Technical analysis of softwares used for dental practice management

Resumo

The business world has been in constant competition
and information is the main tool for the decision process in order
to obtain more clients, to improve the performance, the quality of
services and to increase profits. Facing this reality, Information
Technology (IT) has been improving technologies and making possible
many advances in this area. Objective: This article aims to perform
a technical analysis about softwares designed for dental practice
management by assessing their available functions. Material and
methods: Softwares were assessed in the period from July to October
of 2011 by using the following criteria: functions, interface, security
and price. Results: The software had neither all fundamental items
nor all the security items assessed. 75% responded positively to at
least half of the interface heuristics proposed by Nielsen. Price is
around R$ 576.96 per year and 40% of the softwares have purchase
rate from R$ 50.00 to R$ 100.00. Conclusion: The research and
analysis found out that most of softwares show some problems
about security and functions. However, they exhibited user-friendly
interface and affordable prices.