DentalTown Meeting, Day One

Overall, a great day at the annual "Townie" meeting. I lectured to about 75 people in the morning with great feedback, and got to meet a lot of super nice folks throughout the day.

I only had limited time to visit the booths, but one product that impressed me is a new service from 1-800-Dentist called the Patient Activator. While most of us know 1-800-Dentist as a service to bring in new patients, we also know that it's a lot more cost effective to reactivate existing patients than to find new ones. This new service addresses that issue. It's basically a three-pronged approach that combines regular newsletters, educational recall cards, and E-cards. It integrates with all practice management software out there. Pricing will vary depending on the number of patients, but it looks like it will average around $7 per patient per year. Very promising.

PC Phone Home

For those of you who haven't been keeping score, one of the hot areas in technology right now is VOIP, or Voice Over IP, telephone service. While I would never recommend this as the only phone system for a dental office, there is nothing wrong with using it to make outgoing calls. The limitation has been that you need the person on the other end to also be using that service. Well, that's all changing now. Skype announced their SkypeOut service, and now Google has announced Talger for their Google Talk service. Both services allow you to make calls from your PC to a regular phone line, and at long-distance rates of less than 2 cents/minute, they are a great deal.

Vegas, Baby!

I'll be traveling today to the annual DentalTown meeting in Las Vegas. I'm lecturing on Digital Radiography on Thursday and will be there until Saturday. If you're at the meeting, please be sure to come by the booth to say hi. I'll try to keep up with my daily posts while I'm there.

How to Buy a Laptop

I was planning to write my own article on the tips for choosing a laptop...then I found this article online that does as good a job as I could have. Enjoy.

Dual vs. Dual

If you've been reading the computer press, you know that the concept of dual processors is the hot topic right now. What's confusing to many users, though, is understanding the differences between two separate processors (dual processor) vs. a processor with two processors on one chip (dual core). This website gives a good explanation and puts the two different systems through a head-to-head comparison.

Vista Delays

Most of you who have been eagerly waiting for the newsest version of Windows, Vista...will have to wait a bit longer. The consumer versions have now been pushed back to January, 2007. Here's the news release from Microsoft's web site:

Microsoft Corp. today confirmed that Windows Vista, the next generation of the Windows client operating system, is on target to go into broad consumer beta to approximately 2 million users in the second quarter of 2006. Microsoft is on track to complete the product this year, with business availability in November 2006 and broad consumer availability in January 2007.

Windows Vista will deliver great value to businesses by seamlessly connecting people to information, enabling increased mobile and remote productivity, significantly reducing deployment and support costs, and providing a more secure and compliant desktop platform. For consumers, Windows Vista will bring clarity to the world of personal computing, enabling people to more safely and easily accomplish everyday tasks, instantly find what they want, enjoy the latest in entertainment, and stay connected at home or on the go.

More than half a million customers have received the latest community technology preview for Windows Vista, and have been providing consistent and positive feedback.

Product quality and a great out-of-box experience have been two of our key drivers for Windows Vista, and we are on track to deliver on both, said Jim Allchin, co-president for the Platforms & Services Division at Microsoft. But the industry requires greater lead time to deliver Windows Vista on new PCs during holiday. We must optimize for the industry, so we decided to separate business and consumer availability.

Because of the way businesses test and deploy software, it makes sense for Microsoft volume licensing customers to receive windows Windows Vista starting in November of this year. Availability for consumers and on new PCs will follow in January.

We strongly support Microsoft's decision to prioritize quality in determining the schedule for Windows Vista, said Todd Bradley, executive vice president of the Personal Systems Group at Hewlett Packard. A January launch of Windows Vista allows us to execute in a consistent way throughout the holidays, and will provide the right opportunity for a large, exciting launch industrywide after the New Year.

