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Sub-Post under the Article: EXACT (Software of Excellence)

Sub-Post under the Article: 

EXACT (Software of Excellence)

Parent Article Page: here

What it is

EXACT is a dental practice management system from Software of Excellence (Henry Schein One) used to run the full operational lifecycle of a dental practice: patient records, appointments, clinical charting, treatment planning, payments and integrations (including imaging and patient engagement tools).

Treat it as a business-critical operational platform, not just scheduling software

What the product basically does

EXACT supports end-to-end patient and practice operations:

  • patient registration and records
  • appointment booking and diary management
  • clinical charting and treatment planning
  • payments and financial handling
  • recalls, reminders and communications
  • integration with imaging systems
  • reporting, dashboards and KPIs

What a BA should assume from day one

  • It spans clinical + operational + financial + compliance domains
  • Configuration drives behaviour heavily
  • Version differences and add-ons matter
  • NHS vs private workflows materially differ
  • Integrations and third-party tools are core

1) Functional areas you need to understand

A. Patient administration

  • demographics, identifiers, contact preferences
  • recall settings and communication preferences
  • patient status (NHS/private/mixed)
  • consent and privacy settings

B. Appointment and diary model

  • multiple diaries (chairs, clinicians, rooms)
  • diary templates and session structures
  • slot durations and booking rules
  • cancellations, DNAs and short-notice gaps
  • waiting lists and gap filling
  • check-in and front desk workflow

C. Clinical charting and treatment planning

  • clinical charting (graphical tooth chart)
  • treatment plans and phased plans
  • clinical notes and history
  • link between charting, pricing and claims
  • estimates and consent capture

D. Payments, finance and accounts

  • patient accounts and balances
  • payment types and allocations
  • refunds, adjustments and write-offs
  • treatment estimates vs actual charges
  • NHS claims and FP17 processing (UK context)
  • reporting and reconciliation

E. Patient communications and marketing

  • recalls and automated reminders
  • SMS/email campaigns
  • patient reactivation workflows
  • online booking integrations
  • patient journey tracking

F. Imaging and clinical integrations

  • integration with imaging systems
  • patient context linking
  • scanning and document attachment
  • third-party clinical tools

G. Reporting, KPIs and dashboards

  • practice performance dashboards
  • clinician productivity
  • revenue tracking
  • recall effectiveness
  • utilisation metrics

2) The BA domains you must cover

Business process

Map full end-to-end flows:

  • register patient
  • book / reschedule / cancel
  • check-in → treatment → chart
  • treatment planning and estimates
  • payment and reconciliation
  • NHS/private claims processing
  • recalls and follow-up
  • imaging usage
  • error handling and corrections

Data

Capture a logical data model:

  • patient master
  • clinician/provider
  • practice/location
  • diary resources
  • treatment codes and fee schedules
  • charting structures
  • payment records
  • claims data
  • communication preferences
  • imaging references
  • users and roles

Configuration

Treat configuration as a core deliverable:

  • diary templates and session rules
  • slot durations and colours
  • treatment codes and pricing
  • NHS bands and fee rules
  • recall intervals
  • communication templates
  • user preferences and layouts

Integration

  • imaging systems
  • online booking tools
  • SMS/email providers
  • payment terminals
  • reporting tools
  • database and hosting environment

Security, privacy and compliance

  • role-based access
  • GDPR compliance
  • patient consent handling
  • audit trails
  • NHS regulatory requirements
  • data retention and anonymisation

Environment / technical constraints

  • EXACT version and deployment model
  • database setup
  • workstation requirements
  • network and remote access
  • peripheral devices (printers, scanners, card machines)
  • integration dependencies

3) The biggest BA risks

1. Treating it as “just a diary system”
It is a full operational and financial system

2. Underestimating configuration
Diary templates and treatment setups drive behaviour

3. Ignoring NHS complexity
NHS rules significantly impact workflows and data

4. Weak integration analysis
Imaging, comms and payments are critical

5. Missing financial flows
Accounts, allocations and reconciliation are central

4) Discovery checklist

Business / operating model

  • single or multi-site
  • NHS, private or mixed
  • specialist vs general dentistry
  • centralised booking vs local reception
  • standardisation across sites

Appointments

  • diary structure (chairs vs clinicians)
  • template setup
  • slot rules and buffers
  • cancellation and DNA handling
  • waiting list management

Clinical

  • charting standards
  • treatment coding structure
  • estimate and consent process
  • clinical documentation requirements

Financial / payment

  • payment types and rules
  • patient account structure
  • NHS claims process
  • reconciliation and reporting

Patient engagement

  • recall strategy
  • SMS/email usage
  • online booking
  • marketing campaigns

Integration / technical

  • imaging systems
  • third-party integrations
  • database setup
  • hosting model
  • device dependencies

Security / compliance

  • role matrix
  • GDPR compliance
  • audit requirements
  • data retention rules

5) Personas you should analyse

  • receptionist
  • clinician (dentist)
  • hygienist
  • treatment coordinator
  • practice manager
  • finance/admin
  • IT/support

Each has distinct workflows and system interactions

6) BA deliverables that work well

  • context diagram
  • capability map
  • As-Is / To-Be processes
  • role-permission matrix
  • configuration catalogue
  • interface inventory
  • data dictionary
  • requirements with traceability
  • UAT test pack
  • cutover checklist
  • hypercare model

7) Testing: what you must cover

Core functional tests

  • patient create/search/update
  • appointment lifecycle
  • diary booking and gap handling
  • clinical charting
  • treatment planning
  • payments and allocations
  • recalls and reminders
  • imaging integration

Negative / edge tests

  • incorrect treatment pricing
  • duplicate patient records
  • failed payments
  • NHS claim errors
  • integration failures
  • diary misconfiguration

UAT

Use real users across reception, clinical and finance

8) Migration / upgrade BA concerns

  • current vs target version
  • data migration and cleansing
  • treatment code and pricing mapping
  • diary template rebuild
  • patient account balances
  • NHS data migration
  • integration revalidation
  • regression testing

9) A practical BA shorthand

Patient + Diary + Clinical + Finance + Messages + Imaging + Config + Compliance

If one is missing, the analysis is incomplete

10) Best-practice BA approach

  1. Confirm product scope, modules and version
  2. Run persona-based workshops
  3. Build configuration-led requirements
  4. Document integrations and environment
  5. Trace requirements to test cases
  6. Perform full operational readiness before go-live

Parent Article Page: here

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