Improving Practice Productivity with Analytics

Improving Practice Productivity With Analytics

With almost 11 ADA recognized dental specialties and having a burgeoning market share, the specialty dental business is here to make significant gains in the coming years as we take a cursory glance on the latest trends of the dental industry.

Listen to Ryan Arnold, Principal, Wisdom Teeth Guys as he explains the possibilities that lie ahead for Dental Specialty business and how he has paid attention on patient care,technology adoption and brand management to further sustainable practice growth for his specialty.

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Creating Sustainable Specialty Dental Businesses

Dentistry's Inner Circle Podcast

A series of podcasts from practice owners on how they navigated the change and successfully transitioned to CareStack. 

Enabling Technology to Connect Better with Your Patients

How Dr. Williams' Practice Optimized Growth with CareStack

Case Study: How Dr. Williams' Practice Optimized Growth with CareStack

Expanding Dental Care beyond the Clinic

Expanding Dental Care Beyond the Clinic

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Embracing Change To Grow Your Group

Enable Dental Completes Its Migration To CareStack

Enable Dental Completes Its Migration To Industry Leading Cloud Based Dental Software

Beatrice

Ishtiaq Rouf

Dana Veach

Dr. Himesh Kana, DDS

Himesh Kana

 Penny Filipe

Promoted to Manager, Now What

Promoted to Manager, Now What?

Top Trends in Dental Software for 2025

Top Trends in Dental Software for 2025: What Practices Should Prepare For

Brand Guidelines for Dental Offices to Attract and Retain Gen-Z Patients

Reducing patient no-shows and cancellations begins by accepting that 

it’s impossible to guarantee that your patients will always keep their appointments

. Once you accept that this falls outside your control, you can pool your efforts on the aspects that are within your control, and which help reduce no-shows and cancellations.

missed appointments cause a ripple effect

 that impacts your schedules, revenues, and the effectiveness of treatments. It strikes a serious blow to your bottom line. But with that said, there are 

effective safeguards you can put in place

 to address this issue. Before we explore these safeguards, let’s examine the key reasons behind no-shows and cancellations. 

Typically, patients miss their appointments when they:

Don’t understand the importance of keeping their appointments

Misunderstand when their appointment is scheduled

Self diagnose and decide to skip their appointments

Worry about bad news and try to avoid the situation

Have a shallow relationship with the provider

There is a wide range of reasons for patients to miss their appointments, but most can be mitigated with improved patient-provider communication and by implementing the following safeguards.

It became widely accepted as a care delivery method after the 2020 pandemic, but thanks to the convenience offered to patients, 

 is here to stay. Outside the initial check-up and actual treatment, consultations and routine post-op visits can be performed remotely. The virtual interactions offer patients the opportunity to 

receive treatment in the comfort of their living room

 or office. The added benefit of leveraging teledentistry is it adds one less reason for patients to rethink or opt out of their dental appointments. 

Another approach that has gained traction is using 

 to collect vital patient information. E-forms are a key feature of modern practice management software (PMS). This feature is now used widely to stay in line with the COVID-19 safety protocols. With this new norm, practices have completely replaced the clipboard and embraced digitization. Another fact that supports this approach is that 

98% of patients who take time to fill out online forms commit to their appointments

COVID-19 has added fuel to the fire of dental anxiety among patients. The risk of exposure is a valid fear. The best way for you to 

 is with communication and education. Ensure you convey the safety protocols and measures followed at your practice to reduce the risks from COVID-19. Launching targeted email campaigns, and updating relevant information on your practice website and 

convey your commitment to patient care and safety

 and encourage patients to follow through with their appointments.

When you provide your patients with the option to make payments in advance, it reduces the instances of no-shows and benefits your collections and accounts receivable. Get paid upfront instead of having to wait for 2-3 months. Paying cash in advance leads to 

. You can provide this option during patient checkout, especially when both you and your patient agree with the importance of scheduling the next appointment.

Offering upfront payment at this stage is apt, as the patient is likelier to take action and commit to their oral health. Another way to make it easy for them to pay is by providing an 

. Make sure that you inform your patient about your prepaid payment options. Market it through your campaigns, newsletters, and phone scripts.

