February 7, 2025

Best Practice Management Software Features for Every Type of Dentist

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min read

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Single-location, multi-location, dental service organizations (DSOs), one doctor, ten doctors, rural practices, city center offices, Apple Mac users, specialized markets, etc. have different practice management system needs.

Every dental practice has a unique way of running its operations, engaging patients, and supporting its dentists and staff.

“The type of dental practice setting [affects] patients’ desire to work as partners in promoting dental quality and safety.” – Obadan-Udoh et al: Dental patients as partners in promoting quality and safety: a qualitative exploratory study

Dental practice management software (PMS) is your office’s nerve center. A good PMS lets dentists and staff manage operations smoothly and communicate effectively in the way that best suits them.

A great dental PMS streamlines important business aspects, from patient scheduling and billing to treatment planning and reporting.

In this blog, we’ll discuss:

  • General features to look for in dental practice management software
  • How dentists can find the best software for their specific needs
  • How to compare dental office software costs and features
  • Why dentists may need to switch to a better dental PMS

4 Common Features of the Top Dental Practice Management Software Platforms

There are three levels of dental practice management systems: basic, intermediate, and advanced. Your office’s needs will determine what level of capability in features (such as billing or imaging integrations) you need to sustain and grow.

Do you want to spend a weekend organizing your doctors’ schedules or a few minutes customizing a digital calendar?

How many windows are too many to cycle through to submit an insurance claim or open patient X-rays?

The best dental software for you will allow your entire office to complete tasks in the same system, with data updates available immediately anywhere in the office (or across multiple locations). What those tasks are is up to you.

General features to look for include:

Appointment Scheduling

Appointment scheduling is a cornerstone feature of dental PMS. It is the most basic level of functionality and the most foundational need of a practice to sustain business.

A basic PMS lets you create, modify, and cancel patient appointments. Many dental software solutions now include intermediate functionality with automated patient reminders, online booking, and calendar integration.

  • Automatic appointment reminders help reduce missed appointments and minimize revenue loss with email, text, or phone calls.
  • Online booking lets patients schedule appointments at their convenience, 24/7.
  • Calendar integration seamlessly integrates the dental practice’s schedule with popular calendar applications like Google Calendar or Outlook.
ora dental software scheduling center
Dental software scheduling process

AI Appointment Scheduling

Artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t just for chatbots; it can also make routine admin and diagnostic tasks easier.

Smart scheduling identifies and fills gaps in your schedule with your preferred appointment types. An AI-powered scheduling feature can also improve dental practice efficiency and patient flow with predictive revenue scheduling.

It can even backfill appointments after a cancellation, automate recall based on your schedule data, and offer greater PMS customization.

Patient Records Management

Patient chart management is another basic feature of dental software. It’s standard to be able to enter demographic data, treatment notes, and financial details.

A dental EHR or EMR must uphold secure storage best practices and modern data encryption, whether the EHR is integrated into the PMS or native to the software.

Patient data security failures have made national news multiple times in recent years as breaches become more common.

Dental Billing and Insurance Processing

While managing a practice’s accounting details is a basic level of dental PMS, handling billing and insurance processing within the platform is an intermediate function.

Dental practice management software with billing integration offers extra features to streamline these processes and ensure accurate and timely payments.

  • Automated billing: The software can automate various billing tasks, such as generating invoices, tracking payments, and managing patient accounts. This reduces the risk of errors and improves the overall billing efficiency.
  • Insurance claim management: The software can handle submitting claims, tracking their status, and managing denials. This helps practices get reimbursed promptly and reduces the administrative burden associated with payers and insurance billing.
  • Payment processing: The software often integrates with payment processors for contactless and secure online payments. This provides convenience for patients and reduces the need for manual payment handling.

Additional Digital Billing Tools

Added features that simplify billing and payments include unlimited eClaims processing and personalized patient payment plans.

