What all dentists need to know about cloud based dentistry

As we have established above, there are just so many benefits to storing data in the cloud, that it’s the inevitable destination. And I’m now going to outline the most crucial ones, that apply to almost any system and situation. 

Perhaps the cloud's biggest advantage is that you can access your data from any device at any location as long as you have internet access.

You can access data at any time from anywhere

Managing the life puzzle becomes easier when you can work remotely if necessary. Rather than being tied to your clinic, you can use your phone to resolve an issue from, for example, your home or summer house.

Here at 3Shape, we’re big on mobile devices. Say what you will about the phone playing a crucial role in our lives: we see it as key to making lives simpler for dentists. You likely reply to many emails on your phone, so why should your other work be any different?

Collaboration and communication become seamless

Related to the previous point: Imagine you have sent a case to the lab. Before they can proceed, they have a short, simple question for you—something that needs to be resolved before they can move along. They send the question in a chat message.

There is a night-and-day difference between being able to respond quickly on the phone and waiting until you are back in the clinic tomorrow or on Monday.

A lot of your clinic work goes as fast and smoothly as the information flows between you and your partners (such as labs and specialists), colleagues and patients. So with always-accessible, integrated systems in the cloud, you treat your patients faster, with more time to spare, without working harder.

It is your insurance against data disasters

You can’t spill water on the cloud, causing it to break (as you could a PC).

If all your data is stored on a local PC or server and it crashes or you suffer from a cyber attack, you can lose it all. Scans, x-rays, 10 years worth of patient history… suddenly gone with the wind.

But even though you can’t see it (which makes some people hesitate if they can trust it) the cloud is a far safer place for your crucial data. You can recover cloud data, usually in minutes.

You don’t need to be an IT expert

When you move to the cloud, to an extent you are removing the need for IT management in your clinic.

You will have no more local servers to manage, or local backups to do. Which means you spend less money on equipment, and less time constantly updating them.

You can easily integrate all cloud-based dental software

You can relatively easily integrate one piece of cloud-based software with another. This is normally done using existing APIs (or “Application Programming Interfaces).

As your dentistry work will only continue to “digitize”, you will rely on more and more different types of dental software. So being able to integrate them better and more easily is a massive advantage.

And related to that, there is also an added bonus: the more systems you integrate, the more value you get from each of them. You’re achieving a “network effect”. This is similar to, the more friends you have on a social media platform, the more valuable that platform becomes to all of you. It was no fun being the world’s first owner of a fax machine.

So how secure is your data in the cloud?

As I mentioned earlier, your data is far more secure in the cloud than when stored locally. If your cloud software comes from an established technology provider, they will make sure all the latest security updates are implemented, and that you comply with regulatory standards.

For example: If you have an on-premise PMS, your data may be reasonably secure as long as the information stays within the system. But you may be less secure than you think:

Think about your typical image of a patient.

• Is it stored locally on a folder on your PC?
• When you send it to a lab, do you email it?
• Do you use an external service like Dropbox?

As you move outside that protected system, you may become vulnerable, so maybe you are not as compliant as you thought you are. And we live in a time when regulatory demands on clinics are tightening fast. Not to mention how patients expect ever more data security.

But when you use a serious vendor of cloud software:

• They will keep you compliant with the necessary regulations, be that HIPAA, GDPR or anything else.
• They work diligently to meet standards such as ISO.
• They regularly run penetration tests, and even hire outside, professional hackers to try to break into the systems, to identify any gaps.

No stone is left unturned.

Make sure your vendor is compliant

The security demands are high, as they should be since we’re talking about your patients’ data. So make sure you are also diligent when selecting the right vendor.

The major, global vendors are typically compliant. Some local ones aren’t. Many even fail the most basic requirement, such as storing your data in the region where your data legally must be stored (an important concept known as “data residency”).

Those that you can trust will likely address the above compliance factors in their marketing material, such as on their websites. But if you don’t see any of that information, make sure to ask them about it.