Said Ron Boire, executive vice president and general merchandising manager at Best Buy, When people come to our stores to buy a new PC or new software for their PC, we want to be able to offer them a broad set of choices, immediate availability and a great retail experience. We agree with Microsoft that it is best to do this right, and in this case it's delivering Windows Vista-based PCs with confidence in January 2007.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft, Windows Vista and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Free PDF Reader

I'm a big fan of PDF files, bit I can't stand how slow Adobe is when opening PDF files. Here's a great program, FoxIt Reader, which is lightening fast, is only 1 MB to download, and best of all, is free. Enjoy!

What's That File Do?

Here's a great little site: What is That File. The name pretty much says it all. If you see a file on your system and don't know what it does or if it's safe to delete, go to that website and enter in the file name and you'll get an explanation of what it does. Very useful tool.

Dentrix Done Right

I had the pleasure Friday to lecture to around 40 people that Dentrix had invited to a seminar in Seattle. Overall, it was a very positive experience. I should have read the marketing material more closely as a number of attendees were expecting tips on sensor placement and diagnosing digital images..something that I just hadn't prepared to discuss since I don't normally speak on that topic. However, this material will definitely be in my presentation in a few weeks in San Francisco.

The whole Dentrix team was great. I had dinner the night before with the local reps, the Zone Manager, and a few folks from Dentrix's High Tech team, and they couldn't have been nicer or more accommodating. Kudos to Dentrix for treating their guest speakers well. If you want the specifics of the lectures as far as content and locations, you can check it out at Dentrix's site here.

VPN Walkthrough

A lot of dentists we work with want to set up a VPN to allow for safe and secure access to their office files from home (or vice versa). There are a number of systems out there that can do this, but here's a great writeup of how to set this up using Windows XP and your basic Linksys router, complete with screenshots. Very informative and useful information.

Computer Diagnosis

Here's a great little program that can give you all the info you'd ever need from your computer: Fresh Diagnose. This diagnostic tool gives you tons of information about every element of your system, such as your CPU, memory (virtual, physical, and swap-file), display drivers, virtual devices, and interrupt-request list. The system information for each category shows up quickly, and most of the benchmarks run smoothly, even when you have other applications running.

Patterson Divorce

If the confidential information posted on DentalTown is true, it would seem that the relationship between Kavo/Gendex (owned by Danaher) and Patterson has now been terminated. Not sure how this will affect end users. Patterson customers will certainly have less options.

Here's the info from the post:

NOTICE FROM KAVO / GENDEX

March 20, 2006

Dear Associates,

Effective today, we have terminated our distribution arrangement with Patterson. Patterson has chosen to focus on other lines and as a result, we will no longer be selling KaVo and Gendex products through Patterson. We have no plans to make any other changes to our distribution network. This was an isolated situation.

This is an exciting opportunity for us as we have several other very committed partners who will be mobilizing their marketing and sales resources to take advantage of this opportunity. As a result, we expect this change to strengthen our business results.

Regards,

Bob Joyce
President, KaVo/Gendex

CONFIDENTIAL

KaVo / Gendex / Patterson Distribution Change

Q&A

Q. What happened with Patterson?

A. As a result of Patterson's decision to focus on other product lines, we have decided to terminate our distribution agreement.

Q. Why now? What changed?

A. There was no single incident that led to our decision. Patterson has made it clear over the past several months that they were focusing on other lines and our decision reflects our strategy to grow our lines with the most committed partners.

Q. How will the change impact the KaVo and Gendex businesses?

A. We have very strong distribution partnerships and a group that is highly committed to growing the KaVo and Gendex lines. We expect the combination of our distribution partnerships with our new products and promotional activity will result in stronger business results moving forward.

Q. Will this change have any material effect on Danaher, KaVo or Gendex?

A. No, this change will not have any material effect on Danaher, KaVo or Gendex results.

Q. When does the change become effective?

A. We announced the change to Patterson today and the change becomes effective 60 days from today, in accordance with our distribution agreement.

Q. Is this an indication that KaVo and Gendex plan to go direct vs. through distribution in the future?

A. No. We have no plans to deviate from our distribution model. The Patterson situation was an isolated situation.

Q. Is this distribution strategy an indication that KaVo and Gendex plan to reduce the number of distribution partners in the future?

