Dr. Bryan Laskin

Suddenly everyone becomes an expert on avoiding toxic aerosols! 😝

On a more serious note, aerosol reduction and proper PPE utilization are no laughing matters, so make sure your team is equipped with the supplies and training they need to manage REAL infectious risks.✌️

Reflect on some of your goals you are working hard to achieve.

Rich with the sensitive personal data of thousands of patients, dental practices are goldmines for cyber criminals.

DSOs and other large networks may be the bigger targets, but even small practices can’t be too careful.

If you are a solo practice or small group practice, you may not have the resources to maintain a robust legal team.

So what can you do?

Here is one way you can strengthen your practice’s defenses, protect patient data and avoid crippling fines, downtime and bad press:

DELEGATE.

You can enlist the help of other key players on your team by investing in their HIPAA and data security training.

There are some excellent resources out there like this course offered by Dimensions of Dental Hygiene.

I’m not affiliated with Dimensions, but this CE course is a great example of an easy way you can outsource some of the learning in order to build your hygiene department's comprehension of and appreciation for the very real risk that your practice faces.

Understanding the ins and outs of data security can be an intimidating task to add to your already-full to-do list.

Why not lighten your own burden by getting more brains on the job?

The better your team understands what’s at stake and what their obligations are, the better they’ll be able to support you. 💪

Making Patient Data More Secure - Dimensions of Dental Hygiene AGD Subject Code: 566 EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES After reading this course, the participant should be able to: Identify Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) regulations, including recent updates, enforcement mechanisms, and penalties for noncompliance. Recognize internal a...

Quote 12

Sometimes, innovation in dentistry gets in the way of itself.

What do I mean?

There are currently “innovative” practice management software solutions out there which, in attempting to do it all, make it nearly impossible for practices to adopt or be compatible with technologies that emerge later on.

Watch this episode of “The Patient First Podcast” where Mike Huffaker of and I talk about what dental practices can do to leverage true innovation without self-sabotaging their efforts to grow and adapt: bit.ly/3WMPz6y

Teamwork in the practice goes hand-in-hand with increased trust and case acceptance on the part of your patients. 🤝

Teamwork & trust 💪 Elevate your practice by mastering team communication and efficiency to build patient trust.Full interview: bit.ly/3Y2xLp5 ...

Thrilled to have you onboard the team at Toothapps, Andrew! 😁👏

Our friends Guillaume Joly and Nancy Thich over at have been enjoying “The Patient First Manifesto!”

Great to see that “The Patient First Manifesto” is still resonating with folks who truly believe that the patient experience is central to the practice and business of dentistry. 👏👏👏

Get It Done

With new disincentives for information blocking coming down the pipeline, it’s more urgent now than ever for dental care providers to understand the 21st Century Cures Act and how it affects them.

My mission is to help dental practice owners and organizations get a handle on things to protect their assets while leveraging the situation to boost efficiency, cut costs and improve the quality of patient care.

I talk about this a lot, but I don’t always know what you need to know.

If you have any questions you want to ask, drop them in the comments below to start a discussion or send me a message.

I’m at your service and ready to help! 🫡

The Information Blocking Rule has been given more ‘teeth’...

If your practice or network accepts Medicaid and Medicare, be careful you don’t let this one come back to bite you.

Check out the article, but also watch this space—I’ll be back here soon to explain the implications of this for DSOs, dentists and other oral healthcare providers who provide government subsidized care.

bit.ly/3Wt2kD9

Dental practice owners, would you rather hire a front desk employee who:

a.) has decades of experience 🏆 BUT also a bad attitude 🤬

b.) has a great personality 😇 BUT needs months of on-the-job training to get up to speed 😵‍💫 or

c.) is both a perfect personality fit AND highly skilled in what they do? 🦄

Obviously, we all want that unicorn employee of Option C, but most of us can’t afford to wait until we find them, leaving us with settling for Option A or B.

Fortunately, however, can help you get as close to Option C as possible.

I sat down to talk with Courtney Mead and Cheryl Wellman in the latest episode of “The Patient First Podcast” to discuss how their team helps dental practices bridge the gaps in knowledge and skills to build stronger, more harmonious and more efficient teams.

Watch this episode here: bit.ly/3Y2xLp5

So excited to have participated in the HL7 FHIR Connectathon hosted by the Federal Electronic Health Record Modernization Office (FEHRM)!

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Health Level Seven (HL7) International are bringing people together in the HL7 FHIR Connectathon, a very special collaborative event where industry stakeholders can gain insights into the importance of Standards in improving and explore potential solutions.

Speakers at the event represented key players and respected authorities in the space, including:

Toothapps 😉
Federal Electronic Healthcare Record Modernization Office (FEHRM)
Indian Health Services (IHS)
American Dental Association (ADA)
Air Force Medical Service
Monarch Innovation Group

Implementing new Standards could transform healthcare for people everywhere. It is nothing short of phenomenal to have events like these that shine a spotlight on the gaps between medical and dental health records and rally changemakers to develop and adopt the solutions we need to truly elevate the standard of care.

Is your summer calendar booked with back-to-back vacations, parties and trips?

Or have you blocked out whole days or even weeks to do nothing but disconnect from the noise and recharge?

Whatever you’ve got going on, I hope your summer has been a fun one!

Stay cool, stay safe and stay in touch! 😎

Did you know that you can *free up* your patients’ dental data, giving them secure access to their information in compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act *for free*?

It costs virtually nothing to start using the ToothappsⓇ Patient App which will let you do just that.

