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Beyond the Bite

The Official Blog of the Florida Dental Association

Tag: Technology

How Do I Optimize My Website for Core Web Vitals?

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By Whiteboard Marketing

In today’s marketing world, being visible on Google is essential to the growth and success of every dental practice. Google is the No. 1 search engine in the world, and it is the first place many people go when they search for a new dentist. It’s important to keep your website optimized with best practices from Google to ensure current and prospective patients can easily find you and schedule an appointment. Google releases algorithm updates on a regular basis, which search engine optimization (SEO) experts must navigate to continuously improve websites. The most recent update that Google released is the Page Experience Algorithm update, which focuses on Core Web Vitals. There are many elements that this update encompasses, but three in particular create the most impact: Largest Contentful Paint, Cumulative Layout Shift and First Input Delay. Here, we’ll discuss why these factors are important for your website and changes you can implement to stay competitive, provide a positive online experience to visitors and generate new patient acquisition.

1. Largest Contentful Paint

Largest Contentful Paint is the time it takes for the largest element on your website to appear on screen. The largest element on your website is typically the image on your homepage, also known as the banner or hero image. It’s important that this image loads quickly because it is the first thing a user will see when they visit your website. If site visitors are unable to see or interact with your website, your opportunity to convert them to a new patient lessens, as they will most likely leave your site. Your largest content paint should be less than 2.5 seconds. To improve your website’s load time, the SEO experts at Whiteboard Marketing recommend making these updates:

  • Choose photos over videos. Videos are large files that take a longer time to load, which ultimately slows down your website. If you notice that your website is slow to populate and you have videos placed throughout the site, you may want to consider removing them to improve your site speed.
  • Use correct image sizes. Large images also can slow down a website’s loading time, especially if they’re the incorrect size. Oftentimes, your website will specify the exact size you should use for certain sections, and it’s important to follow these guidelines, if applicable. Incorrect image sizes or images that are too large may overload your site and cause a delay in loading time. The Whiteboard Marketing team recommends that you use correctly sized images for each responsive breakpoint, and nothing larger than 2000 px wide to ensure healthy website speed.

2. Cumulative Layout Shift

Frequently, when a website loads, images, calls to action (CTA), and other elements may shift or move around in an effort to populate. Cumulative Layout Shift highlights the importance of having stable elements when a page loads. If images or buttons move around too much, users may become confused or accidentally click on the wrong link. Having a visually stable website provides a positive user experience. Here are a few things you can do to minimize your website’s Cumulative Layout Shift:

  • Refrain from using pop-ups. Pop-ups are small windows that will “pop up” on a website to advertise specials, promote campaigns or provide a CTA. While they are a great marketing tactic to create urgency or offer information, they can drastically affect the usability experience of your website. When a pop-up appears on screen, it can move a website’s content, which causes confusion for users. Talk to your marketing partner to discuss additional options for incorporating elements of a pop-up into other areas of your website. For example, if a pop-up was used to highlight your dental implants service, you may want to consider adding a CTA button on your website’s home page instead. You’re still able to draw in the user with something eye-catching to convert them into a new patient.
  • Replace carousels with still images. While carousels or sliders may appear trendy and high tech, they can cause many issues when it comes to your website’s stability. Carousels contain multiple large images that take time to load when a user visits your website, and the automatic playing of these images may result in a negative score from Google due to the cumulative shift layout. To combat this, the web development and SEO experts at Whiteboard Marketing suggest using an organic, singular, still image on your website.

3. First Input Delay

First Input Delay is the time it takes for the browser to respond to the user’s first interaction. This means that visitors can engage or interact with your website by clicking, scrolling or typing on the webpage. If your website takes too long to load and users cannot begin searching for information or navigating through your website, they may become frustrated with the lack of functionality. Your first input delay should be under 100 milliseconds. It’s important that your website is interactive to ensure you are converting as many visitors as possible into new patients. Here’s what you can do to improve your website’s First Input Delay:

  • Limit any heavy use plugins. Plugins can add new functionality or features to your website, but they also can complicate the engineering of your website. When a website has too many plugins or too many heavy-use plugins, this can cause delays to your site’s ability to respond to visitors. Be sure your website only uses plugins that are necessary.
  • Switch to a high-speed server. Oftentimes, when your website’s hosting server is slow, this will cause your site to be slow as well. If you notice that it is increasingly difficult to interact with your website, you may want to consider finding a new hosting provider. Talk to your web development team to determine if moving to a new server is the best option for your practice’s website.