A. No. This change in our strategy is about partnering with strong distribution companies who are interested in working together to grow the KaVo and Gendex product lines. We will continue to work with a very strong network of distribution partners.

Q. What do you expect the reaction of your other distribution partners to be?

A. The reaction by our other distributors to the situation with Patterson has been very positive. It reinforces the fact that several of them overlap with Patterson at our accounts and becomes an enabler for them to take share with the KaVo and Gendex brands.

Q. What impact do you feel this will have on your customers (end users / dentists)?

A. We expect this to have little or no impact on dentists who use KaVo and Gendex products. Dentists buy (or can buy) from any number of distributors so our products and service will remain readily available to them.

Q. Were there any products that were available exclusively through Patterson and if so how do you plan to handle them?

A. None of our products were exclusively available through Patterson.

New Sensor

Just got word from my friends at Sigma Biomedics that they are now offering a new sensor, the Bio-Ray SDX. Sigma used to be a reseller for Suni but seeing as this is not a Suni sensor (I know who makes it but can't say right now), I imagine this relationship has ended, although nothing was confirmed. I should be getting a demo of the sensor in a few weeks but the images I've seen so far are very encouraging. This is a high-end sensor and pricing will likely be in the $8000 range, on par with many other systems.

Laptop Cooler

If you use a laptop as often as I do, then you know how hot they can get. Here's a great idea: the Cooler Master NotePal. It's combination aluminum lap pad which dissipates hear and a couple of quiet fans that run off your USB port. Very effective, and at $30, a real bargain.

Dentrix G2 Screenshots

Here are some early screenshots of the new version 12 of Dentrix, G2. You can see the 3D charting and better integration of progress notes and treatment plan.

Changes for Blog and Website

As some of you may have noticed, I've made a few changes and additions to my blog and website. Here are the main ones:

1. On the blog, you can now sign up to receive my posts through email subscription rather than coming to the blog. Of course, I welcome visitors all the time, but you can get the info directly in your email box if you prefer.

2. Right below the subscription box, you can link directly to the website to request a consultation or information specific for your practice.

3. On my website, there is a larger area to click to request a consultation.

4. On the left hand side of the website, you can now see a feed of the most current posts on my blog.

5. At the bottom of my website, you can now sign up for my weekly technology email newsletter. I've been tweaking the format a bit so it won't be out until probably next week. The format will be a short editorial from me and more in-depth reviews of new products and services.

Please feel free to email me or leave comments if you have suggestions on how I can provide more info for you. In the works is a Q and A forum on the website where I will answer any questions that are posed to me.

Search Engine Optimization

As more and more offices get websites, it's important to learn how to be sure that people can find the sites through search engines. This little primer is a good start to learn how search engines index your site and what you can do to improve your search engine ranking.

Online Office

I'm really impressed with a new online Office suite called gOffice. Besides being completely free of charge, I love the fact that the default output is PDF (although you can also choose HTML), which makes it a breeze to create Adobe files. You can also create spreadsheets and write letters. The Desktop Publishing is a bit weak and the PowerPoint alternative isn't up yet, but so far, it's a very inexpensive way to create and work with MS Office documents.

Speed Demons

Many of you are paying for expensive DSL and cable lines...and not getting the speed you pay for. There's a number of ways to check, but my favorite is SpeakEasy. Just go to the site, click on the closest server, and see what you get. Then call your ISP to complain!

Vista Specs

If you are considering an upgrade to Vista when it comes out (November is the new date), you'll need some serious horsepower to run it. One nice feature they'll have is Windows Performance rating, where you'll be able to see how well your system stacks up. You can read all the details here.

New Shuttle PC

Shuttle PC has always been one of my favorite small form factor systems. The only downside is that the "toaster" design is a bit large for some operatory cabinets. Enter their new M series. While the fist model is designed as a Media Center PC, it can definitely be used in an operatory and the low profile will fit almost anywhere.

Vista News

Microsoft's blog has announced that their new operating system, Vista, will be released this November. If you want to know what all the fuss is about, check out the main details here.

