ADA Standards Committee Archives - XLDent Dental Software

Road to Recovery: Strategies for Reopening Your Practice

Posted July 16, 2020 by Beth

Patient health has always been your primary goal. As you reopen your dental practice for nonemergency procedures, you are likely to expand safety precautions for your staff and yourself. The American Dental Association (ADA) has issued useful guidelines to consider when reopening your practice. Along with these critical clinical and procedural guidelines for public health, you may also benefit from strategies to prioritize your practice’s operational health. XLDent would like to offer a few essential tips for reopening and remind you that we are here to support you. Your satisfaction continues to be our priority.

Clinical Charting Considerations

Due to the delays in routine care that patients endured during COVID quarantining, the need for professional maintenance in dental care may be higher than during a more typical season. Patients may have also had less self-maintenance and be more prone to increased bruxism due to increased stress during the challenges of last spring.

Electronic Dental Record systems that provide paperless charting like XLDent can be a valuable part of your reopening workflow. They allow you to customize your workflow and digitize your forms without any paper. XLDent’s “Ink on Chart” tool enables you to make quick notes, educate your patient, and engage them in their dental health without any extra tools or contamination points.

Preparing your Dental Practice

Given our current knowledge of the transmission of Coronavirus, dentists are likely to reassess and optimize their use of Personal Protection Equipment, especially where the risk of airborne droplet transmission becomes the most extreme. The ADA has recommended that you consider having all of your staff complete OSHA Infection Control Training. The ADA has also suggested that practices provide multiple hand-sanitizing stations in the waiting area and consistently clean and restock bathrooms with soap and paper towels. Supporting hygiene for employees and patients is a crucial element to the ADA’s advice for reopening practices.

Team Communication

Maintaining reliable communication can be a challenge for the reopening dental office. Many practices will have a dispersed team, with some of the staff onsite and others working from home. Investments in tools like XLDent Interoffice Communication pay for themselves as they simplify instant messaging. For example, XLDent Interoffice Communication allows you to easily send messages to specific people, groups of people, or even each member of your staff. Efficient dental office communication will help you keep in touch even when social distancing is a part of your reopening strategy. XLNotify is compatible with all Dental Practice Management systems, and you do not need to do an entire implementation of XLDent to get started using this tool as part of your safety protocols.

Consistent Messaging

No matter what policies and procedures your practice has decided upon, keeping patients informed means providing consistent messaging in all your communications. For example, the sign on the door should match the office hold message. The Coronavirus procedures on your website should match the messaging on your social media accounts.

Tools like XLDent’s Secure Mail allow you to keep in touch with patients using a simple to install, HIPAA-compliant solution that secures sensitive patient information. SecureMail is a cost-effective, cloud-based subscription service. This service is available to any practice, regardless of the dental practice management system that they choose to use.

Another strategy for patient communication and engagement are patient portals like XLPortal from XLDent. This web-based solution allows you to conveniently build relationships and improve your efficiency when patient demand for online tools is high. XLPortal is directly integrated with your XLDent dental practice management system to provide your patients with electronic dental record information in real-time.

XLDent’s Continued Commitment

At XLDent, our mission to enhance the standard of patient care for improved patient outcomes remains steadfast during this trying time. We continue to design all of our products and eSolutions around the customizable workflows dentists need, even as those challenges change. Our efficient mobile and tablet friendly solutions will continue to cater to the patient/doctor experience. We will always provide seamless integration, training, and staff education to make your practice the most profitable and successful that it can be.

Posted in: Dental Practice Management Software, Dental Technology, Dental Web-based Solutions, Electronic Dental Records, Re-opening, Leave a comment/ No Comments »

Tagged : ADA Annual Meeting,ADA Standards Committee,Dental Practice Management Software,Dental Software,Electronic Dental Records,Patient Experience,Risk Management,XLDent

The Working Group 11.1

Posted February 24, 2016 by Dawn

The Working Group 11.1 on Standard Clinical Data Architecture, chaired by Dr. Mark Diehl, met on Tuesday, February 23, at ADA headquarters in Chicago to review comments for the Technical Report No. 1091 Cloud Computing and Data Storage: Implications and Recommendations for Dental Practice. The purpose of this document is to describe cloud computing and data storage, its use in dental practice, its benefits and risks, and recommendations for use by dental practitioners. The scope of the document is four areas of cloud computing applied to dentistry: 1. What cloud computing entails, 2. How it benefits the dental practice, 3. The risks and issues associated with cloud computing and cloud storage, and 4. The business aspects of cloud computing and data storage. The intended audience is the private practitioner who may be considering using cloud computing and data storage.

