Designing and Implementation of a New Booking System (Software) For a Dental Practice

by

Literature Review

Introduction

In the world of information technology, integrating systems is about linking many computing systems assorted software applications in a practical or material way. (Heathfield, 2008: 1959 -1961) Additionally, there exist a plethora of appointment scheduler applications on the World Wide Web right now. The problem is that only a very small amount of these will offer the integration of either the Web (online appointment scheduler) or telephone self-service scheduler (phone appointment scheduler) by way of the doctor's EMR (electronic health records) / PMS (patient management system) software. (Garner, 2009: 45-65)

Unfortunately as soon as there is no integration connecting the self-serve scheduler and the EMR software and the PMS software, then the front desk secretary or office manager will be obliged to sift through any of the latest signups of patients and latest (added|booked|scheduled|reserved|created|made|set) appointments that may have happened for the duration of the off-work hours. These new patients and any appointments will then need to be added into the EMR/PMS software. (Kling, 2010: 71-87)

In essence, both the online/phone scheduler and the EHR/PMS software will hold the exact same data so that the live receptionist will be obliged to keep them in sync manually. This creates quite a degree of hard work and there are many opportunities for human error.

To save the real receptionist the aforementioned work, the appointment scheduler is integrated into the healthcare professional's PMS/EMR system. (Kelley, 2009: 241-256) Once it is integrated, the data syncing will occur automatically. This will provide the receptionist with more time to take care of other important duties in the office. (Ahluwalia, 2009: 39)

The integration of all these systems may require the work of a system integration engineer; however the money for this specialist will be very well spent considering the outcome. Interestingly enough the act of system integration is moreover more fully described as to be able to add value to whichever system(s) is used. This is because the capabilities that then become possible due to the heightened interactions between subsystems enables even better use of those systems. (Mitchell, 2008: 379-383)

Terms such as Star Integration or Spaghetti Integration are familiar to those who make use of system integration engineer. Basically, this refers to the practice of integration of your different systems, through which each system can be unified. By unifying all your systems, your business efficiency will optimize significantly. In addition, your business will become more effective. This follows having a drive for novelty and flexibility, technologically. (Handy, 2009: 191-195)

Many hospitals have found that an electronic front desk secretary used for all of the above saves them from having to pay for a live receptionist to do the exact same job. What then happens is that the clinic can save the week's wages that are ordinarily paid to this person, in addition to having to supply the individual with all of the benefits that are supplied to other employees. Take this into consideration prior to investing in additional technology, and ...