By Ron Barnett

Dr. Wilson's office manager came in this morning, turned on her computer system, logged onto the Internet and printed the day's patient schedule. She then looked to see what claims had been sent electronically while she slept last night and began putting in information about a new patient that was coming in today. Later on in the day she posted all the charges and payments for the day, filed more insurance claims, scheduled recall visits and printed several patient letters and birthday greetings. She didn't use a dental software program that the office had purchased, but yet she was able to do everything on her system that the office next door does on their $20,000 practice management system. All of this was done on the Internet WITHOUT PURCHASING DENTAL SOFTWARE!

How could this be? She was using a new technology that allows conventional software programs to be run over the Internet. The process is called "Application Hosting". In Application Hosting, the software and data files reside on a host computer that is not in the dental office. In order for this to happen, a software vendor sets up a host computer that is powerful enough to handle thousands of on-line transactions simultaneously. The software is placed on the host system and dentists contract to share access to that system. Each dentist then has a separate area for storage of his own practice information on the host computer. Dentists are able to access their practice data across the Internet through a secured connection.

Precautions are taken to make sure the computer remains available at all times. A backup power generator and multiple servers (that are mirrored in case of any hardware failure) must be in place to provide this type of continuous service. Data backups are automatically made on a daily basis and the host computers are placed in a secure, restricted access location. Practice data is given more security than any dentist could ever provide in his own office.

Application Hosting offers several distinct advantages over the conventional method of obtaining practice management software:

1. It costs less up front. The office does not have the major up front expense of purchasing the software. Instead, any fees collected are for actual services rendered. Specifically, these would include hosting fees charged by the Application Hosting company, fees for telephone based software support and per claim charges for electronic claims processing. The pay-as-you-go concept better matches the cash flow of many dental offices.
2. The data can be accessed from anywhere. For offices with satellite locations or dentists that like to access the data from home, this is a huge advantage.
3. Practice information is securely stored. There is no risk of loss of information should the office be burned or burglarized and the computers stolen. No practice information is actually stored on your system, so the person stealing your computer could not access confidential patient data.
4. Updates are automatically performed. On a conventional system, the software vendor must constantly send program updates which must be installed by the dental staff and paid for by the dentist. With Application Hosting, updates are provided by the vendor automatically at no extra cost and there�s nothing the dental office has to do to implement them.
5. Use a less expensive computer. Since the program is actually running on a fast host machine, the local computer acts as nothing more than a terminal. It simply displays screens and allows the operator to type in additional information. It doesn�t matter whether the computer being used is an old 386, 486, or a new 750 MHz Pentium. The performance is the same on them all. The only requirement is that the system be able to access the Internet. The system doesn�t even have to be a PC. A Mac, Thin Client terminal or UNIX station with Internet access will all do the job just as well.

Application Hosting is also sometimes confused with packages that are "Web-Enabled". These programs are easily identified if the advertising material states that they are JAVA or HTML based programs. Although many of the benefits are the same, there are some distinct differences between the two methods of delivery. In a Web-Enabled program, each time a new screen is displayed, the software to run that portion of the program is downloaded. This substantially increases the amount of time necessary to load each screen. The user is forced to sit and wait while each screen is slowly loaded, thus decreasing the efficiency of the office. An Application Hosted screen, on the other hand, requires no program to be downloaded and is displayed instantly. Performance (even on a 56K modem connection) rivals that of a program running on the local computer.

Many operators also prefer Application Hosted programs if they are already familiar with the "look and feel" of Windows based programs. Since the program being run is actually a Windows program, there is an easy familiarity to it. Also, Application Hosted programs are originally designed to run on a local computer, so the companies marketing these hosted services are more than happy to sell you the program to install on your own system. One can run the Hosted Application for several months to try it out and then convert to the same package locally installed with no loss of data and no new learning curve. This option is usually not available with Web-Enabled software.

Be prepared to see lots of ads for both Web-Enabled and Application Hosted dental software. Several companies believe so heavily these two options are the wave of the future in dental computing that they have invested millions of dollars in developing Internet-based offerings for the dental community. One particular company has now purchased most of the larger dental software companies with the hopes of converting those companies� 30,000 plus dentists to one package, which will then be run over the Internet. There may soon come a day when the majority of dental software is distributed in this manner, so be prepared � The times, they are a changing!

Ron Barnett is the President of Complete Systems, Inc. (CSI) CSI has been providing dental offices with advanced dental practice management software since 1982. The company recently announced the current availability of their popular practice management program, Dental 2000, in an Application Hosted environment. Additional information can be requested by calling CSI at 800-999-9392 or by email at csisales@completesys.com The corporate web site is located at www.completesys.com. See related press release regarding CSI and Application Hosting company, Application Broadcasting, International.

Back to Main Page     Back to ASP Advantages

Frequently Asked Questions     View Press Release