IT and software: With the organisational and management team at the International Dental Show (IDS) 2017

Dental practices are faced with similar challenges to other companies when it comes down to the organisation, ordering, quality management and many other areas. Modern software solutions provide effective support. However, in practice they have to be able to (co) fulfil specific tasks. These include hygiene management as well as invoicing, the safe transfer of patient data or forensic safety. In this area, there are different approaches of how to deal with the challenges of the "dental practice company". The International Dental Show (IDS) in Cologne from 21 to 25 March 2017 offers the trade fair visitor the opportunity to make comparisons and choose the right course for the future for himself and his team.

In many practices, diagnoses, image material, etc. are already stored in a digital patient file. It is connected to both the practice network and to the treatment units, compressors, etc.

Ultimately, a high degree of networking also opens up new ways of a more intensive exchange with colleagues (i.e. discussion of certain cases) or with the dental laboratory (i.e. CAD/CAM workflow, planning software).

It is also standard procedure that the practice software is used to do the invoicing. People, who don't want to take care of all of the details themselves in this area, can alternatively consider outsourcing these tasks to specialised computer centres. This can include outsourcing the entire task including fee protection, immediate payment, part payment, trade indemnity, dunning processes, invoice reimbursement support and credit assessment. Technically speaking, an interface is necessary for the data transmission, however this is often already integrated into the common invoicing systems. IDS demonstrates which options are available in this area and how they can simplify or accelerate the work processes.

In addition to this, there are certain fields, which are still processed using a lot of a paper. This applies for instance to the quality management documents as well as general work instructions and device-specific brochures, hygiene plans and listing the products that are used for cleaning, disinfecting or sterilisation. For example, it is tedious to have to keep holding checklists on paper when carrying out the final check. Since they potentially have germs on them, additional disinfection measures may even have to be carried out. Consistently working with a monitor supported by efficient software avoids this dilemma and furthermore also creates much more space on the shelves, which were up until now cluttered with bulging files.

Thanks to suitable software, all necessary documents can be conveniently handled and the devices used can also be integrated into the practice network. Many of these are equipped with the corresponding interfaces today so that for example the cleaning, disinfection and sterilisation processes can be seamlessly archived and implemented to prove that the adequate hygiene measures have been taken in line with the appropriate legal regulations and recommendations (i.e. Federal Epidemic Diseases Act, recommendations of the Robert-Koch Institute).

Sophisticated software can even keep an eye on the hygiene status of instruments throughout their service life as well as check the receptacles for sterile materials (i.e. containers, sieves). Beyond this, they can carry out an inventory of all medical products and, if required, the procurement, warehousing, the entire logistics can be integrated.

From a forensic point of view, it is interesting to be able to track which practitioner has treated which patient with which medical product of which manufacturer and how long the respective session took. With software that is tailor-made to suit the practice and if necessary indeed individualisable, even such data is state-of-the-art today. IDS will be presenting this in Cologne from 21 to 25 March 2017.

Furthermore, besides the internal organisation, the IT and software also affect the external image of the practice. Here, for example the following question has to be answered: How should the homepage of the practice be designed? IDS offers content-related ideas and also technical solutions on both of these issues.

Since IT support has always been a theme for the entire team, it is definitely worth taking a trip round the trade fair with all employees. Whether in the end the decision goes in favour of one single "big" software or for example for invoicing software in combination with a separate organisational software or whether an individual solution is desirable for certain key points of the practice - is ultimately up to the owner and his team.

"Visiting IDS really helps taking the decision for the right IT system for one's own practice. Especially since this is a topic that a lot of people don't address every day, but which they only occupy themselves with every few months, it is recommendable to inform oneself about several different offers. There is no better place to do this than at the world's largest trade fair for dentistry and dental technology in Cologne from 21 to 25 March," said a delighted Dr. Martin Rickert, Chairman of the VDDI (Association of the German Dental Manufacturers).

IDS (International Dental Show) takes place in Cologne every two years and is organised by the GFDI Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Dental-Industrie mbH, the commercial enterprise of the Association of German Dental Manufacturers (VDDI) and is staged by Koelnmesse GmbH, Cologne.

100 years of VDDI

The VDDI is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2016. It was founded as the Association of German Dental Manufacturers on 24 June 1916 and organised the first Dental Show in 1923. In 1928 the VDDF organised the first International Dental Show. Today the VDDI has 200 member companies with 20,000 employees. The overall turnover is more than Euro 5 billion with an export share of 62 percent.