These features are not standard across dental software solutions or specialized dental billing platforms but can greatly improve your collection rate.

Unlimited eClaims lets your dental biller process any number of eClaims without worrying about additional charges, which is especially useful for practices with multiple locations or high-volume offices.

Personalized payment plans let you offer discounts (like new patient discounts) and set up recurring charges—easy for patients and your office!

Mobile text payment capabilities give patients another way to pay without increasing their admin burden.

Reporting and Analytics

Though considered an advanced dental software feature, business reports and analytics are essential to practice management in today’s competitive healthcare landscape.

Data-driven decision-making is fundamental for dental practices to succeed.

Analytics reports can include statistics for new patient starts, treatment acceptance rates, and patient status, which are important for dental treatment coordinators. Billing coordinators may use key metrics for office expenditures, equipment costs, average revenue per patient, and more.

Customizable reports are useful in software for dentists because they allow for creating customized reports tailored to specific needs.

With real-time data, practices can focus on the metrics most relevant to their goals and objectives.

3 Features for Dentists Who Need Comprehensive Dental Office Software

Plenty of dental practices could get away without the features below because they already pay for similar systems or they still rely on paper solutions.

For the types of dentists who need comprehensive, all-in-one dental practice management software, they’ll want to use the same vendor for:

  • Digital patient engagement
  • Integrated imaging
  • Patient conversion tools

Digital Patient Engagement for Busy Dentists

You may have heard of Weave or Solutionreach and considered adding that cost to your monthly software budget—but you don’t have to.

If you choose from among the best dental practice management systems, you’ll likely have a digital patient engagement platform included.

Integrated tools often include:

  • 2-way texting (with images)
  • Customizable messaging templates
  • Cloud-based accessibility from anywhere
  • Automated reminders
  • Email campaign management
  • Automatic feedback requests
  • Electronic intake forms
  • Online reputation management for dentists
dental practice management software imaging tools
Dental image editing tools

Imaging Integration for Dentists Who Streamline Workflows

Instead of paying another vendor to store patient data and image files, look for office software for dentists that includes imaging. Rapidly move from scanning to viewing to editing in the same platform.

Cloud-based software with integrated imaging accessible from any device and anywhere is perfect for dentists who are always on the go.

Imaging in your PMS also lets you add images to patient charts or send them via email or text directly to patients without switching between dental programs.

Consult Management for Dentists and Growing Practices

With a new patient conversion tool, you can increase patients’ understanding of what you discussed during their first visit and make it easier for them to say “yes” to future dental treatments.

Use a consultation management tool to customize treatment plans and create personalized payment plans for your patients.

Best All-in-One, Cloud-Based Dental Software for Every Type of Dentist

Dental practice management software has become an indispensable tool for modern dental practices. By providing a comprehensive suite of features, from appointment scheduling to billing and analytics, these software solutions empower dentists to improve efficiency, enhance patient experience, and drive practice growth.

Ora is the best all-in-one dental software that you can access anytime and anywhere from a web-based login.

Take your practice with you or consolidate workflows across several practice locations.

Check out Ora’s plan bundles to see which fits your type of dental care, and schedule a demo to see the platform in action.

References

Brainly. (2023). 1. compare the three levels of function of dental practice management software and discuss their application. Retrieved from https://brainly.com/question/33257714

Burger, David. (2024). Data breaches can happen to any person, business. ADA News. Retrieved from https://adanews.ada.org/ada-news/2024/march/data-breaches-can-happen-to-any-person-business/

Cortigiano, Cameron. (2024). 10 dental data breaches in 2024. Becker’s Dental + DSO Review. Retrieved from https://www.beckersdental.com/dentists/44109-10-dental-data-breaches-in-2024.html

Obadan-Udoh et al. (2024). Dental patients as partners in promoting quality and safety: a qualitative exploratory study. BMC Oral Health. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11005277/

Discover what Ora can do for your growing dental organization.