Another Account

This new feature is available from the top right of the DQB Customer Center screen.   It was designed to provide convenience for transferring preferences to multiple doctors in a group practice, but can be used for any other situation.   You can choose to transfer preferences by work center, general preferences and preferences by item, as well as customer alerts and notification schedules.   If text already exists for any of these, you can choose to append or replace it with the transferred text.   

NOTE:  We have moved  NOTIFICATIONS  from the Customer Center to the Main Menu for those who have licensed the Notifications supplement.

See the topic below for further details. 

The Notifications supplement has been expanded

Previously, the Notifications supplement has been used to send regularly scheduled reports to designated customers on cases received and open in the lab and cases recently shipped.   We have now expanded this supplement to email some of the case reports to designated lab personnel.  Currently there is a choice of three reports from the Cases By menu.  We can expand this list or add custom requests in the future.   

As with the reports emailed to customers, you can setup automatic schedules and assign these to specific email addresses with subject lines, a cover memo.   Although designed for internal management personnel, the reports can be emailed to others.

We have moved this from the Customer Center to the Notification option in the Main Menu.   This will include options to setup your email credentials and defaults, as well as the schedules and assignments.

We have updated our white paper on DQB Notifications to include the new features.  If you would like to have a copy emailed to you, call or email your request.  

If you have already licensed the Notifications supplement, the new features will be included in your download of DQB Release 1.57.   If you wish to license this supplement, please call or email us.  The current fee is $400 USD.

If you wish to be removed, reply to this email with the subject "unsubscribe".

   

Customization is available for all products.

Contact us at 1-800-257-4535 or www.mainstreet-systems.com.

"Works like a charm! This is great; thanks so much!"

Rob King
Hagstrom Dental Laboratory
Seattle, WA


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