Are Dentists being sent to digital hell?


I must admit that sometimes I feel that way! As a solo practitioner and the only "technical one" in my office, all digital problems seem to run through me. Between managing Windows 10 , Dexis and Dentrix, electronic Rx's , Ofc Wifi, my Bowers and Wilkerson Air Zeppelin, Digital photographs, and my digital electric drill, hardly a day goes by without me getting involved with helping to iron out a snafu either small or large.

Don't get me wrong... I love geeking out over new technology and look forward to trying out newer technology but some days it can be a drag dealing with all the glitches and poor design of the programs we are using.

 Allscripts runs our  electronic Rx's and evey three months it stops working until we change our password and often It asks for our previous password before allowing a new one to be set up. Of course this usually happens when I am behind schedule and trying to write a quick Rx for a patient while in my treatment room.

Last week my server and treatment rooms computer seemed to be infested with malware and after a call to my Mathew my It person, we decided to install a free version of Malwarebytes to clear out my hornets nest of installed bogus programs. It worked! ( but made all my computers run even more slowly). This week I've been de-installing Malwarebytesfrom all my computers since all our computers are running even slower andd I am tired of the univited pop ups it greets me with every day.

My wonderful Air Zeppelin Speaker system has great sound and my patients all comment on how like the way my music sounds, but every time the cleaning person unplugs it , somehow it "forgets" how to properly reboot. The next morning I have to play with it endlessly to get it to turn on properly.

Last week I installed a new beta version of  a Dexcam that I was asked to try out. Its installation went smoothly but took me a couple of hours on my day off to install. Its really cool and my patients seem to enjoy viewing the images of their problem teeth. They seem more motivated to fix problem teeth when seeing the magnified images on my computer screen than when I let them .use my old fashioned hand held make up mirror. Does this mean I have to purchase this new toy? I am hoping my office manager Ida will stop me before I sign this new contract for it's purchase. (Does Dexis have a lay away plan?)

Seriously, I am suffering from digital overload. Its so bad that when my old fashioned suction pump died last week it was somewhat a relief.  Now here was a a problem I immediately knew how to deal with... Call Simon my Schein repair guy and arrange for a service call! The next morning two men arrived with a new analog pump and 45 minutes later it was up an running without any glitches, bugs and follow !up tech calls were needed! Oh sometimes I can't help thinking life seemed easier when my options were all analog and more limited!

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://ift.tt/2jCqxoH - http://ift.tt/1SpPbm6

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