Dental Matching Ontology for Administrative Efficiency

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Solution Overview

Problem

The dental industry faces challenges in providing effective, reliable, and secure communication between patients and dentists, as well as efficient billing and administrative functions, while also struggling with the high impact of back-office solutions that require significant resources and modifications, leading to inefficiencies and disenfranchisement of both dentists and patients.

Innovation Solution

A novel system using a client-server architecture with AI and machine learning to provide patients with precise information on dental services and experiences, estimating price ranges based on patient inputs, and assessing clinical, site, and customer service components, while utilizing ontologies to evaluate dental practices and provide actionable insights for dentists to improve patient satisfaction and productivity.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If back-office solutions are implemented to assist dentists with management functions, then administrative efficiency is improved, but the complexity of the system and resources required increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveadministrative efficiencyVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces an online platform as an intermediary that connects patients and dentists, handling administrative functions such as scheduling, billing, and communication. This mediator approach allows dentists to benefit from automated management without requiring complex in-house back-office systems, as the platform serves as an external intermediary that manages these functions remotely.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The online platform enables patients to perform self-service functions such as scheduling appointments, viewing bills, and communicating with dentists through the portal. This reduces the administrative burden on dental practices by allowing patients to handle routine tasks independently, thereby improving administrative efficiency without requiring additional staff or complex internal systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

2Productivity

If more resources are added to dental offices to handle increased patient demands, then service capacity is improved, but operational costs and management expenditures increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveservice capacityVSAvoidresources required
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The online platform serves multiple functions including appointment scheduling, billing management, patient communication, and treatment planning within a single unified system. This multi-functionality allows dental practices to access enhanced service capacity without needing to add separate systems or resources for each function, thereby avoiding increased operational costs while improving overall productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The platform acts as an intermediary that enables dentists to serve more patients efficiently by automating routine administrative tasks. This allows existing dental staff to focus on patient care rather than administrative work, increasing service capacity without requiring proportional increases in staffing or other resources.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Reliability

If traditional in-house back-office systems are deployed, then data control and security are improved, but implementation time and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata controlVSAvoidimplementation time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The online platform provides built-in security and data control mechanisms that automatically protect patient information without requiring dental practices to implement complex custom security systems. The platform handles data encryption, access control, and compliance automatically, ensuring data reliability while eliminating the time and cost of custom implementation.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The platform serves as a secure intermediary that manages data control and security on behalf of dental practices. By relying on the platform's established security infrastructure rather than building their own, dentists achieve reliable data protection without the lengthy and expensive implementation process associated with in-house systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS20240266038A1System and method for enhancing dental treatment experience
Publication Date: 2024.08.08 DENTAL Q INC
  • US20240266038A1 patent drawing
  • US20240266038A1 patent drawing
  • US20240266038A1 patent drawing

AI summary

System and method for matching a patient with a dentist or dental provider according to treatment-specific indicators defined by treatment-specific ontologies for each patient and each treatment provided by each dentist. The ontologies consist of clinical, practice site, customers service concepts, and parameters. The clinical concepts of the ontology are treatment-specific and are used to curate dental providers for each treatment offered. The treatment-specific provider ratings are used to match patients with their desired dental provider, thus enhancing their dental visit experience.