New UAppoint Features

I've always been impressed with Uappoint, the online patient reminder system. Now they are adding online scheduling to the mix. Here's the press release:

UAppoint today announced the release of its online Recall, Reactivation and Hygiene Scheduling service for dental practices. The patent-pending, state-of-the-art service emails recall notices to patients due for dental cleanings, inviting them to select a desired appointment time. Beyond a simple notification tool UAppoint enables patients to request times that are actually available on the practice schedule. The service is designed to dramatically improve the operational efficiency of dental practices while increasing patient convenience and satisfaction.

UAppoint's value exceeded expectations when its co-founder, wet-gloved dentist Dov Glazer, DDS of New Orleans, Louisiana, was forced to evacuate his hometown as Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. Though the usual lines of patient communication -- phone and postal mail -- were completely unavailable, Dr. Glazer's patients were able to reschedule hygiene appointments using UAppoint's Recall and Reactivation functionality, which let them choose appointment times with a single click. Dr. Glazer was able to completely refill his practice schedule, even though he faced a shortage of front desk staff.

"Even before we opened the doors to the office, we were able to send out recalls to patients who missed appointments during September, October, and November," Dr. Glazer remarked. Thanks to UAppoint, the practice schedule is now full just a few weeks after the practice reopened in uptown New Orleans.

The service creates a real-time report of all patients who are due or past-due for their dental cleaning. Dr. Glazer elaborated, "simply click on the names I want to send an email invitation. The patient is automatically sent the date of the previous appointment, the amount of time that has elapsed since then, and several available times that match both the practice scheduling rules and the patient's preferences. With a single click, she selects the appointment time that is best for her and for our practice."

Doctors retain full control over their schedule, as UAppoint reinforces practice scheduling rules and retains the practice's option to decline an appointment request at any time. UAppoint synchronizes in real-time with practice software, ensuring that appointment times offered to patients are actually available of the schedule.

For a limited time, UAppoint is offering a risk-free 30-day evaluation to eligible dentists.

Dentrix G2

A lot has been spoken recently about the new version of Dentrix, called G2. Here's the official press release:

American Fork, Utah — Dentrix Dental Systems, Inc., will provide an upgrade to the DENTRIX practice management system Spring 2006 that will sport an entirely new look for the software’s signature tooth chart, including 3D modeling and advanced treatment planning. The upgrade will also include other new and enhanced features requested by the company’s customers. The company chose a different version numbering system due to a significant change in the look of the software.

The Dentrix tooth chart has been redesigned to incorporate sliding panes that help the doctor and staff select teeth, procedures, and locate patient information faster. When these panes are not needed they slide out of the way, can be docked to the window, or can float wherever they’re more convenient. An entirely new feature is the 3D modeling view, which accumulates data from the tooth chart and creates a more life-like representation of the patient’s oral condition. Doctor and patient can view the representation with or without gums, rotate or move teeth, open or close the bite, or view in a linear or arch view.

DENTRIX G2 includes significantly enhanced and new treatment planning features. Doctor and staff can create multiple treatment plan cases with drag-and-drop simplicity. Each case can be accepted or rejected, assigned an expiration date, and detailed notes can be attached to each individual case for documentation purposes. Cases can be tagged to indicate what financial arrangements are required, what arrangements have been made, and what is pending. Each treatment plan case can be flagged by status types for easy tracking and reporting. A new report details what cases have been accepted and completed and which have not—another feature to help the practice realize planned productivity. Each case can be printed for the patient to take with them.

Another new feature associated with treatment planning is the patient education aspect. Patient education topics can be assigned to any given procedure code. If one of those codes happens to be a part of a case, that topic can be included with the case presentation and any print-outs for the case. With one click the doctor can present prepared videos, slides, or graphics to assist in educating the patient about the proposed procedures and their positive impact on the patient’s oral health.

“Dentrix Dental Systems has always led the way in helping doctors chart clinical findings, from mixed dentition to supernumerary teeth,” said Matt Hawkins, Vice President at Dentrix Dental Systems. “DENTRIX G2 continues that tradition with a new look that utilizes the latest advances in software programming capabilities. It also delivers what our customers asked for and more, so much so that we had to give it a different type of version number. Combined with our electronic and technical services this release demonstrates how Dentrix locks arms with our customers as business partners with a vested interest in our partners’ success.”