While there are many other solutions to address the Page Experience update, they typically focus on your website’s code and the way it was developed. If you notice any long load times, stability issues or difficulties interacting with your website, talk with your marketing partner about additional options that may be available. Your website team may need to remove or alter certain code on your website to improve its performance. Your marketing team may even recommend building a completely new website if your code is flawed or outdated.

Google’s Page Experience Algorithm update focuses primarily on your website’s user experience and functionality. It’s important to implement any necessary updates or new strategies to keep your website ahead of the curve. Paying attention to your website’s Largest Contentful Paint, Cumulative Layout Shift and First Input Delay will help you provide a better user experience, improve your SEO performance and increase your opportunities to attract and retain new patients.

Written by Whiteboard Marketing team members Sara Grindley, account manager, with input from Corinne Richardson, SEO specialist, Jon Krempasky, SEO and PPC manager, and Alex Francis, web developer. Whiteboard Marketing is a dental practice marketing firm in Dublin, Ohio that partners with dentists nationwide to develop and implement practice marketing strategies that increase new patient acquisition and build brand awareness.

Decrypting the Buzz Around Email Cybersecurity

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By: Robert McDermott, President and CEO, iCoreConnect

Do you feel like you’re hearing a lot about ransomware, phishing and hacking these days? You’re not imagining an increase in these buzzwords. They’re popping everywhere: news media, compliance reports, technology and trade journals, and the list goes on. It’s important to recognize that these words are more than just the latest media buzz. They’re real threats.

Cybercrimes remain a problem for dental and medical professionals with little sign of going away anytime soon. The primary ways your practice can be compromised are through your IT infrastructure and your email. The weakest link in the chain, however, is people.

Criminals have become quite effective at using malicious email to exploit human vulnerability and gain access to protected health information (PHI). When an email comes in posing as a trusted source like a bank, an online payment site or even a social networking site, your staff needs to know what to do … and what not to do. Every day, cybercriminals successfully steal everything from patient and insurance records to passwords, social security numbers, credit card information and account numbers. These kinds of attacks are called “phishing.” They are designed to get you to click a link, call a number or respond with personal information.

Educate your staff on what to look for in a phishing attack. The Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Division explains that phishing emails and text messages often tell a story to trick you into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. These emails may:

  • say they’ve noticed some suspicious activity or login attempts.
  • claim there’s a problem with your account or your payment information.
  • say you must confirm some personal information.
  • include a fake invoice.
  • want you to click on a link to make a payment.
  • say you’re eligible to register for a government refund.
  • offer a coupon for free stuff.

As a dental health provider, confirm that every email with any connection to PHI, payments, passwords or other sensitive information is being sent through a secure, HIPAA-compliant email service.

Not sure how to know? Check to make sure your secure email service uses its own private network to transmit messages, not the public internet. You also will know if your email is fully secure and compliant based on the way email communication is initiated. If your practice must initiate the first message in an email conversation, then your system is highly secure. The security key is that no one can randomly email you or your staff if you haven’t sent a secure email to them first. That eliminates phishing and hacking because cybercriminals can’t reach you. Once you have that first email interaction with another doctor, pharmacy, patient, etc., your workflow is the same as any other email.

If you are sending PHI via Google, verify you are using the paid version, Google Workspace Gmail. Even if you have some security steps in place on a non-paid Gmail address, you are most likely neither HIPAA compliant nor protecting your patient’s records. You may want to consider using Gmail, and other similar services, for sending everything that isn’t PHI or sensitive information. Secure and non-secure emails often can be accessed in the same email interface requiring only one login to access all your email accounts.

So, what happens if your email isn’t secure and someone in your office clicks a link? Well, you’ve just left the back door unlocked and let a cybercriminal sneak into your business. Once a cybercriminal gets into your system, usually without detection, they have one goal: wreak havoc to get money. They can lock up your entire records system and hold it for ransom, usually requiring payment in bitcoin. Thousands of attacks are launched every day with good success. It’s a scenario you don’t want to deal with. Fortunately, it’s also preventable.

Teach your staff or bring in an IT managed services provider (MSP) to talk with your office about the best practices to prevent phishing scams. Learn to identify a suspicious email and report it to your IT or MSP team. Most importantly, never click on buttons/links, call the listed phone number or respond to the message, especially with personal information.

Replace your current moderately secure email service with a truly secure, HIPAA-compliant email and you’ll significantly decrease the risk of your data being accessed through email.