XLDent spent considerable time reviewing the draft document and brought as primary concerns to the group, the oversimplification of cloud computing requirements for the private dental practitioner and lack of use cases for the private cloud computing model. A dental office’s requirements are quite a bit different from an accounting or law office, for example, and therefore more complex. The group agreed that these complexities needed to be given attention in the document or the oversimplification removed.

A dental office requires imaging acquisition software in addition to its business and XLDent Dental Practice Management Software to run its operations. The document originally minimized the need for computer hardware/network infrastructure, which is still required for the local acquisition of digital x-ray images, and suggested that certain fixed costs and operating costs would not be necessary in a cloud computing environment. The draft document also failed to give an adequate representation of private cloud offerings. Security was also brought up for comment.

The group was taxed with the project of producing more use cases of practical utilization of cloud computing by the private dental practitioner. We hope to have these complete within the next few weeks so the document can be approved. Dr. Diehl thanked XLDent for initially getting the comments on the table for this very productive meeting. It was an intense afternoon of discussion and editing! The result will be a technical report on the basics of cloud computing and suggests that any practitioner considering a move to the cloud consult with trusted partners (i.e. accountant, local IT professional, dental practice management software vendor and others) for a full needs/cost assessment.

Posted in: Dental Practice Management Software, Dental Technology, XLDent Company, Leave a comment/ No Comments »

Tagged : ADA Standards Committee,Cloud Computing,Dental Practice Management Software,Standard Clinical Data Architecture,Working Group 11.1

SCDI 2015 Meetings in Washington, DC

Posted November 4, 2015 by Dawn

ADA Standards Committee on Dental Informatics held its Plenary meeting at the Marriott Marquis hotel in Washington DC. As usual, there were many items on the agenda which included an update from all of the SCDI working groups that met earlier in the week.

XLDent participates in the Subcommittee on Clinical Informatics chaired by Dr. Mark Diehl. This Subcommittee focuses on data infrastructure, clinical records, and clinical applications for dental practice. It includes seven working groups and 13 standards and technical reports. More specifically, XLDent participates in WG 11.1 Standard Clinical Data Architecture, which is up for reaffirmation next year, and WG 11.9 Core Reference Data which was recently created last year for the purpose of establishing a core set of reference data for the Electronic Dental Record. Working Group 11.1 resolved to table further work on Technical Report 1080, the Implementation Guide for TR 1067, until WG 11.9 can complete work on the core set of reference data. To put this in understandable terms, we need to establish an agreed upon list of clinical data elements that providers can electronically pass between each other before we can work on the Implementation Guide for the Electronic Dental Record.

Working Group 11.1 will now be focusing its attention on TR 1099, Cloud Computing and Data Storage: Implications and Recommendations for Dental Practice. XLDent commented on the first draft of this paper during the meeting and was asked to further review and make edits by Dr. Mark Diehl in the coming months.

Following our meetings here at the ADA in Washington DC, XLDent will be inviting Dr. Amit Acharya, chair of WG 11.9, to our corporate location in Loretto, MN, for the purpose of making some significant progress on the Core Set of Reference Data (TR1084.)

Moving into Thursday and Friday, the ADA will present two CE Courses during the 2015 Annual Session. The first course is entitled Exchanging Digital Images and EHR Data for Patient Treatment. This is the course XLDent is participating in again this year. Dr. Gregory Zeller is the presenter and other participants include Dr. Brent Dove, Sirona, XDR Radiology, Medicor, and Data Motion. The second ADA sponsored course is entitled The Art and Science of Forensic Odontology – Looking Into The Future and will be presented by Dr. Ken Aschheim, Dr. Robert Barsley, Dr. Lawrence Dobrin, and Dr. Raymond Miller.

