Computer programs are supposed to make us more efficient, right? Often, they do just the opposite. Businesses want shortcuts, not headaches, when it comes to software.
Here’s what two companies have found make their operations run more smoothly.
As an hourly-based accounting service firm, Saltz, Shamis & Goldfarb Inc. uses its time and billing system, PACs, for receivables, because billing is tied directly into hours entered by employees.
The company uses Macola software for payables because it’s more applicable to the average user. Selling features of the program include that it is Windows-based, Y2K compliant, flexible and customizable. It also boasts “drill-down” capabilities that allow users to trace transactions from the general ledger screen. Users can also quickly generate batch processing, create reports and audit transactions.
“It’s also great that we have Macola specialists in our internal IS group who help troubleshoot and provide technical support,” says marketing coordinator Kathy Sautters.
But what if you don’t have a trained specialist—let alone an internal IS group?
When she set out to find an uncomplicated software package for her Akron dental practice, Linda Pommier, D.D.S., wasn’t computer savvy. But she knew she could follow simple directions, so, she chose SoftDent.
The main selling point was the program’s training ease and simple, one-keystroke features to expedite tasks. The program also has the ability to electronically submit insurance claims directly from the patient transaction screen.
Pommier says she’d really go for a dental software program with a built-in Physicians Desk Reference that can integrate with the patient’s screen, so that when existing patient medications and new prescriptions are keyed in, a drug interaction is automatically red flagged. But so far, no such software has been developed, Pommier says.
For information about PACs software, call (800) 926-7227. For Macola software by Macola Software Inc., contact Steve Knight at Saltz Shamis & Goldfarb at (440) 248-8787. Queries about SoftDent software can be made to Dental Medical Automation at (800) 234-9719.