Cybersecurity, phishing and ransomware are more than buzzwords. They represent identity theft, credit card and bank account access, and the loss of patient trust. Prevent access. Use secure email. Stay off the radar of those looking to profit off your practice. These simple steps can save you headaches and heartbreaks from having PHI stolen or captured and then paying a high ransom to get your practice up and running again.

FDA Services endorses iCoreExchange HIPAA-compliant email. iCoreExchange not only meets or exceeds every compliance and security requirement, but it also allows you to attach as many large files as you want to any single email. Speed up your workflow, protect patients and your practice. Check out this convenient and compliant service or call 888.810.7706. FDA members receive a substantial discount on iCoreExchange.

So, You Want to Buy a New Computer?

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By Larry Darnell, FDA Director of Information Systems

Lately, there has been a greater need to have better computers. Perhaps it’s because so many more people are working from home or more students are doing virtual education. In fact, I get asked this question at least once a week within my network of influence. In response, I have some questions to ask them: What do you want to do with it? What is the purpose? Do you want it to be portable or will it stay at the house? These are critical questions to answer for yourself. Other questions arise, too. Do you want a laptop or a desktop? Would a tablet or a Chromebook meet your needs? How much do you want to spend? Usually, the answer becomes clear just from this initial questioning.

If you are looking to work from home or you have students doing virtual school, the answer will generally be a laptop. Why? Because it’s portable, flexible and most laptops can do what you need. I’m sure you’ve seen advertisements for Chromebooks, and they’re economically priced. A Chromebook is essentially an internet-only computer where the browser is the operating systems (as opposed to a Windows or a Mac operating system). Chromebooks have their uses, primarily in educational settings, where the subset of applications are solely internet-based. If you want to install other applications that aren’t browser-based, you’re going to want a laptop.

What about a tablet? Tablets are more powerful, but they’re restricted to applications that run on the tablet (either Android or Apple IOS). You can use a tablet like a laptop, but there are obviously things a tablet cannot do. If you can accept those limitations, then a tablet might work.

Why not a desktop? Well, if you plan on seldom moving your computer and have no plans to pop down to the coffee shop with your desktop in tow, then that could work. However, most people want the flexibility to have their computer be mobile, thus, a laptop is a better choice. You also can buy accessories like dual monitors and external keyboards and mice to make your laptop have that desktop feel.

Now that I have sold you on a laptop (cha-ching!), what more do you need to know? Size matters. An 11-inch laptop and a 17-inch laptop are just that different. An 11-inch screen may be too small to see, and a 17-inch laptop may be too heavy to easily lug around. You must do what is right for you based on how you plan to use it. Go to a store where you can see them and pick them up. You don’t have to buy from there, but you can try out the look and feel.

Should you choose Windows or Mac? That question often is a matter of personal preference and money these days because Macs and PCs mostly can do the same things. A Mac is more expensive but quite honestly, requires less maintenance by the user. I bought a Mac for my wife years ago because I was tired of spending all my free time fixing her Windows PC. A PC is significantly less expensive and for some, that alone is the deciding factor.

What about all those letters and numbers and two and three letter abbreviations? Those things matter, since you’ll want a better processor. If it’s an Intel processor, they go from I3 to I9 and generally, the higher the number, the better. Same is true with RAM — 4 GB will never be enough. You need at least 8 GB of RAM, and preferably more. Your hard drive size isn’t as important as it used to be, and there’s now solid state drives (SSD) that are fast but have limited capacity. You always can add an external drive to store files, but you need to get enough hard drive space to store applications, so 256 GB is a minimum for a hard drive.

Video capabilities also matter. Laptop video cards are underwhelming, so look for one with a better video card, also measured in gigabytes of RAM.

Another factor to consider is the number and type of ports the laptop has on it. You need at least three USB ports and an HDMI port for video output capabilities. All laptops have wireless capability built in and some have a standard network jack as well. If you are concerned, look at the battery life as well.

One of my recent tricks of the trade is to buy gaming laptops for everyday use. They come with more than enough processor, RAM and video capabilities to play high-end games, but that also means they can do all that you want, too.

If you have time to make a purchase, I also recommend you get it from a reputable seller. The cheapest one on Amazon Marketplace may not be the best option for you. Google the make and model number you are interested in and see what people are saying about it. There are manufacturers I won’t buy from just because of the reported problems. You can look at back-to-school or holiday specials but often, they’re selling a lower-class PC with limitations. Caveat emptor.

I admit the options and information can be overwhelming, but remember, you will use this computer every day. We all know a computer can be the greatest source of frustration imaginable, so do your research, get what you need and revel in the joy of how much easier this purchase has made your life.

