Your technology vendor solution
Looking for a technology vendor? Finding the right one can be difficult, but follow these guidelines and you’ll be on track to making the right decision for you and your practice.
By David Redwine
As dental technology continues to grow more complex, so does choosing the right technology vendor. Combine that with the mergers and acquisitions, the technology obsolescence and enhancements, and the business-to-business partnership changes and it becomes even more difficult to determine which direction you should go with technology and the vendors who supply it.
It may sound daunting, but there are steps you can take to help you make the best choice for your office. Read on for guidelines that can empower dental practitioners to make sound decisions in today’s volatile dental technology environment.
Trust but verify
Disregard all those “act now” offers telling you to take advantage of drastically reduced prices on digital radiography sensors, or digital pan or ceph machines. The next time you upgrade your Dental Practice Management (DPM) software, that equipment might not work anymore because your DPM vendor may no longer support the software drivers for those devices. That can be a $40,000 mistake. To avoid it, call your DPM software vendor before purchasing new equipment and make sure you know what equipment the current version and future versions will support.
Ask vendors to demonstrate that the hardware works on the software in question. You will get push back on this because it costs the vendor money to dedicate the resources to proving the solution. Meet them halfway—agree to pay half the cost, which is usually $1,000 or less. It is a small price to pay to avoid a production loss and a tug of war on returning the equipment or the nightmare of trying to get it to work later.
Give them a call
The marketplace is ripe with vendors who make big splashes with their introductions and service hype but can’t (or won’t) follow through with service and support after the sale. Sometimes you can’t even reach them after the initial sales call. To mitigate being caught in this trap, evaluate three or more vendors and have a professional third party dental technology expert evaluate your equipment quotes. Place calls to the vendor’s support line, the customer service number, the sales team and the actual salesperson.
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