FAST FACTS

Business Challenges

• Dr. Ritter needed a practice management solution that would allow him to remotely access his platform from his home 25 minutes from
  the office.
• He values patient education and holistic care and found his current solution’s graphics not clear enough for his patients to follow during treatment planning.
• In 2022, Dr. Ritter wanted to merge with another practice, which required:
  • Training and onboarding for new staff.
  • Patient communication to inform existing patients of the changes.
  • Merging of patient records and data.

Solution

Dr. Ritter switched his practice from Softdent to Curve SuperHero in 2018. From the start, his staff and patient experience was enhanced by Curve’s modern interface. Curve also played a helpful role when he merged his practice with another
in 2022.

The benefits to Smile Solutions include:

• The ability to remotely use the software with no VPN so staff can work from anywhere.
• An intuitive and beautiful interface that his staff loves.
• Drag-and-drop functionality that enables users to perform charting 200-300% faster.
• Upgraded graphics that Dr. Ritter is proud to show patients in his operatories, allowing them to participate in their treatment.
• All-in-one functionality so that the team doesn’t have to use another software for imaging or patient engagement.

When it came time to merge Smile Solutions with another practice, Curve helped make the process easier through:

• Ongoing support from Curve’s customer service team.
• Help transitioning the other practice’s patient records and data into Curve.
• Expert training from Curve that gets new team members onboarded and up-to-speed fast.
• Curve GRO™ patient engagement tools that make patient communication easier.
• The ability to further expand in the future while managing the business from a centralized location.

Results

• By merging his practice, Dr. Ritter has increased his patient volume by 3x and is booked months in advance.
• Curve helps him efficiently see new patients and provide them a modern experience.
• New patients have adopted Curve’s online forms and communication tools.
• New staff know how to use Curve effectively.
• Curve handles installation of new feature updates, cybersecurity and product enhancements.

The Curve Difference for Smile Solutions

From the start, Dr. Ritter and his staff benefited immediately from Curve’s ease-of-use and modern technology. Then as Dr. Ritter merged Smile Solutions with another practice in 2022, Curve played a vital role in the process.

A Focus on Family

When Dr. Ritter purchased his practice in 2012, he lived above the practice. He was always “at the office,” so he could access his server-based practice management software, Softdent, from his home. But once he moved away, he had to rely on a VPN that wasn’t always the most reliable.

Because Curve is a true cloud-based software, it doesn’t rely on a local, in-office server to work. That means Dr. Ritter and his staff can use the full platform from anywhere, anytime. His staff has flexibility to work from home in case of illness, and a snowy Baltimore day doesn’t completely halt work.

The Modern Touch Smile Solutions Needed

“The thing that catches my eye about Curve when I log in, is that it’s just so clean-looking,” Dr. Ritter says. His staff agrees.

They love how much information they can glean from the system with just a glance. In particular, they leverage Curve’s color-coded scheduler to categorize the day’s patients. In Curve’s Sidekick, they can see an overview of what they need to know for each patient.

Charting is where Curve really shines for the Smile Solutions staff. Not only is it pleasing to the eye, but the drop down functionality is intuitive. Dr. Ritter loves that they don’t have to work in multiple softwares to take x-rays like they did with Softdent, because imaging is completely integrated in Curve.

 I feel like it would be so easy to open up a second location or another practice with Curve.

Merging the Practice

As Smile Solutions became more established, it made sense to merge with another practice to increase his patient volume in his existing space. Through the merger, Dr. Ritter gained three times the patients, and he’s booked months in advance, which is great news for the practice’s future growth.

After 7 years on Softdent, I still didn’t know how to use the vast majority of the features because things were so complex and there was a lack of intuitiveness to the way the software is built. Curve, however, can be learned by a team member in a
matter of weeks.

Patient records, charts, notes and personal information all converted from the other practice into Smile Solutions’ Curve instance. With the higher number of patients, Dr. Ritter had to hire several new team members including hygienists and an office manager who were easily and quickly trained on Curve. “I have a level of confidence in bringing new people onto the team that they will be able to learn the software quickly,” he says.

Looking into the future, Dr. Ritter plans to bring on additional staff, and there’s always the possibility of opening an additional location. With Curve, he believes the ability to use the software from a centralized location would make it much easier to expand without physically being in each building. Curve will be there to support Smile Solutions with whatever lies ahead.

To see how Curve SuperHero can benefit your practice, call 888-910-4376 or visit www.curvedental.com