DENTRIX G2 will be ready for delivery Spring 2006. Current customers who have subscribed to a Dentrix Customer Service Plan will automatically receive the upgrade without charge upon release.

Another VPN

Here's another great VPN solution: Natnix. For those of you who aren't familiar with a VPN, it stands for Virtual Private Network. In essence, it allows for a computer away from the office (like your home or laptop on the road) to be part of the office network using a very secure system. Most VPNs are tough to set up and require opening ports and general networking knowledge. Natnix handles all of that for you without worrying about firewalls, routers, and snoops. Give it a try.

New Mouse

Here's an interesting take on the standard mouse: the WowPen Eco. It completely redefines the mouse concept and claims to be more ergonomic and functional. It was just announced at CeBit, so don't go out looking for it quite yet

New Caesy 3.0

Caesy has announced new Caesy Online 3.0, which allows you to have Caesy patient education as part of your own web site. Here's the press release:

Patterson Dental Introduces CAESY Online 3.0
Online tool allows dentists to customize practice Web sites

ST. PAUL, Minn. – (March 10, 2006) – Patterson Dental Supply, Inc. announces CAESY Online 3.0, the newest version of CAESY Education Systems’ customizable Web-based tools, which enable dentists to create and deliver patient education materials from their own Web site.
CAESY Online provides comprehensive, high-quality patient education content and easy-to-use online communication tools for dentists with Web sites. For a monthly subscription fee, the hundreds of pages of dental health content are appended to the doctor’s Web site and branded with the practice contact information. CAESY Online also includes a monthly newsletter, an e-mail manager, informative online health guides, and more. The latest version features the ability to track statistics on individual Web site traffic, search engine optimization, an updated library of images, and the ability to register a domain name.
“With CAESY Online 3.0, users have the ability to control the content in patient education articles and dental health guides, as well as customizable options, including color schemes. In addition, for a setup and monthly fee, dentists can use CAESY Online to create their own practice-branded Web sites based on customizable templates,” says Patterson Technology Marketing Manager Anne Mansfield.
CAESY Education Systems has been dentistry’s premier developer of leading-edge patient education technology and content since 1993. CAESY was acquired by Patterson Dental Supply, Inc. in May 2004. The award-winning multimedia information on preventive, restorative and esthetic treatment options helps dental practices nationwide educate their patients and grow their practices. The CAESY content is distributed via video and computer networks or DVD players throughout the clinical and reception areas of the dental practice. The family of products includes CAESY DVD, Smile Channel DVD, CAESY Printables, CAESY Pediatrics, CAESY Online, and CAESY Enterprise, which includes CAESY, Smile Channel, ShowCase, and Image Master. For more information, visit www.caesy.com or call 1-800-444-6035.

Online Classes

CNET is now offering online courses to bone up on technology. A few start in the next few weeks. These "courses" are free to take and include discussion groups with your fellow students. Great idea for people who want to learn more info at their own pace.

UMPC

What's a UMPC? It stands for Ultra-Mobile PC, otherwise known as the Origami project. Microsoft has been working on this for awhile and today was the first day they formally announced the product, at the CeBit show in Germany. Think of a computer the size of a Sony PSP but it runs like a Tablet PC, and you have the Origami. You can check out the official Microsoft page here, and Engadget has a hands-on review with photos here. No official release date has been announced.

Digital Photography News

With the ever-changing developments in digital photography, it's important to stay abreast of all the latest news. The good folks at PhotoMed now have an online monthly newsletter that you can subscribe to for all the latest and greatest. Click the link and get subscribed; it's free!

Cleaning Out the Cobwebs

This utility is probably the fastest system cleaner I've ever used: CCleaner. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less that a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! Check it out.

