PHASED APPROACH TO GOING DIGITAL

Perkinson & Associates knows that a well–thought out technology strategy is an important part of managing and growing their business. Henry Schein plays a key role in enabling the practice's management team to achieve that vision by planning, building, delivering and supporting the practice's multi–site computer network. As a result, the Perkinson & Associates computer network, built on products and services from TechCentral by Henry Schein One, has been the critical foundation of the practice’s adoption of technology

“Technology is always moving forward,” says Gilbert Roberts Jr., practice administrator for Perkinson and Associates. “For years, our Henry Schein team has worked closely with us to give us expert advice on the best technology fit for our practice. Similar to a treatment plan that dentists give their patients, TechCentral by Henry Schein One gives us a best-approach plan for office automation and networking technologies.”

Over the years, the practice introduced new technologies at a measured pace, allowing personnel to more fully learn and adopt best practices to improve patient care and efficiencies. Next up for the practice will be using Dentrix Enterprise to go completely chartless. This move away from paper–based charting to an all digital process and cloud computing will help doctors and staff eliminate administrative costs and reduce clerical work–both key efficiency–focused objectives in Perkinson's business plan.

With a high–performing TechCentral network solution in place at each location, Roberts says the practice maximizes the return on investments it makes in digital imaging for the speed, convenience, and safety benefits digital radiology. Without their reliable, predictably high–performing network the practice would struggle to keep patient data and business process flowing.

Perkinson's multi-site network from TechCentral has already helped achieve the first step of the practice's paperless office vision. Making clinical notes available from each office over a secure, TechCentral–powered network eliminated the need to manage and store thousands of records in multiple locations, and greatly enhanced collaboration between all offices. As a result, the practice eliminated most of the overhead costs, time and complexity of coordinating records, providing smoother business processes when patients visit different specialists within the practice.

“Eliminating paper gives us more efficient access to the patient information we need,” says Patricia Macey, administrative assistant for Perkinson and Associates. “Being able to access all documents digitally from any of our locations will be a tremendous help to us. It also supports our desire to be a green practice.”

Perkinson's digital transition also includes scanning older paper files for network storage to eliminate paper archives, and reclaiming of valuable office space. When finished, the practice will reclaim the space currently occupied by several rows of chart–filled file cabinets in each of the practice's offices. With all patient data online and available from any location, the practice will eliminate the need of a courier to shuttle charts and documents between offices on a daily basis.

Roberts and his staff understand the move to an all–digital environment requires technology expertise to insure high reliability and performance. “When you tie your practice closely to digital systems, you need highly trained IT professionals to keep it running smooth,” Roberts says. “You need redundant systems. And you need to build off-site disaster recovery to safeguard against disasters and unforeseen problems. Henry Schein experts and TechCentral solutions give us all of that to help keep us from ever going down.”

“Similar to a treatment plan that dentists give their patients, TechCentral by Henry Schein One gives us a best–approach plan for office automation and networking technologies”

GILBERT ROBERTS JR.
Perkinson and Associates Administrator

SEAMLESS IMPLEMENTATION & INTEGRATION

In addition to providing Perkinson's technology vision, Henry Schein also plays a major role in implementing that vision. Henry Schein technology specialists and field technicians strategically plan computer technology rollouts based on Perkinson’s unique needs, allowing the practice to run reliably and efficiently. As a result, the practice services more patients and continues to grow its business. “Since they've been doing this for over two decades, TechCentral experts know all the ins and outs of putting together network solutions specifically for dental offices,” Roberts says. “As IT dental specialists, Henry Schein has been our advocate, finding and deploying the best computer and network hardware to meet our practice's objectives. Other IT service providers don't really work enough in the dental and medical markets to understand the intricacies of these specialized fields. That's all Henry Schein does.”

Macey adds, “TechCentral understands how to build network solutions that integrate practice management and imaging across multiple locations. They know the bandwidth and processing power required to achieve the right levels of WAN throughput and performance. They work with our service providers to make sure we get the office–to–office connectivity we need. Then they make everything work together so it's seamless.”

STRATEGIC PRACTICE GROWTH SIMPLIFIED

Every dental practice wants to grow and be more profitable, but growth brings with it some real challenges and risks that must be addressed. If not, practices face real logistical challenges and potential service disruptions when deploying new computers, network equipment and digital imaging systems at new locations.

As Perkinson and Associates adds its tenth office location this year, Henry Schein and TechCentral solutions will be essential to helping the Perkinson team address growth–associated challenges. With TechCentral providing much of its IT support, Perkinson has simplified the logistics of bringing new offices online, delivering the seamless site–to–site interconnectivity that the practice needs.

“With so many locations, we have a different model than most practices,” Roberts says. “It can be a real challenge to figure out the best way to provide digital services to all locations, all hosted from servers located in one office. Henry Schein's team and TechCentral solutions provide a methodical approach to ensuring that everything works together. As we've expanded our operations over the years, TechCentral solutions helped us to grow strategically and continually provide improved patient care.“

HENRY SCHEIN, A VALUABLE PARTNER

“Henry Schein removes the complexity of technology for us, making it easier to understand and take advantage of the technologies we need to meet our changing business needs,” says Macey. “Leveraging the expertise that TechCentral has gained over the years working with hundreds of other dental customers, we are able to make better, more informed decisions.”

“For more than 20 years, we've had a great relationship with the people at TechCentral by Henry Schein One,” says Macey. “They've always been there for us. Even if we end up hiring our own IT staff, Henry Schein will still be an integral part of the equation. TechCentral's integrated technology solutions have become essential to our operations.”

Many of your peers depend on TechCentral solutions and services every day. See what Porter and Singley Family Dental is saying with their case study.