iSmile Dental Care Success with Fuse Software

The inquiry set iSmile on a path to participating in a beta test of cloud-based Fuse practice management software. The DSO went from having three different practice management software solutions across its locations to just Fuse.

Fuse quickly enabled iSmile to centralize business functions, increase consistency and improve communication. “A lot of lightbulbs were going off. We realized we could take this opportunity to do a lot of cool things that we couldn’t do previously because we hadn’t had the capabilities,” says Raja, who earned an MBA from Yale School of Management after graduating from dental school at NYU.

Making appointments across locations with new ease

During the pandemic, it became increasingly important for iSmile to schedule a patient of one location at a different practice because of fluctuations in capacity and staffing, explains Raja. “We had to lateralize. We didn’t want to lose patients who were willing to come in.”

While patients loved being able to schedule appointments at another office, making that happen was “a nightmare” before Fuse, Raja says. Staff had to transfer records, images, and documents between locations and into different software solutions while maintaining HIPAA compliance.

“If you do that regularly, your staff is doing nothing but transferring records all day – forget about answering phone calls from new patients,” he says. “Fuse has just been a game changer because we can access any patient and any record from anywhere within the system. So patient care has been significantly impacted.”

Centralizing scheduling to free up staff and fill schedules

Another way that iSmile reduced silos was by centralizing scheduling, which Raja says has led to fuller schedules. This was not something Raja’s team set out to do, but staff shortages during the pandemic made it a necessity and Fuse made it a possibility, he says. “We just didn’t have staff to answer new patient phone calls, handle insurance, and deal with current patients, treatment plans and all the necessary tasks that come along with it.”
 
When iSmile adopted Fuse in 2021, they saw an opportunity. “We said we’re down a lot of folks so why don’t we hire one to two people to take phone calls between a couple of different offices,” Raja explained. Over time, iSmile completely shifted incoming phone calls to a call center where receptionists field incoming inquiries and assume responsibility for filling the schedule. “So, all of our staff at the practices could just solely focus on patient care, treatment plans and making sure everybody gets what they need.”
 
Since then, iSmile has adjusted the call workflow after learning that current patients often want to talk to someone at their home dental office, says Raja. “So, we iterated. The call center now just takes calls from new patients. If an existing patient calls, they get transferred back to their dental office so the familiarity is still there. We’ve been able to get real-time feedback from our teams and patients, and we pivoted.”

Accessing enterprise-wide data and centralizing accounts receivable

Fuse gives leaders at the corporate office access to real-time data served up on intuitive, easy-to-read dashboards from any or all locations. “Centralization of numbers is probably one of the best things for our business,” Raja says.

The corporate team huddles every morning to go over enterprise-wide numbers, including real-time collections and accounts receivable, he says. “The more locations you have, the more overhead you have in payroll and other expenses. Making sure you have cash reserves all the time and that you’re closing that cash cycle – from patient care to treatment to claim to getting paid – is really, really important.”

Now accounts receivable also is centralized at the corporate office, Raja added. “Now we’ve got folks in the background who constantly work on A/R as their sole task.”

Ease in adoption, communication and collaboration

Another benefit of Fuse is its ease of use for employees across locations. “It’s very intuitive to use and very easy to train on. There were two to three days of training per location, and people were just humming along using it,” says Raja.

He also finds Fuse promotes collaboration. “We’re all speaking the same language, using the same terminology on the same platform with the same scheduling practices. We can communicate with each other and schedule appointments across locations. Everyone seems to love it.”