What I learned at Chicago Midwinter
A dental office manager’s perspective
With an entire showroom floor full of clinical products and equipment, why would a dental office manager attend a dental tradeshow like the Chicago Midwinter?
Here are the ideas I learned at the show:
- Dentrix updates – Since we use Dentrix practice management software and I know Dentrix brings their best trainers to the show, I always stop by their booth to ask what’s new and ask specific questions. This year I learned a trick with their Document Center that will help us edit and resave documents by using the export/import feature.
- New Dentrix products – Henry Schein released two new software products in Chicago – Viive, which is for Macs and Dentrix Ascend, which is cloud-based and great for multiple locations. If our group ever decides to add a separate location, it’s nice to know that we can stick with the Dentrix product that our staff and dentists already know. Here’s the intro video on Dentrix Ascend:
- DemandForce updates – Again, I’m a DF customer and I always stop by their booth to ask what’s new. This year one of my most rewarding discoveries was that DF can set up my Facebook account so that every time a patient shares a survey or review – it will automatically show as a post on our practice Facebook page. Since I post a weekly update to our blog and Facebook page, this will drastically increase our Facebook presence – with no more work!
- Inventory follow up – Last October our practice purchased 3 new handpieces and were told we would receive one for free. We kept waiting and waiting, then we started emailing and calling – no luck. So, I brought a copy of the invoice showing our purchase, talked with our Kavo rep at the show – and voila! We received our free handpiece 3 days later.
- Dexis updates – Our group purchased 3 new Dexis sensors and their software a few months ago and ended up with an error code that stumped their tech support staff. Thanks to our great sales rep, Marty, I talked with an upper level tech support person who shipped me a brand new sensor which solved the problem. At the show, Marty pulled together management and another high level tech support rep and we all discussed the situation and agreed how we would handle any future problems in the future – plus, I received a copy of their newest software that allows images to be shown on an iPad. This was one of my more valuable meetings at the show.
- Interior designers for dental practices – My pediatric dentist would like to “fun up” his side of the practice and we’ve struggled to find an interior designer that understands dental. At the Chicago show, I met three different vendors that offered to help. My favorite is Nancy Higgins, a designer who works with Schein and has 15 years experience in dentistry. In fact, she already emailed me some photos of a pediatric practice she designed – plus she handed me a card at the show for 50% off her design services!
More ideas from Chicago next week . ..