Thursday, November 20, 2003 TODAY
School of Dentistry news
Pediatric dentistry clinic goes paperless
Pediatric dentistry is the first clinic in the School of Dentistry
to go paperless with their patient visit forms (PVFs), a major step toward
reducing paperwork and bookkeeping for students and clinical staff.
A committee was formed to outline the criteria for chairside data entry. The
committee decided the pediatric dentistry clinic was the ideal location to test
the new software needed because patient dental records are contained in the clinic.
Computers that would work best in the operatories were selected. The group researched
where data lines would be pulled; developed a training schedule; and created
a timeline for implementing the new system. The committee chose to focus on one
patient care area and when the new system was running smoothly, would bring the
rest of the clinics online with the new technology.
The pediatric dentistry clinic was selected as the first department to experience
this innovative technology because patient charts do not leave this clinic. In
addition, a thorough analysis of the new process could easily be maintained.
Ruben Hernandez, network administrator, dental computer services, made sure the
hardware infrastructure was in place to support the new computer program, chairside
data entry, and Reuben Quijano, PC support coordinator, dental computer services,
was responsible for setting up the computers and installing chairside data entry
software in each operatory.
The pediatric clinic was closed on Tuesday, September 23, so that faculty, residents,
and staff could be trained. The next day, the pediatric clinic went live with
chairside data entry.
On Wednesday, September 24, Marina Moore, clinical information systems manager,
and Penny Coppess, a representative from General Systems Designs, implemented
the new software module in the pediatric dentistry clinic.
How chairside data entry works
First, the front office staff generates a patient visit form (known as an “encounter” in
the pediatric dentistry clinic) for either a resident or predoctoral student.
The residents and predoctoral students wait for their next patient’s
name to appear on the computer screen in the operatory.
Next, the assistant calls the patient into the operatory. The student then
verifies the health history (which soon will be electronic as well), and reviews
the treatment plan on the screen. If the treatment plan needs to be modified
the student can change it without leaving the operatory.
Meanwhile, the instructor reviews and approves the modified treatment plan.
The faculty member keys in his or her user name and password, and the instructor
authorizes the treatment plan and gives the student permission to proceed via
the computer.
After treatment has been completed the instructor again types in his/her user
name and password, and answers a couple of questions. Procedures are marked
as completed or in-progress, and charges are automatically entered. The front
office staff is informed what fees to collect based on the services rendered,
via the computer screen.
Advantages to going paperless
Some of the advantages for going paperless are the School saves money because
the cost of PVF paper is eliminated, and department production is recorded
the very next day. Also, predoctoral students’ procedures are recorded
and their reports updated in a timely manner.
The number of support calls made to dental computer services is also reduced,
including when paper is offline, new printer ribbons needed, or new dot-matrix
printers ordered.
Because of the decrease in the amount of paper that is generated, the School’s
data entry department benefits as well because they will not have to enter
PVFs for the entire School.
Chairside data entry implementation has gone smoothly. “The new system
is quick and efficient, and the computer program was easy to learn,” says
John Ayon, dental assistant.
As logistics are worked out on future implementations, clinic administration
will inform additional areas in the School.
Faculty and staff who were instrumental in administering the new system are
Paul L. Richardson, DDS, associate dean, clinic administration, for having
the vision to go paperless; Charles Goodacre, DDS, MS, dean, for listening,
believing, and supporting the idea; and Bonnie Nelson, DDS, chair, department
of pediatric dentistry, and Wesley Okumura, DDS, clinic director; and the pediatric
dentistry clinic team for taking a risk and stepping into uncharted waters.
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Thursday, November 20, 2003 TODAY
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