Smalltown Dental Sees 33% Increase in Patient Growth with Help from Dentrix Ascend
Challenge
Small Town Dental started as a single practice in 2018. By 2020, they had rapidly expanded from two to eight locations in less than a year. It was exciting, but also messy. From culture to operations and even down to the software, each office was doing its own thing, making it tough to create a seamless operation.
Solution
The game changer? Dentrix Ascend. This cloud based software brought all locations together under one system, making training easier, operations smoother, and efficiency levels skyrocket. Employees picked it up quickly, and leadership gained instant access to performance data across every office.
“What happens with eight practices is that money is coming through the door because you have practices that are producing, but you also have eight practices that have completely different cultural standpoints, software, and ways of running their practice,”
-- Dr. Pete Smidt, DDS, CEO, Smalltown Dental
“Henry Schein One had a lot of the resources we needed.”
Results
“Technology just makes things more efficient. Dentrix Ascend is the key to that technology.”
-- Luke Overcash, CIO, Smalltown Dental
Smarter decision making
Analytics did not just make life easier, it helped reshape the business. By looking at patient trends and office performance, Smalltown Dental streamlined from eleven locations to nine.
“Why would we go smaller? Because we knew where the patients were and where they were not. It helped with consolidation, which doubled our production and lowered our overhead. It is predictability, and the numbers do not ever lie.”
-- Vanessa Buchheit, CIO, Smalltown Dental
Better budgeting and planning
With Dentrix Ascend, Smalltown Dental is focusing on sustainable growth and tracking numbers that lead to smarter budgeting, better planning, and fewer surprises. Leadership is now able to concentrate on what really matters, building a strong team, improving patient care, and refining operations.
Easier access to information
Before moving to the cloud, doctors who worked at multiple locations were unable to easily access patient records and x rays. With Dentrix Ascend, those same records can be pulled up at any location.
“I do not have to set information up on multiple servers. It is all one system and it is just seamless.”
-- Luke Overcash, CIO, Smalltown Dental
Training done in days
Smalltown Dental does at least two days of onboarding at their headquarters, and most of that is spent on training. Some new team members come with no computer experience but are able to use Dentrix Ascend by the time that initial training is done.
“Our employees picked it up faster than anything I have ever seen. That led to consistent KPIs, and then we knew what we were up against in each office.”
-- Vanessa Buchheit, CIO, Smalltown Dental