Easy Notes Pro

I've been a huge fan of this incredible time-saving program, Easy Notes Pro. Here's a recent email I got from the developer, Dr. David Burton:


"Also, please mention that with EasyNotesPro you can type as many notes as you want, the problem is that Dentrix limits you to approximately 4,000 characters of text which is slightly more than a page and a half. I would also like for you to know that we now have a NEW version of EasyNotesPro which will write notes into any software on the market, and we achieve by one of three methods.

Method #1: EasyNotesPro allows you the doctor to link your customized toolbar to a 3rd party software application and have the toolbar enter your patient notes directly into the 3rd party software it is linked to.

Method #2: Allows the same linking as method #1, but instead of writing the notes directly into the 3rd party software, the notes are written into the EasyNotesPro text editor screen, allowing you to accumulate your notes, and when ready you simply click a button on the text editor and the notes are transferred directly into the 3rd party software. (This method works well with MOGO because ENP would write into MOGO separate entries for each button clicked on our toolbar, but by writing to our own text editor screen, you can now accumulate your notes and when you are finished accumulating all of your notes, you simply click on the “Write to App” button in our text editor screen, and your entire note is added into MOGO in one entry rather than many separate entries.

Method #3: Allows the clinician to use EasyNotesPro as a stand alone program, writing your patient notes in the EasyNotesPro text editor screen, and when finished accumulating your notes, you simply click the “Cut” button and then “Paste” your note into your 3rd party software. (For example, this method works well with Open Dental)

Our new version has multiple answer choices (check boxes ) as well as single answer choices (radio buttons ), can also write in different colors for different employees in the office (but Dentrix doesn’t allow this so our colors are negated), and we have forward and back buttons added in the pop-up dialog question boxes. I am in the process of testing the new version out now, and it will be available very shortly."

Top 10 Antispyware

Many people fail to realize that while viruses are still a threat, spyware seems to cause as many system problems as their more destructive cousins. CNET recently posted their list of the Top 10 Antispyware Programs, and they are all worth a look. Many are free or very inexpensive. What are you waiting for?

Zinio Revisited

I know I mentioned this site back in July, but Zinio continues to impress. For those of you who missed the first mention, it's digital formats of your favorite magazines that you can download and read any time. Subscriptions are less than the print versions and they have hundreds of free titles as well. You can annotate or bookmark pages with sticky notes...very cool. Subscriptions I have through Zinio include PC Magazine, PC World, and Computer Shopper.

Internet Explorer Add-On

Probably one of the coolest add-ons I've ever seen for Internet Explorer is Advanced Searchbar. The list of features is almost too long to mention, but think of a toolbar that allows you to search over 100 search engines, a pop-up blocker, form filler, and dozens of other features, and it's definitely worth the download. As usual, it's free of charge.

Over There

If you're like me and are always looking for the latest and greatest gadgets, you know by now that these products come from the Far East. One of my favorite sites to search is Dynamism, which features mostly Japanese products. Right now, I've been drooling over the Panasonic W4, a great little laptop that tips the scales at 2.5 lbs. (and my birthday is in 6 days if any of you are feeling generous!) Other good sites for Japanese fare are Kemplar and i-cube.

New Claris Camera

I got a personal demo today from Brian Kim and Matthew Cho, the head honchos at Sota Optics, of their new Claris i310D camera. This camera rocks! It's a USB-only model...there's a USB cable from the base of the handpiece that plugs right into the computer. No docking stations, no capture cards, nada. Even better, the camera capture works directly with this cable; no need for another separate cable. Best of all, the image quality is outstanding...exactly what I've come to expect from these guys. Most folks don't know that Sota makes the cameras for Dentrix, so these guys know what they are doing.

The camera is being released for sale around the time of Spring CDA, in about two months. No official word on pricing, but I expect it to be in the $3500 range or so. I can start taking advance orders now.

Voice Email

Here's a concept that is long overdue: voice email. If you're a hunt and peck typist (like me) or just want your emails to reflect the tone of your voice, try the NowPos service. As far as I can tell, it's free, although you will hear a short ad at the beginning of each voice email you receive. You can hear voice emails on any email account, but only NowPos users can send them. Did I mention the service is free?