Reminders are an effective way to reduce patient no-shows. Plan your 

and decide on a frequency that works best for your target clientele. Start off with a postcard, followed by email and text reminders. Add a phone reminder a few days before the scheduled appointment. Ensure that you cut down on reminders once you receive confirmation from your patients. Practice management software aids you to launch, coordinate and track your recall campaigns effectively.

reward patients who keep their appointments

. The reward initiatives can include discounts or gift cards. The benefits of such an approach are twofold. You encourage your patients to follow through on your appointments and 

convey how much you value their participation

. Moreover, curating such experiences helps you retain your customers.

Sometimes, patients simply forget an appointment. Send 

 that can include a “We missed you at the practice” message. Follow this up with a phone call to encourage them to reschedule immediately.

It is crucial that your patients know the impact of your treatments on their oral health. If your patients are not invested in the outcomes of your treatment plan, it is unlikely that they will uphold their commitments. 

 before every appointment. Remind them of the benefits of the procedure and the progress they’ve made so far. 

 of the scheduled appointment and ensure that they are fully onboard. A phone reminder before the appointment will help refresh what they already know about the 

Patients skip appointments because they owe your practice money or are worried the procedure will be too expensive. When this happens, it’s time to 

. It’s important that payments never come as a surprise to the patient. This causes anxiety in the patient, especially when they expect hidden expenses from each visit. When 

 and benefits are discussed upfront and agreed upon, patient no-shows due to financial concerns can be avoided. 

 allows you to effectively educate and communicate with your patients. Automating tasks like appointment reminders or confirmation/cancellation emails, filling last-minute openings, and sending online forms and other notifications to engage patients, practices can drastically cut revenue loss and staff workload while reducing patient no-shows and cancellations.

Eliminating No-Shows and Cancellations at Dental Office

For a dental practice, revenue cycle management is the equivalent of the body’s circulatory system and the heart of a practice’s financial success. The revenue cycle incorporates data capture, claims and denials management, and the collection of payments from both patient and insurance receivables. A healthy system works in concert with industry best practices and technical solutions to optimize efficiencies, identify “leaks” and improve operational workflows. As every practice is unique, it is difficult to prescribe a “one size fits all” approach. However, there are key performance indicators, which can and should be followed to measure practice performance. There are several potential KPIs which provide valuable insight into the collection’s performance and financial health of practice including, but not limited to: Collections percentage, Production growth, Aging accounts receivable, Days sales outstanding, Adjustments percentage, and Credit balances. 

Since 2011, the dental industry has experienced a steady and upward trend in aging receivables, with the majority of balances aged greater than 90 days. The good news is that CareStack offers a solution that combines modern technology, effective processes, and industry expertise to kick start the heart and breathe life back into the revenue cycle.

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professional

Revenue Cycle Playbook for Dental Professionals

From small, solo practices to large, multi-location clinics, these case studies demonstrate the versatility and value of CareStack in improving the patient experience and driving practice . 

Amidst the economic uncertainties of the pandemic, many 

 have found a solution to cutting costs and optimizing operations through outsourcing their revenue cycle management.

Outsourcing improves profits by up to 10 per cent in net collections, boosting team morale.

Keeping this context in mind, let’s examine the benefits of dental billing outsourcing and how it can benefit your practice management team.

Understanding the needs of your dental practice, such as “Should I outsource my 

 operations?” is a question that more and more dentists and practice owners are asking themselves. The answer often varies and is generally dependent on these three crucial factors.

Assessing the needs of your dental practice is determined by the volume of tasks, billing workload, and requirements for scalability.

Choosing a service that specializes in your area can ensure compliance with specific coding and billing practices. Some practices may only need help with specific aspects of billing, such as coding or claims follow-up, while others may want to offload billing tasks completely.

Reduce overhead costs associated with hiring, training, and maintaining an in-house 

 team. Therefore, staying updated with regulatory changes while ensuring that your practice benefits from advanced tools without the need for continuous investment.

Understanding the needs of your dental practice

 pipeline has on your revenue cycle, we must first consider the various 

 that your practice is currently incurring.

Benefits and employer fee, Clearinghouse fee, Statement fee, Direct claim costs,Hourly wages.

Claim rejections, denials, reduction in cash flow, and bad debts.The second consideration would be the safety of your patients’ data on outsourcing. This is crucial, and the outsourcing team should comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act HIPAA regulations.

