Moving your practice to a new management system is a major undertaking that naturally causes anxiety, but a structured approach makes the process manageable. When you decide to switch Eaglesoft to Open Dental, you are moving from a closed, proprietary system to an open-source platform that prioritizes data ownership and flexibility.
What Converts and What Doesn't
It is important to have realistic expectations regarding your data. While the conversion team is highly skilled, they are moving information between two fundamentally different database structures.
Typically, the following data converts successfully:
- Patient Demographics: Names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance subscriber information.
- Appointment History: Past and future appointments.
- Procedure History: Completed work and clinical notes (though formatting may vary).
- Account Balances: Current patient and insurance balances.
- Insurance Plans: Basic plan structures and coverage tables.
What typically does NOT convert:
- Custom Reports: Any specialized reports you built in Eaglesoft will need to be recreated using Open Dental’s report generator or custom queries.
- Letter Templates: You will need to copy and paste your existing templates into the Open Dental Letter Merge system.
- Preferences and Settings: Eaglesoft-specific workflow settings, user permissions, and practice defaults do not transfer. You must configure these manually in the Setup menu.
- Proprietary Image Formats: While clinical images usually move, some proprietary imaging formats may require a bridge or a specific export process. Always verify your imaging needs with the conversion team early.
The Conversion Timeline
A successful transition generally takes 4 to 8 weeks from your initial inquiry to your go-live date.
- Initial Inquiry and Data Review: You provide a backup of your Eaglesoft data. The conversion team performs a free test conversion to see how your specific data maps to Open Dental.
- Review Period (2-4 weeks): You review the test conversion. This is the most critical phase. Check your patient balances, clinical notes, and appointment schedules to ensure accuracy.
- Final Conversion (3 hours): On the day of your final conversion, your office will be unable to use the software for a few hours while the team performs the final data migration.
- Post-Conversion Setup: You will have a scheduled 2-hour setup session with a trainer to ensure your practice defaults, insurance carriers, and user permissions are configured correctly for your workflow.
Cost Breakdown
The cost to switch Eaglesoft to Open Dental is transparent and predictable.
- Conversion Fee: This is a one-time fee based on the complexity of your data, typically ranging from $500 to $2,000+.
- Monthly Fee: Open Dental costs $179/month for the first 12 months, then drops to $129/month. There are no per-provider fees, which is a significant departure from the Eaglesoft pricing model.
- Imaging: If you have a large volume of images that require specialized handling, there may be an additional fee for image conversion.
What Will Surprise You
Even with a perfect conversion, the change in workflow will be noticeable.
- The Interface: Open Dental is utilitarian and text-heavy compared to the more "polished" look of Eaglesoft. It takes a few days for your staff to get used to the layout of the Appointments Module and the Account Module.
- Re-setting Defaults: You will spend time in the Setup menu defining your practice defaults, such as how you want your aging report to calculate or how your insurance claims are batched.
- Reporting: You will find that some reports you relied on in Eaglesoft do not exist in the same way. You will need to learn how to use the Reports > Standard menu or work with a consultant to create custom queries for your specific KPIs.
Your First 30 Days
Once you go live, focus on these priorities to stabilize your practice:
- Verify Balances: Run your aging reports in the Account Module and compare them against your final Eaglesoft reports to ensure all money moved correctly.
- Configure Insurance: Ensure your insurance carriers are set up correctly in the Manage Module. Check that your electronic claim clearinghouse is connected and testing successfully.
- Train on Clinical Notes: Ensure your providers are comfortable with the Chart Module and the way clinical notes are stored and signed.
- Set Up User Permissions: Go to Setup > Security to ensure staff members only have access to the modules they need for their roles.
Once you're on Open Dental, DentalCanvas gives you the visual analytics dashboard that Eaglesoft never had — and that Open Dental doesn't include.
This article is provided by opendentalsupport.com, an independent community resource. We are not affiliated with Open Dental Software, Inc.