Application Programming Interfaces, artificial intelligence and cloud-based software are just some of the technologies making headway in the dental industry as a way to enhance dental practice operations and patient care.
Mike Baird, CEO of dental technology company Henry Schein One, recently shared with Becker's what he sees for the future of technology in dentistry:
Editor's note: Responses were lightly edited for clarity and length.
Question: What trends are you noticing in technology and what do you think the future holds for the dental industry?
Mike Baird:
- Software/interoperability
- In terms of practice software, we’re seeing advancement in Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). As more practice management software and tools communicate with each other, we're seeing more integrated, streamlined workflows in dental practices. Within Henry Schein One, we continue to develop and refine our various software and tools, so they work as one unified solution.
- Advanced APIs are also critical for interoperability between dental and medical practice management software, allowing all healthcare providers access to a patient's medical and dental patient health records. This gives healthcare providers a holistic view of a patient's health, ensuring best practice principles and the highest patient care standards. We are investing heavily in medical/dental interoperability and I believe we will continue to see improvements in interoperability in the coming years, especially in the dental school space and other large institutions.
- Artificial intelligence
- Artificial intelligence has been making its way toward the dental industry in recent years and with widespread adoption, will revolutionize the industry. It is already in major use as a clinical review tool in the medical field, and has been for several years, and it is poised to be a significant factor in future technology systems and clinical operations. Dentists and DSOs are slowly starting to leverage AI to elevate the standard of care and improve patient outcomes.
- Security/cloud-based software
- As we look to the future, we're going to continue to see more practices moving to cloud-based software. With proper role-based permissions, practices who store their data in the cloud are every bit as much in control of their practice and practice data as they are with on-premises solutions.
- Cloud storage has also moved beyond simply trying to keep up with on-premises storage when it comes to data security. In many ways, data stored in the cloud is more secure against data loss and theft than data stored locally on your own servers. It's certainly possible for on-premises data security to meet or even exceed the security standards of the cloud. But for most businesses, implementing the necessary security measures on-premises is so costly as to be virtually impossible. The shift to the cloud will help practices enjoy even better security and peace of mind.