Choosing the RCM Outsourcing Service type you need

A proper solution needs to be selected and implemented depending on your practice's billing requirements. Let's examine the two major types of outsourcing among the variety of 

 as the name suggests, outsources all of your billing tasks, including claim and denial management, to a team of experts. Most outsourcing firms offer this service, but it requires an in-house team at the service location to coordinate and handle processes such as patient registration and credentialing.

 delivers the whole package. It is when you hand over almost the entirety of your revenue cycle to an RCM team. These 

 involve the provision of software or technology tools that work in tandem with a team of experts. They cover almost every aspect of the billing cycle and may even provide practice consultation.


 Basic outsourcing Fullstack outsourcing Claim management Yes Yes Rejection management and claim re-working Yes Yes Denial management Yes Yes Financial reporting Yes Yes Handling patient statements Yes Credentialing Yes Eligibility verification Yes Claim research and follow-up on A/R Yes Dental coding services Yes Charge submission Yes Practice Management Software (PMS) Yes No extra clearinghouse fees Yes No need for fulltime billing staff Yes


 doesn't necessarily mean the team should be disbanded; instead, they can be delegated to contribute more to other projects. An example would be creating a financial counselor or finance trainer so your patients can better understand benefits and other claim-related concepts within the 

CareStack offers CareRevenue RCM Solutions

, a fullstack outsourcing collusion that offers eligibility and benefit verification, dental claims billing, receivables and denial management, payment posting and reconciliation, and medical billing for dental procedures. The service is designed to ensure that dental RCM processes in an office are optimized, while driving efficiency and profitability. Customers have reduced their day sales outstanding by upto 50% after they started using CareRevenue.

Reduction in accounts receivable days from 20 days to 12.

Central Billing Team to manage claims and payments at all offices

Avg Broken Appt Rates, going as low as 2% (Against National Average of 18%)

Learn how we can help you reduce claim rejections and denials.

Book a demo with us!

Optimizing Your Dental Practice IT with Cloud-Based Software

Dental patient portals are websites or access points that are exclusively designed to connect patients with their health records and treatment history at large.

Patient Portal usage rates are climbing as it allows patients to keep track of their dental health activities and related communication all in one place.

According to a report by AHA, 92 percent of patients can view their health records online today.

For the best treatment and patient experience, the exchangeable health information from all sources should be accurate, standardized, and easily available at every step of their oral health journey. This is where Dental Patient Portals sweeps in, providing a safe and seamless experience.

Here in this blog, let’s take a deeper look at the four major benefits of using a patient portal.

A dental patient portal is a great tool that helps your patients to access their dental history forms, such as appointments and prescriptions, while also being a medium to communicate with their healthcare providers. Also, some practice management solutions offer features like 

 and payment options in their patient portals.

Patient Portal Benefits

Offering your patients the convenience they deserve is key to ensuring satisfaction and loyalty. The role of patient portals in creating this next-level patient experience is phenomenal.

Dental patient portals have many unique features that add to the convenience factor, including online appointment scheduling, 

 that can be filled out even before reaching the practice for their appointment, and many more.

Patients can access their health records through the patient portal anywhere, anytime, and the only mandate is an internet connection. However, the information communicated by the practices through the portal must be presented in a simple and precise way so that it helps the patients in making the best care decisions for themselves.

Offering Your Patients

Patients can also view consent forms and fill out their Medical History prior to the appointment, eliminating the need for unnecessary commute and wait times at the practice. Treatment plans are also available through the patient portals, for which patients can sign their consent after careful consideration.

Prompt communication is the crux of patient engagement. The dental patient portal allows patients to send secure messages to the practice and vice versa. This transparent and quick communication will rule out miscommunication to facilitate smooth patient engagement.

Patients can opt-in for reminders and notifications and choose a convenient medium and time of communication(text messages, email, or voice calls) through the patient portal.

Prompt Communication

These days, patients hugely depend on online resources to source information and learn about their health conditions. This happens especially if the answers from their dentists or front office staff do not convince the patient.

Since the portals are directly connected to the EHRs, it is easier for the practices to fetch accurate health records, information about the proposed treatments, payment options, and post-operative care instructions and offer them to the patients.

This relevant information will make patients empowered to make better informed clinical decisions and can become fuller partners in their oral health care.

Dental patient portals can offer personalized patient experience at every touch point of their oral healthcare journey.

From scheduling their appointment to understanding the post-operative care instructions, patient portals offer the highest level of personalization for each patient.

Patient treatment information can be uploaded and made available to the patients as they might not recall every detail you tell them about the treatment. Some of it may skip their minds. Uploading the medical information in the portal that can be reviewed later will give your patients knowledge and compliance.