Our very own Stacey Steinbach will be demonstrating the secure transfer of EDR records and DICOM images via the XLDent Software at the Secure Exchange course in four separate sessions. I’m on my way to meet up with her in the Exhibit Hall now to run through a practice run before tomorrow.

Posted in: Electronic Dental Records, XLDent Company,

Tagged : ADA Standards Committee,Electronic Dental Records,Electronic Health Care Records,SCDI

XLDent participates in 2015 ADA Standards Committee on Dental Informatics Meetings in Chicago, Il.

Posted February 25, 2015 by Dawn

As part of our visit to Chicago, we attended ADA Standards Committee meetings as co-chair of the working group 11.1 for Clinical Data Architecture Standards and observer to the SCDI Plenary meeting. During our meeting on Tuesday afternoon our working group concluded that in order to move forward, we needed to reference the 1084, or core set of reference data document, that is currently under construction.

At the annual meeting in San Antonio in October of last year, a new working group was created to establish a core set of reference data for the clinical record. Working group 11.9 is chaired by Dr. Amit Acharya and their first meeting took place Tuesday morning. Working group 11.1’s approach to the 1080 Implementation Guide will in large part be driven by the resulting work (document 1084) of this group. XLDent will be participating in construction of the 1084 document and looks forward to working with Dr. Acharya and the 11.9 working group in the coming months.

On Tuesday afternoon, we were all surprised when ADA President, Dr. Maxine Feinberg, addressed the SCDI attendees and expressed her gratitude for our input and the work being done to help make standards a reality in dentistry. XLDent’s day of meetings wrapped up with a discussion led by Dr. Gregory Zeller on the format and content of the proposed 2015 Teledentistry Course. XLDent again agreed to participate in this demonstration which will focus on the secure transmission of images and protected health information. The course content will be very similar to last year with more examples of how to share PHI generated from an electronic dental records system, in addition to DICOM images. The annual meeting will be held in Washington DC, November 5-7.

During the SCDI Plenary Meeting on Wednesday morning, we discovered that there is an ADA Technical Report in the works for Direct Secure Messaging in Dentistry. Dr. Brent Dove, who was a driving force behind the associated 2014 CE course, is the author. It was resolved, that the ADA SCDI approved forwarding the proposed ADA Technical Report No. 1085 for Direct Secure Messaging for Dentistry to the appropriate ADA Council for approval.

Now it’s time to head over to McCormick Place to set up the booth for the Chicago Midwinter Meeting. If you will be attending, please stop by to see the XLDent Dental Practice Management System in booth #716!!

Posted in: Dental Practice Management Software, Electronic Dental Records, XLDent Company,

Tagged : ADA,ADA Standards Committee,Chicago Midwinter Meeting,DICOM,Direct Secure Messaging,SCDI,Teledentistry,XLDent

See You There! 2015 Chicago Midwinter Meeting!

Posted February 16, 2015 by Dawn

This year at the Chicago Midwinter meeting, XLDent will again be participating in ADA Standards Committee meetings. As co-chair of the 11.1 working group, we hope to make progress on moving the Electronic Dental Record standard forward. As it stands now, dentists participating in the EHR Medicare/Medicaid Incentive Program have to demonstrate Meaningful Use based largely on medically relevant criteria.

The workflow disruption and additional labor time required to capture information that is not mission critical in the delivery of dental care has made the prospect of receiving incentive dollars less and less attractive. We are working hard to establish a meaningful standard for the dental specialties.

For the dental patient care industry, this translates into implementation of a standard through which electronic information about a patient’s treatment and need for treatment will be shared between specialties and primary care givers. This prospect is very exciting for XLDent, as our mission focuses on creating efficiencies for our clients and on enhancing the standard of patient care for improved patient outcomes.

Posted in: Dental Practice Management Software, Dental Technology, Electronic Dental Records,

Tagged : ADA Annual Meeting,ADA Standards Committee,Dental Practice Management Software,Dental Technology,Electronic Dental Records,Electronic Health Care Records,Meaningful Use

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