Visit https://www.toothapps.com/Marketing/Home/solutions/patientApp to learn more.

Are those stacks of paper intake forms and other patient documents eating into valuable appointment time and testing the limits of everyone’s sanity?

I believe that we dental care providers and our patients deserve a better way.

This is why my team and I have been working so hard to develop solutions that make it easier and faster than ever before to securely collect, store and share patient data.

Follow this space or reach out directly to me if you also believe dentistry is overdue for some massive changes.

Quote 78

Ever wish you had one of these for running your dental practice? 😂

Which clinical tool or digital solution is your "easy" button?

What’s your favorite part about communicating with patients of your dental practice?

Is it the playing phone tag?

Nagging patients about their overdue bills?

Chasing down missing forms?

Spending countless minutes searching for an opening that PERFECTLY aligns with a patient’s busy work schedule to squeeze them in for a quick little crown seating?

With ToothappsⓇ Patient App, there’s a better way to communicate with your patients.

Visit https://www.toothapps.com/Marketing/Home/solutions/patientApp to learn more.

ToothappsⓇ was a proud sponsor of the American Dental Association Forsyth Inaugural Golf Tournament, alongside our friends at Voyager Dental! ⛳ 🏌️

Thanks everyone for a great day on the green!

The Toothapps Ⓡ Patient App won't make you the “cool” dentist. 🙅 ❌️

Granted, quite a few of your patients will appreciate the way the app modernizes the way your practice works.

But if you think that the Patient App is just a gadget that increases curb appeal, then you are underestimating the capabilities of this tool.

The whole point of the Toothapps Patient App is not to make you some fashionable trend-setter. 😎

(Although, for what it's worth, *I* would think you're VERY cool if you can also get behind the movement. 🙋)

The Patient App is designed to help you KEEP UP with the latest standard of care. 📈🏆

If you want your practice to stay relevant to the evolving demands of oral healthcare consumers and needs of dental patients AND stay compliant with current legislation governing the management of patient data, then the Toothapps Patient App will 100% help you do just that.

This app works behind the scenes, letting your signature approach to patient care and distinct practice personality stay in the spotlight.

There's no need to make your standard MO more “cool.”

Just let Toothapps make it easier to do what you already do best. 🙌🏻

Stay cool, my friends! ✌️

The difference a year makes:

Just 365 days ago, nobody in dentistry was discussing interoperability, data standards or a little company called Ⓡ.

Now?

Now the most influential people in dentistry are focused on solving what I describe in Dental Disorder as "the biggest problem in dentistry."

Even better, people are now coming together to agree on solutions to this problem, and this was perfectly demonstrated at the ADSO 2024 Summit.

ToothappsⓇ offers the solutions we need to adhere to the new Standards for interoperability that define how dentists, patients and vendors exchange information securely. It was super exciting to see so many come together at to discuss the potential for major change in our industry.

Looking forward to the announcement of new partnerships and developments…!

Quotes To Live By #43

Really enjoyed teaming up with Linda Harvey to publish this piece in !

The issue of sharing dental patient data electronically is still not widely known among providers.

If you learned something new from this article, please share it to help others understand how HIPAA and the 21st Century Cures Act affect them and their practices today. 🙏

bit.ly/3RvGqML

How does the ToothappsⓇ Patient App work, anyway? 🤔

We're happy to show you!

Visit the Toothapps Patient App website today to request a demo.

👉👉👉👉 https://www.toothapps.com/Marketing/Home/solutions/patientApp

Even if you’re generally not fond of social media, there’s no denying the fact that we live in a digital society.

Dental practices need to have a social media presence if they want to be seen and found and trusted by patients.

But understandably, creating a social media strategy (and then executing it on a regular basis) is not easy.

It’s especially challenging for dental practice owners who are busy handling more important elements of the business.

That’s why Rita Zamora founded . Connect90 helps busy dental professionals leverage the benefits of a social media presence without wasting precious time.

Learn more by watching this episode of “The Patient First Podcast”: bit.ly/4e79G5V

Don’t miss this opportunity to earn 1 live CE and learn how dental practice owners can leverage the 21st Century Cures Act to their advantage.

I’m speaking in a one-hour FREE webinar hosted by to help practice owners de-mystify the legalese and understand the good, the bad and the ugly about their obligations under law.

Hope to see you there!

Register for free here: bit.ly/4e0699P

Another dynamic and productive discussion with Dave Pryor on a topic we have always aligned on: the strategic adoption and intelligent implementation of dental technology across oral healthcare networks.

Watch this episode of “The Patient First Podcast” to learn what we've learned are the keys to getting the most out of dental innovation:

bit.ly/3KkTksK

#

Dental AI is “a crucial tool in addressing the nationwide oral health crisis. This is more than just early detection and cost savings. It’s about empowering clinicians to close the action gap, transforming oral health care, and ultimately, promoting healthier communities for generations to come.”

This article published by in delivers a powerful argument made in favor of using AI in clinical dentistry.

It’s not about ‘letting robots take over doctors’ jobs’ or about dentists losing their skills.

AI is a tool that can raise the standard of care, motivate patients to be proactive about their oral health and improve the efficiency of day-to-day procedures in the dental office.

All of that leads to two phenomenal benefits:

👍 increased production potential for practices
👍 better treatment outcomes for patients

AI is finding increasingly more applications in the oral healthcare space and I, for one, think this is a very very good thing.

Do you agree?

Take a look over the article for yourself and then join the conversation!

bit.ly/3VjUtal