April 2010

The April Release

The April release for DentaLab for QuickBooks is now available from our website (www.mainstreet-systems.com) in the Support section.   We think you will particularly enjoy these:

• New Shipped Report to provide either for all your customers or one specific customer the cases shipped on a specified date.  We thank Eddie Riccobono of Nu-Life for this excellent suggestion that has been a big hit in his lab.  Previously, DQB had a report on cases to be shipped and this new report goes a step further to provide the actual shipments.
• Improved Product Group Report was enhanced with the suggestion from Rob King of Hagstrom Dental Lab  that each category (cases scheduled, invoiced and remake) include both units and dollars.  From Mike Mukhar of Alpha came the suggestion to include a remake percentage for each item in the group.
• New Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) standard has been added to the Image Scanning Supplement to provide auto-cropping and other selections along with retention of your preferences.  The TWAIN standard continues to be included as well.  The impetus to add this came from Unident's acquisition of a new WIA scanner.
• New Tooth Charts will provide for a selection from one or more tooth charts.  We provide the Universal and FDI standards and you can add your own.   Each case will retain an indicator as to which chart was used for the case.   You can also make a free-form entry.  This suggestion came from a number of the cross-overs from other software systems that required selection from a tooth chart.

If you have an up-to-date support agreement, you can call to get the download codes when you are ready.  The release number is 1.22.

April Only!

As it is our most popular supplement and now gives you even greater capability, we are offering the Image Scanning Supplement for a reduced license fee for the remainder of April only.  The standard fee is $400 but it will be available for $200 (US Dollars) until April 30, 2010.   Your system will need to be at DQB release 1.22.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do other labs obtain doctor preferences?

A:  Finding out the preferences of doctors can be accomplished in several ways:

1. In your marketing contacts, ask the doctor and then be sure to record the preferences either by work center or by item
   
2. When discussing a case with the doctor
   
3. Send the doctor his/her preference report, either blank or with previously obtained preferences, and ask for an update
   
4. If using DentalRx for online prescriptions, be sure to let the dental offices know that they can also review and edit their preferences online.

We have often been told by dentists that it is very important to them that their lab remember their preferences and consistently perform their work in accordance with these.  The preferences are available for both review and edit during case entry and printed on the standard work tickets.   If ever the standard preferences are not to be used for a specific case, this can be noted in the case memo.

Q: What are the ways we can let our doctors know the status of their cases?

A:  This can be done in a variety of ways.  If you want to do this on a consistent basis, you can use the Email Notifications Supplement to setup one or more schedules for emailing a report that includes a list of the cases in process in the lab plus a list of recently shipped cases. The email addresses for doctors are recorded in the QuickBooks customer records.  You can also use any of Cases by Date and Status reports or the Shipped Cases report, either printed and then faxed to the doctor or saved to PDF form and sent as an email attachment.

If you are using DentalRx for online prescriptions, the dental office can lookup the status of their cases via the internet.  If the doctor happens to be on the phone, asking about the status of a case, you can quickly request to bring up the Case List for that doctor to first view their list of cases and then click on any one of these to see the details.

What's the Big Deal?

We had to smile when we received a call asking "What's the big deal about computers anyway?  You just put stuff in and get it back out."   There was a basic truth to this comment.  But what is really important about computers is how you get the stuff back out.   Computer records can be queried, filtered, edited, sorted, tallied, compared, calculated, displayed, listed, printed, formatted, sent here and there with greater speed and accuracy than we human beings can.  Now with telecommunications and the internet, distance is typically not an issue in exchanging computer information.  

Which brings us to the next big deal...one that is called by a variety of names from cyberspace to cybersearch to cloud computing to moving into the cloud.   These names all seem to convey a mystical place, a place removed from this earth.   But the basic truth here is that these all mean just another computer or a network of computers somewhere capable of hosting information and communicating it via the internet.  

Cloud computing is very appropriate when a number of people at a variety of locations need to share and exchange information.   With it comes a greater need for security, for protection against intrusion, for knowing who might have access to the information, for knowing with a high degree of confidence that you can put your stuff in and get it back out just the way you want and when you want to have it. 

With our software, we have one system "in the cloud" and this is DentalRx for creating and sending prescriptions from the dental office to the lab as well as preferences and case statuses.  We have also developed custom software for several laboratory operations to provide communication and information exchange between multiple locations and between the lab and its customers.   We will be continuing to keep an eye on new possibilities to help you in your business both for the standard DentaLab for QuickBooks and for custom needs.

Harp Harp Harp

When things are running along smoothly, many of us have a tendency to let certain things go or to procrastinate.   With labs and their software, two of these things are backups and updates. 

We found during the annual reviews that were performed since January of this year that only one of the labs was backing up their data properly and most were not backing up at all.  More labs, but not all, did download the updates to their systems.

You never know when something can happen to burst this bubble....hardware problems, personnel changes, technology changes within the lab environment or with computers, damages due to weather or crimes, government compliance requirements, business competition, etc. etc. etc.  

It is very important to look out for yourself and protect against these possibilities. It takes just a few minutes to backup daily and to update quarterly.   Develop the habit.   If you need guidance, call upon us to help you.  

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