“Like most dental practices, when the pandemic hit, my office closed for two and a half months. At the time, we had a practice management system where online access was very difficult, so the practice was pretty much disabled. No one could come into the office and take care of billing and insurance, which meant we had no money coming in. That’s when we decided that it was time to change to a cloud-based platform, and we talked to Patterson Dental.
 
"Immediately, it became clear that the move to Fuse, their cloud-based practice management software, would benefit us in so many ways. For one thing, we would save thousands of dollars per year by not having to pay for servers and server maintenance – not to mention the enhanced data security and backup. For another, it would give everyone in the office secure access from home as needed. So even if the office manager can’t come in, she can still schedule patients, take care of accounts receivable, and send bills out. Overall, it was just great peace of mind to think that everything would be taken care of.”

A change for the better

“Of course, there’s always some anxiety around change. But our transition to Fuse was remarkably smooth. The platform is very user-friendly, and the interface is really intuitive, with simple icons and lots of ways to get to the information you need. There’s also a chat system for help, if needed. Fuse offered two days of in-office training and my staff members jumped on board and learned it easily. New employees have picked it up quickly, too. It’s like getting a new smartphone – you don’t need the manual, you just use it and learn.

“And the remote access has really lived up to expectations. One advantage I’ve discovered for myself is the ability to finish up my chart notes at my convenience. I can leave the practice in time to pick up my son and take care of things at home, and then complete my notes without having to come back to the office. I never had that access before.”

Profitable insights

“Another thing I’ve learned from Fuse is how to track my KPIs (key performance indicators). In the past, I was never involved in the administrative side of things. Now, with Fuse, I can see KPIs right from the homepage. When we first switched to Fuse and began looking at KPIs, the collections were mostly on red, and it was kind of scary! It’s been nice to watch them turning green, and I’ve found it a very easy, helpful way to monitor our performance. I can tell that Fuse has made the practice more productive, and I think it’s really profitable for any practice to have access to cloud-based software.”