Moving your practice to a new management system is a major undertaking that often feels overwhelming, but it is a manageable process when you know exactly what to expect. When you decide to switch Eaglesoft to Open Dental, you are moving from a closed, proprietary system to an open-source database model that offers significantly more control over your own data.
What Converts and What Doesn't
It is important to be realistic about data migration. While the conversion team at Open Dental is highly experienced, they are moving data 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 appointments and future scheduled appointments.
- Procedure History: Completed procedures and clinical history.
- Account Balances: Current patient and insurance balances.
- Insurance Plans: Basic plan structures and coverage details.
- Clinical Notes: These usually convert, though formatting may vary slightly.
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: Your custom Word or internal templates will need to be manually copied and pasted into the Open Dental Letter Merge system.
- Preferences and Settings: Things like your specific clinical note templates, auto-codes, and practice-wide preferences must be manually configured.
- Some Image Formats: While X-rays and images are usually moved, some proprietary imaging formats may require a bridge or a specific export process. Always discuss your imaging needs during the initial consultation.
The Conversion Timeline
A successful transition generally takes between 4 to 8 weeks from your initial inquiry to your go-live date.
- Initial Inquiry & Test Conversion: You submit a backup of your Eaglesoft data. Open Dental performs a free test conversion so you can see how your data looks in their system.
- Review Period (2-4 weeks): This is the most critical phase. You will log into the test database to verify that your patient data, balances, and clinical notes are accurate.
- Final Conversion (3 hours): On your go-live weekend, you will stop using Eaglesoft, and the team will perform the final data pull and import. This usually takes about 3 hours of downtime.
- Post-Conversion Setup (2 hours): Open Dental includes a 2-hour setup session to help you configure your practice defaults, insurance carriers, and user permissions.
Cost Breakdown
Open Dental is known for its transparent pricing model.
- Conversion Fee: This varies based on the complexity of your data, typically ranging from $500 to $2,000+.
- Monthly Fee: As of version 25.2, the cost is $179/month for the first 12 months, then $129/month. There are no per-provider fees, which is a major departure from the Eaglesoft 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, you will notice differences. Eaglesoft users often find the following points surprising:
- The Interface: Open Dental is utilitarian and highly customizable. It lacks the "glossy" feel of some other programs, but it is much faster once you learn the keyboard shortcuts.
- Manual Configuration: You will spend time in the Setup menu (Setup > Practice) defining your defaults. Unlike Eaglesoft, which often forces a specific workflow, Open Dental lets you decide how your office operates.
- Reporting: You may find that a specific report you used daily in Eaglesoft doesn't exist by the same name. You will likely need to use the Reports > Standard menu or learn to use the Query Generator to get the exact data you need.
Your First 30 Days
Once you go live, prioritize these tasks in the Manage Module and Setup menu:
- Verify Insurance: Check your primary insurance carriers in Setup > Definitions > Insurance Carriers to ensure electronic claims are routing correctly.
- Set Up Users: Go to Setup > Security > Users to define permissions for each staff member.
- Configure Appointment Views: In the Appointments Module, customize your views to match your daily scheduling needs.
- Review Clinical Notes: Ensure your templates are imported and working correctly in the Chart Module.
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.