Reprinted from Today’s FDA, Sept/Oct 2020. Visit floridadental.org/publications to view the Today’s FDA archives.

Cloud Technology Lights the Way for the Future of Dentistry

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By Robert McDermott, President and CEO, iCoreConnect

There’s never been a better time to leverage technology in dentistry. It’s more accessible, secure and efficient than ever before. No matter how long you’ve been in dentistry, it’s likely dental school didn’t teach much in the way of computer software and programming or offer a Master of Business Administration. Fortunately, what you need to know is simple. It’s all about integrating cloud-based software to speed up clinical workflow and enhance patient care.

Cloud-based technology and services are rapidly becoming the preferred backbone to run any business. The technology model, Software-as-a-Service or SaaS, is a term you may have heard before. SaaS is more commonly referred to as web-based, hosted or on-demand software. For example, cloud-based Microsoft Office 365, Amazon and Dropbox are all SaaS platforms and are all accessed through the internet.

Here’s why all of that is important to dentistry. Cloud-based software replaces traditional servers and hard drives located inside a dental office. Those servers require expensive maintenance and upgrades. They put patient and practice data at high risk of theft, failure or loss. Think about what happens if that server is hacked by a cybercriminal or destroyed by a busted bathroom pipe. Or, the server simply fails one day. Compromised or lost data can crush a practice.

Here are three ways technology today changes the way dentists do business.

Streamline Daily Repetitive Tasks

What are two tasks that take time and are done frequently? Most likely they include checking insurance benefits and writing a variety of prescriptions. Let’s start with insurance. When the doctor discovers a patient needs a crown, a staff member will then need to check the patient’s insurance. That patient may walk out the door without a follow-up appointment because she is waiting to find out what, if anything, she will owe out of pocket. Today, there is specialized software that checks insurance benefits immediately. Armed with the actual insurance information needed for next steps, a patient is more likely to book the appointment and show up for it. Anxiety over financial surprises is no longer lingering. The patient gets needed treatment and the practice remains financially on track.

Electronic prescribing is another big deal for better clinical workflow. Many Florida doctors implemented e-prescribing when the law went into effect in January 2020. However, dentists with expiring waivers or whose licensure renewal takes effect by July 1 will need to make the switch now. Software designed specifically for dentists to e-prescribe all medications, including controlled substances, also may offer direct access to E-FORCSE (Florida Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) for rapid prescription history checks of a Schedule II-V controlled substance. e-Prescribing with rapid PDMP checks makes clinical workflow faster, safer, and better for both the patient and the practice.

By simply streamlining insurance checks and the prescription process, time is given back to the day and patient care is kept on track. The next two steps add to the security, peace of mind and efficiency of running a practice.

Move Data to the Cloud

If practice data is stored in a physical server in the office and then backed up to a physical hard drive, trouble may await. Backing up to a hard drive in the office, or one that travels home with the dentist or a staff member, puts protected health information (PHI), financial information and all practice information at risk of being stolen, hacked or accidentally destroyed. The strongest protection comes from using a cloud-based backup service. PHI and all other data is backed up every time a key is clicked on the keyboard. The sensitive data lives on servers across multiple locations, protected at the highest level of cyber and physical security.

Take IT Off Your Plate

Even though you may be savvy to technology, your first love and priority is dentistry. It is prudent for a practice to engage in the services of a managed services provider (MSP). An MSP takes care of everything IT at a predictable monthly rate. An MSP team doesn’t even need to be in the same city as the practice. They can continually maintain, update, and prioritize security and compliance of the practice’s computers and secure email from anywhere. Issues are immediately mitigated or simply don’t happen. Once again, the cloud makes big business sense.

Leveraging technology at any stage of a dentist’s career is the economical, practical and proactive way to do business. The dental industry needs a fresh approach to speed up clinical workflow and make dentistry even safer and more convenient for patients while increasing security and revenue for the practice. Doing business the same way as always may be comfortable but it will keep a practice stuck at the status quo. The business of dentistry has a bright future in cloud-based technology.

iCoreConnect, an FDA Crown Savings Partner, develops cloud-based technologies to improve and protect your practice including e-prescribing, full IT/MSP services, and revenue analytics. FDA members receive special discount pricing on iCoreExchange HIPAA-compliant email and iCoreDental practice management system software. Book a no obligation demo or call 888.810.7706 to see how iCoreConnect’s products speed up workflow and increase revenue.