The 7 Benefits of ePrescribing for the Dental Community

The role of oral health and its contribution to a person’s health overall has been in frequent discussions lately. There has been a refreshed movement of access and advocacy within dental organizations, governments, and not-for-profit foundations. Patients are beginning to understand that visiting their dentist is much more than receiving that fresh, clean feeling. It’s improving their quality of life.

However, with the ever-increasing numbers of Dental Support Organizations (DSOs) gaining significant prominence in the industry, the practice of dentistry is becoming more and more competitive. Patients now have more options to choose from when selecting their dentist and several factors weigh on their decision.

To align with this market shift, there is one component in their practices that the dental community can implement with ease to enhance their competitive advantage. It even increases patient satisfaction, gains workflow efficiencies, and decreases risk. What is it?  

ePrescribing.

Electronic prescribing has become a must-have technology within dental practices. Oftentimes, it is part of a DSO’s bundle of operational tools. By incorporating ePrescribing into the dental workflow at the point of patient engagement, many inherent efficiencies are recognized. Here we have identified seven benefits of adding ePrescribing to your technology suite.

1. Medication History

During a patient and dentist encounter, ePrescribing enables dentists to verify a patient’s medication history and view two years or more of prescribed medications. This level of transparency allows smarter treatment decisions and recognition of a patient who may be “doctor shopping” or at risk for substance abuse.

2. Safety

From a safety perspective, any drug-allergy or drug-drug interactions are flagged instantaneously. At the same time, the dentist’s clinical judgment is still maintained if he/she elects to prescribe the medication. Dental-specific information, such as a medication’s particular dental use, effects on dental treatment, and effects on bleeding, are all seamlessly provided at the point of care. The handwriting risks of misspelling or others misreading the script are also solved.

3. Productivity

With ePrescribing, the total time to write a prescription for the patient is reduced to seconds compared to the traditional manual paper method. The moments add up, resulting in more time for direct interaction with the patient. The intrinsic productivity of e-Prescribing and its resulting patient interaction time may lead to incremental revenue as the opportunity is presented to discuss other dental issues and procedures

4. Quality

Assessing ePrescribing from a quality perspective, patient outcomes are significantly more accurate and consistent with quality initiative practices in the industry. It is easier to get the treatment plan right the first time, reducing the number of follow-up visits or new health events or reactions. As healthcare shifts to more measured and predictable patient outcomes, ePrescribing goes a long way in addressing this new dynamic as it provides a full panoramic view of a patient’s health.

5. Risk Reduction

Another benefit of ePrescribing is risk reduction, especially when it comes to prescribing controlled substances. When controlled substances are electronically prescribed, the patient cannot lose the prescription or alter the dispense quantity or the medication itself. The prescription will be sent directly to the pharmacy with no chance of intermediaries touching it. In turn, this also banishes the need for paper prescriptions, eliminating the risk and liability involved with stolen prescription pads.

6. Patient Satisfaction

The most significant aspect of the ePrescribing equation is increased patient satisfaction. The extra time spent dropping off and waiting for a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy is essentially eliminated. ePrescribing diminishes the middleman, eliminates an additional trip to the pharmacy and creates a seamless transaction for the patient.

7. Profitability

Due to improved efficiencies and increased patient satisfaction with ePrescribing, a snowball effect is created relative to rising revenue. Not only can an increase in patient volume and retention occur, but administrative duties for office staff will lessen. Thanks to the more cost-effective, integrated technology of ePrescribing, there will be less staff time required to manage the ordering and stocking of costly paper prescription pads and tamper-proof printing paper for controlled substances.

Overall, ePrescribing is one tool in the dentist’s arsenal to modernize their practice and meet the challenges of practicing dentistry today. With just a few clicks, dental offices can focus on a more patient-centric strategy, resulting in happier patients and dentists.

Getting Started

Check with your Dental Service Organization on available ePrescribing software. They typically hold the keys to software integrations, including ePrescribing, among their suite of technology tools. DoseSpot partners with many of the top DSOs across the nation to get our software into the hands of dentists everywhere.