Size Doesn’t Matter When It Comes To Inventory Management

There’s a common misconception in the industry regarding inventory management: smaller dental practices do not need to invest in inventory management software. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. 

No matter the size or how many team members are employed, a dental practice will always run into issues, whether due to expiring products, not having the necessary supplies on hand for appointments or specific cases, or keeping the bottom line in check. It’s not just about using an inventory management system to handle your supplies — it’s about growth potential.  

A cloud-based inventory management system provides many valuable benefits for dental practices of all sizes. The software can inform team members within seconds whether a specific product needed for treatment is in stock. Since inventory syncs with usage, a running tally is readily available of what is in stock and what isn’t. This feature helps flag reordering needs and provides a more enhanced service to patients. As inventory drops below a specific threshold that the practice can customize, new orders can easily be placed with vendors. By being directly linked to a cloud database of a large dental supply platform, even a small practice gains access to a much larger system for efficient management of inventory. 

Inventory management software does more than assist with tracking and ordering. A key advantage is directly related to forecasting and effective planning for the future. Real-time data provides strategic planning reports, which is highly beneficial for budgeting. These reports enable dental practices to review trends regarding usage that, in turn, can be used for more informed decision-making when it comes to ordering supplies logically. This data is essential for planning for growth and utilizing cash flow resources best. 

Think about the average dental visit of a patient and the production costs associated with that appointment. Utilizing the tools of a digital inventory management system can potentially save five hours a week, at minimum. Even if it works out to be one hour a day per patient, the practice can allocate the money saved towards practical marketing efforts to help grow the practice and attract new patients. 

Simply put, savings are savings, no matter how minimal or significant. Time is money, and reevaluating current efficiencies and implementing new strategies, no matter the size of the practice, will help save on operating costs and proactively keep the practice on budget.