Videoconferencing enhances multisite practice

May 19, 2010

Appia Communications has released a new case study demonstrating the advantages of video communication and collaboration for dental practices and other small and midsize businesses and organizations.

The study features Snodgrass-King Pediatric Dental Associates of Nashville, TN. With four locations spread up to 40 miles apart, the practice found it was getting harder to communicate efficiently and effectively between offices and to coordinate, schedule, and attend meetings, Appia noted.

"Snodgrass-King needed to bring everyone together in a way that suited the on-demand nature of a bustling dental practice," said Victor von Schlegell, Appia's president, in a press release. "That meant giving staff the ability to meet and collaborate whenever they needed, without spending unproductive time traveling to and from other offices."

The office decided to install Appia Video Communication (AVC), a video platform designed to make secure, business-quality video communication affordable and easy to use. Beyond office meetings, Snodgrass-King found that AVC's built-in collaboration tools opened up additional opportunities to streamline trainings, supplier demos, and consultations between doctors, the company said.

"Meeting face-to-face over video would solve a big part of their problem, but the Appia solution brought some additional benefits as well," said Matthew McWhorter, an Appia partner. "In working with the team at Snodgrass-King and with their IT provider, Patterson Dental, we showed that they'd be able to use AVC for more than just office meetings."

Most important, he added, AVC's desktop-sharing features worked seamlessly with Snodgrass-King's existing tech hardware and dental software (including EagleSoft, Dolphin, and OrthoCAD). With AVC's end-to-end, FIPS 140-2 certified encryption, doctors at separate offices can now share and discuss x-rays and other images in real-time without concern about patient privacy, McWhorter noted.

"Everybody likes that AVC is easy to use, and we like the quality of the audio and video," said Melody Snodgrass, owner and operations manager of Snodgrass-King. "But most importantly, we're enjoying the more efficient use of our time."