Patient portals also offer features such as instant messaging, request prescription refills, and other convenience integrations to keep your patients returning for more care.

An overwhelming majority of adults agreed that access to a dental patient portal would increase their general understanding of dental health and level of trust in their dental providers and help them manage their overall health goals.



Source: CareQuest Institute for Oral Health’s Report

According to the 21st Century Cures Act and Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) Final Rule, there is a mandate that all healthcare providers must make the following eight data types available to patients free of charge:

The dental patient portal can make these data available for patients and help practices improve patient care and provider workflow. It’s user-friendly and puts all the desired actions at your patient’s fingertips. It eliminates the need for hard copies reducing paper waste which will be beneficial for the practice in the long run.

Time is the most valuable asset, and the patient portal saves your practice a lot of time.

By reducing the number of calls and communicating through the patient portal, life becomes so much easier for the patient as well as your staff.

Cybercriminals are always looking for weaknesses in systems to hijack personal details. Medical data holds the potential to lure them in. Allowing your patients’ sensitive health records to be published on dental patient portals raises another blaring question.

Are Dental Patient Portals Safe

Patient portals are safe and have an additional layer of protection as it holds vulnerable electronic patient health records. In order to access their patient portal, patients need to complete two-factor authentication. This includes entering the username and password along with their identity verification.

Security and privacy requirements are embedded into every layer of the portal infrastructure. This includes mechanisms to validate the practices and standards of third-party apps and APIs that allow more flexible data sharing. It is advisable to choose a patient portal provider that has a workflow set for practices to verify that a request for information is genuine and authorized.

Another common method used to protect patients’ data is encryption. It takes plain text and converts it into cipher text, which comprises seemingly random characters. The users will need a special key to decrypt it, keeping the sensitive data safe from potential hackers and cybercriminals.

 is curated to improve patient care and provider workflow. CareStack patient portal is part of the all-in-one practice management software, and this eliminates the need for additional patient portal software subscriptions.

CareStack Patient Portal

󠀠The most modern interface of the portal creates a comfortable user experience, and the patients can fill out their forms, sign consent and view treatment plans with ease.

The CareStack patient portal has a highly organized dashboard that informs the patients about the forms to be filled and signed. This will keep the patient informed, and they can view and access everything they need to do in one place.

Unique features that make CareStack Patient Portal stand out are:

1. Patients can view and confirm appointments through the portal which will considerably reduce the number of calls coming into the practice.

2. Patients can fill up their Medical History and sign Consent Forms prior to their appointment.

3. Users can view treatment plans and sign the consent once shared.

4. Patients can book their appointments through CareStack patient portal

5. Patients can access completed treatments with financials.

6. The portal allows your patients to send messages to the practice, upon which the practice can schedule a follow-up call or text message.

7. Patients can view their balance and payment types and make online payments through the portal.

8. Patients can have their statements sent to the patient portal to save time on the mailing process and/or misplacing their bills.

Upcoming features that will enhance the CareStack Patient Portal

 page to boost accessibility and enhance user experience. The home page will present task wise representation of things to do for the patient. This approach is intended to ensure superior clarity and user experience for our patients. The patients will also be notified once they complete the tasks assigned to them through the portal.

Online form fields will be mapped to the PMS.

 When patients enter their personal details into the online forms, those will automatically be updated in the PMS patient profile. This will considerably reduce redundant data entry efforts, free up resources and save a lot of time.

CareStack is constantly fine-tuning our software to maximize the user experience and offer the best practice management solution for dental practices.

Dental patient portals are intended to help practices simplify your existing patient’s journey, build better relationships and save a lot of time. The portal will offer your patients the ability to actively participate in the decision-making of their oral health and healing journey.

Also, patient portals allow your patients to book their appointments anytime, eliminating the need to wait for the practice to open the next day. Mobile-optimized patient portals are game changers and have the potential to elevate your patients' dental health experience.

If your practice has not yet implemented patient portals for your patients, this is the best time to introduce one. Visit 

 to learn more about the unique features we offer our customers.

Dental Patient Portal

4 Ways Dental Patient Portal Makes Your Life Easy!

Dental scheduling is all about change. Your ability to anticipate, prevent, and react to change is often the game-changer in achieving desired scheduling outcomes and positive patient interactions.

Crafting your ideal dental appointment scheduling workflow is a skill that develops with experience (and often through trial and error). While your process can be customized to meet your needs and goals, all workflows should emphasize productivity and patient care, ultimately facilitating revenue growth!

