Flex Learning Hub

How is Flex? Dr. Lauren Poole of Sweet Truth Dental on why Flex is a great fit for her new practice:

"I have just opened my first start-up dental practice and one of the vendor names I kept hearing about was Flex Dental. We chose to use Open Dental as our software service and knew the integration with Flex was one of the biggest selling points. I have been open for a few weeks now and Flex was, by far, one of my greatest decisions. It has made patient communication seamless, payments easy, and my staff is THRILLED with how helpful it is for them. Made by dentists, for dentists. It's wonderful."

“Let me think about it.” 

These are five very common words that are used routinely when any of us are asked if we would like to move forward with a purchase. I’m the king of “Let me think about it.” Often, I want to put off a purchase because I didn’t really understand the need for the product or service I was being offered. The "sales pitch" may have sounded good but the details weren’t explained well enough or I just didn’t feel a sense of urgency to move forward. I also have a notorious habit of trying to avoid payment discussions, preferring to do pricing research independently. Later on, when I have finally made the purchase, I often wish I had done so sooner. 

Our team has worked with thousands of dental practices over the years and one common challenge the majority face is increasing their case acceptance. Usually, the patient has concerns about what exactly is being recommended, doesn’t understand the treatment being proposed, or has financial questions that they may be too timid to ask. Let’s take a look at how the treatment plan presentation module in Flex helps address these issues, facilitate conversation, and keep your patients engaged so that your team can boost acceptance and keep those ops full. 

Normandy | Lakewood Dentistry is a two-location practice in Jacksonville, FL that has been using Flex for over two years to automate their patient communications in Open Dental. With a total of 9 doctors and 32 ops between their two locations, Flex has helped Normandy | Lakewood Dentistry boost their efficiency in managing their rapidly growing number of patients. 

Jenny Martin is the practice’s regional manager and sat down with our team to talk about their Flex journey.

What Makes Flex’s Paperless Forms So Smart?

Flex’s online forms for Open Dental are smart. Like, REALLY smart. In fact, if our forms were any smarter, they could write this article themselves.

Exaggerations aside, there are some very intelligent features that we’ve designed for our online forms that make a big difference in your practice’s workflow and in ease-of-use for the patient. And, while there are many options out there for online paperless forms, there are some considerable differences between Flex and other technologies. So what makes our forms so smart? It boils down to our team’s understanding of how forms affect the user experience of both practices and patients while developing features that simplify key workflow challenges.

Adopting new technologies can be intimidating for any dental practice, especially when they involve changes to established routines or require alterations to processes the practice is comfortable with - in our business, we see it every day. Of all the products and services Flex has to offer, the one that continues to generate great success stories also seems to inspire the most hesitancy from practices to implement - online scheduling. 

From reservations about allowing patients to book appointments on their own to concerns over practice management integration, we’ve heard it all. And, because we have years of experience implementing online scheduling, we have a good bit of insight we can share - free of charge!

Flex is a powerhouse for improving efficiency in dental practices while helping you grow your business. Feature by feature, we designed Flex to supercharge your workflow in Open Dental, from automated patient communication to online scheduling. And, we love contributing to your practice's success.  

Dulce Gonzalez is the treatment coordinator with Lakeview Dental Arts, a Chicago-area boutique-style dental practice that began using Flex in 2019. Here’s what Dulce has to say about their Flex-perience (see what we did there?), favorite features, and Flex’s ability to drive efficiency while bringing new patients through their practice doors.

Online appointment scheduling is on the rise, with 44% of respondents in a recent survey stating they would choose a healthcare provider that offers online scheduling versus one that does not. It’s no surprise that demand for online scheduling is growing in a society that demands immediacy and does just about everything online - from grocery shopping to buying cars. 

Fortunately, our team has years of experience implementing online scheduling via our FlexSchedule solution, so we have some insight into the trend of booking appointments online and what kind of return you can expect on your investment.

Who doesn't love a good list? They're great for getting information quickly and efficiently, just like Flex. 

We spend a lot of time talking with practices about patient communication and creating efficiencies in Open Dental, so our team has a good bit of insight into the topic. After all, patient communication is our specialty - we even tend to get a bit geeky when it comes to the subject. 

Flex was designed in an Open Dental practice, so it’s little surprise that there are some really cool patient communication features in Flex that add to your Open Dental experience. In the spirit of brevity, this will not be an exhaustive list of every Flex feature. Instead, we’ll focus on the top functionalities of Flex that make your dental life easier and your processes move faster.

You’ve been shopping around for the best patient communication solution for Open Dental and have decided that Flex is the right fit for your practice. What’s next? I'll walk you through the 4 steps you’ll take from Flex newbie on your path toward becoming a Flex-pert.

Who is your favorite sidekick of all time? 

As a kid, I loved reruns of the Batman television show starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as an overly-enthusiastic Robin. Robin was the ultimate sidekick, always there to fight crime and provide a witty, albeit cheesy, one-liner. Later on in life, I realized Batman was played for laughs but, at the time, it was serious business to me. Batman was a hero and Robin was his trusted partner. 

Many of our customers come to us because their practice needs a partner in improving their patient communications and giving their efficiency a boost in their Open Dental software. Like Robin, we jump right in to help. However, while supercharging patient communication and powering up your efficiency are our main strengths, Flex can also contribute to your practice's success through other avenues.