Dental software researcher reports on software buying trends

Dental software researcher, SoftwareAdvice.com, reported that dental offices overwhelmingly investigate the purchase of integrated software for business and clinical applications, but software for the integration of digital sensors is the most requested application.

The technology research company released its Dental Software BuyerView 2014, emphasizing three key statistics:

• 93% of prospective dental software buyers seek out integrated suites that incorporate multiple applications into one software package.
• 51% still rely on manual methods, and 30% use paper exclusively.
• 18% are looking for software for device and/or digital sensor integration.

“Many practitioners still use manual methods partly because the incentives for dentists to go paperless are not as compelling or clear as they could be,” the report said.

SoftwareAdvice.com said confusion within dentistry over electronic health records (EHR) also affects decisions to consider paperless options. “This confusion could be prompting some dentists to explore electronic options without making the leap to adopt the technology. That could especially be the case for more senior dentists, who need extra convincing about the merits of using software.”

Figure 1: Top-Requested Applications

EHR-related software still drives interest among dentists seeking information about software. They also want more information about software for billing and electronic claims applications (Figure 1), as well as functionality for recall systems, reporting, coding, and staff scheduling (Figure 2). However, the report said patient scheduling remains the most important application for dental software buyers (Figure 3).

Figure 2: Top-Requested Modules

Figure 3: Top Required Applications

“The most commonly cited reason respondents gave us for replacing their current software is that they needed improved integration,” the report said. “Nineteen percent of buyers were unsatisfied with the level of integration offered by their current methods (Figure 4).”

Figure 4: Top reasons for replacing software