This article discusses the common scheduling challenges dental practices face and provides actionable insights into solving them. Let's dive in!

, 52% of patients find online dental appointment scheduling time-saving.

Even with a perfectly balanced schedule, with everything looking great, unexpected cancellations or no-shows can knock you off your schedule. 

 is always easier said than done. However, careful planning and effective strategies minimize the effects of these incidents.

 with your patients is always beneficial. Make them feel heard and understood. Personalize the conversation to convey that you are as invested as them in their oral health. Explain the scheduled procedure's importance and provide rescheduling options when needed.

 based on your patient’s preference (call, text, or email) in your 

, along with regular confirmation calls. These 

 will cover your bases even if the patient misses one of your attempts to get in touch.

. You can’t control what happens in your patients' lives. However, make it a point to call them by phone if they don’t show up after 15 to 30 minutes of their scheduled appointment. This will give your closure, context, and a chance to reschedule.

Here’s an example of the follow-up call you can have with your patients:

Hey <name>, It’s <clinic name>. I see you haven’t come in yet for your appointment scheduled at <time> today. I just wanted to check-in in case you were running late. We can schedule the appointment at a more convenient time if you can’t make it today.

Missing your follow-up appointment would set your dental plan back since <the reason ‌the appointment was important>. I can set you up for the next available session, which will be on <day and time>.

 of the 50-plus age group prefer text messages for communication with their practice.

Double-booking and overbooking can sometimes be both a challenge and a solution to scheduling problems. Let’s see how to schedule dental appointments effectively to tackle this challenge.

 happens when the practice schedules two patients for the same time slot, assuming one will cancel or reschedule. This strategy is often used when a practice has a high rate of cancellations and no-shows. By scheduling two patients simultaneously, the practice will still have a patient to fill up the slot, even if the other cancels or fails to show up.

 involves intentionally booking more patients than the available appointment slots. For example, if a practice has five appointment slots available in a day, they may schedule six or seven patients with the expectation that some will cancel or reschedule. This strategy is risky as patients will likely have to wait longer or be turned away if everyone on the list shows up.

 is an effective way to reduce double booking and overbooking. With block scheduling, certain time blocks are assigned to specific procedures, ensuring adequate time for each procedure without being rushed. (For example, if a dental practice sets aside time for routine cleanings, they will only schedule such patients during that block.)

This will ensure that the dental hygienist gets enough time for cleaning and that the dentist has adequate time to review the patient's dental health and recommend the necessary treatment plan.

 that streamlines and creates a scheduling system to curb confusion due to double-booking and overbooking.

CareStack, an all-in-one cloud-based practice management software, has an easy-to-use scheduler that allows practices to integrate the booking link into their existing website to facilitate easy 

Sometimes, it’s the online dental appointment system itself that poses a challenge. An inefficient scheduling system can significantly impact your dental practice's operations, thus reducing productivity, and increasing wait times, lost revenue, and negative patient experiences. Here are some tips:

 Recognize when gaps in your schedule appear, and analyze appointment results to identify patterns. Trust the data and your intuition, and adjust the scheduling process accordingly.

 at your practice and the easiest time slots to fill. Once that is done, block the most productive procedures during your most efficient time to ensure the utmost quality and care. So now you have your staff at maximum productivity during peak hours.

 that manages your schedules and streamlines the appointment booking process.

Managing Emergencies & Urgent Appointments

Dental emergencies present additional challenges that might disrupt your perfectly balanced schedule.

Accommodating emergencies requires extra pre-planning to ensure patients receive timely care without sacrificing quality. On the other hand, failing to manage emergencies leaves patients dissatisfied and team members stressed. It might also negatively impact your practice’s reputation and undermine patient trust.

Here's how to prepare for dental emergencies:

Managing Emergencies Urgent Appointments

Prioritization and triage: Create a system to prioritize and triage emergencies and urgent appointments. Patients with severe conditions should receive immediate attention, while less critical situations can be scheduled for later.

Clear communication protocols: Give your patients clear instructions on what to do in case of a dental emergency, and train your staff to handle such situations. Effective protocols should follow 

 that significantly improve the chances of complete recovery.

Backup plans and contingencies: By definition, emergencies are always unexpected, so practices should have backup plans and contingencies to manage these situations. These measures may include having extra team members on call, reserving time slots for emergency cases, or having arrangements with nearby emergency dental services.

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