technology focus: 2017 How will I know what technology choices will work best for my practice? Think about what criteria will help you make informed technology decisions as you build your solid technology platform. This is the time to really focus on interoperability-making sure the systems you invest in, such as digital X-ray systems and intraoral cameras, can work together or communicate. Your practice management system should talk to every part of your practice so your team members don't have to. This improves efficiencies and frees up your team members to focus on providing exceptional customer service and a patient experience that's unique to your practice-and that keep patients wanting to come back. The basic concept behind achieving this in your practice is simple enough: Choose solutions that work together. Everybody already knows that's the goal; it's the execution that can trip practices up. The tricky part is, every vendor has its own solutions, and each solution is built in its own way. Sometimes systems are built with interoperability in mind and sometimes they aren't. The ones that don't feature interoperability will only hold your practice back and make it more difficult to streamline processes. Interoperability gives you the flexibility you need to get the most out of the technologies you purchase. I encourage you to look at your technology like you look at your staff: You may have the very best in every field working for you-world-class hygienists, office managers and dental assistants-but if these highly trained, talented dental professionals all spoke different languages (or didn't speak at all), how successful FREE FACTS, circle 35 on card dentaltown.com \\ OCTOBER 2017 73http://www.dentaltown.com