Laci Phillips and Bonnie Pugh

Marketing, like many other things in dentistry, has changed greatly in in the last five years. Where the words "Marketing and Sales" were once taboo, they are now expected and even in demand in our world. Many of us have jumped on the social media bus, but there are other factors to marketing we cannot forget.  First and foremost make sure you have a marketing budget that is part of your yearly planning.   Once you have the budget then it's important to target the right areas.

Today we'd like to discuss two physical aspects that sometimes get overlooked once in place.

Let's start with the physical aspect of external marketing. When was the last time you drove to your office a different direction than your normal route? How is your signage? Can it be seen from multiple directions? Is it congruent with your brand? Make sure you also do an outside inspection of your building, the parking lot, as well as your entry way. Keeping those outside appearances is just as important as how the inside of your office looks.

Once you've looked at the outside with new eyes, walk inside your office using the same path a patient would take.  How is the inside signage? Is your reception area warm and inviting? Do you carry your logo and color scheme throughout the office? And just because you have clinical operatory does not mean they have to be cold and sterile. It is always effective to sit in the dental chair and get the patient view of your ops. Don't forget your team, is part of your internal marketing. Professional attire for the front office team and clean, pressed uniforms for your clinical team that match your brand will reflect who you are and what you represent.

It is important to keep your marketing campaign fresh and current. And it is just as important to keep your physical office fresh and reflective of who you are. Remember there are many aspects to marketing in 2014, consistency and a congruent theme will help you stay focused in your efforts.  So put on a new set of glasses and take a look around.  Even better, get the whole team involved and have a team meeting to discuss what everyone noticed.

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The 6 Biggest Challenges to HIPAA Security Rules Compliance... And How You Can Beat Them, with Dr. Lorne Lavine

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The title of this week's diatribe, reason #228 why the web makes more sense for your location, is meant to be tongue in cheek. "Multiple", "mirrored" and "repeated" is redundant, don't you think? If it wasn't clear already, today I'm talking about keeping your patient data safe through the proper use of redundancy.

I've said often that a convincing argument can be made that your patient data on the cloud is much safer than your patient data on a server sitting under your desk or in the broom closet at your practice. Let me explain:

On the cloud, your data is physically and digitally protected in a professionally-manage data center. Physically, the data center is usually protected by perimeter fencing, 24/7 video surveillance, and even biometric access in some cases. Your practice may have an alarm system, may have video surveillance, but that won't stop a thief from breaking in and getting out before the authorities arrive.

Digitally, the data center is protected by industrial level firewalls and monitoring schemes to thwart and detect unauthorized snooping. We use the same security technology used by banks and other secured sites. In your practice, you may be using a router and firewall purchased at Walmart.

In order for your practice to duplicate the same security we have in place you'd spend millions. I suppose if you wanted to get into the data management business you would have skipped out on dental school. But you didn't and here we are: Let the data pro's manage your data.

Let's get back to redundancy. Inside that data center your patient data resides on multiple servers. Hardware will fail; that's why the data is replicated across multiple servers. If one goes down another one picks up without missing a beat.

But that's not good enough. Your patient data is also replicated in more than one geographical location. If one center loses power or connectivity, for whatever reason, the other picks up without missing a beat.

And finally, in the unlikely event that multiple servers and multiple data centers fail, your patient data is backed up and encrypted on another server in a different location. And if that's enough, you can always download your patient data to thumb drive and put it under your mattress for safe keeping.

Redundancy. You'll find it on the cloud.

You can learn more about how we keep your patient data safe and secure by calling and chatting with one of our dental software consultants at 888-910-4376. Call today to learn more or visit our website.

What does a dentist do on a roller coast? He braces himself!

Use of dental sealants, which block tooth decay on the chewing surfaces of primary molars, has increased by 64% in the last decade. Thirty percent of all US children have at least one sealed tooth.