Ryan & Zach Hungate

	Last month, I had the opportunity to meet with the founders of a company that’s revolutionizing how dental practices use technology. Since founding Simplifeye in 2015, Dr. Ryan and Zach Hungate have been hard at work creating a number of exciting and innovative solutions. 

	The Hungate cousins believe that advancements in smartphones, smartwatches and voice technology have an unquestionable place in today’s dental practices - and they’re delivering products that are changing the way we run our offices. I’m particularly excited about their voice technology, which is tailored to the needs of the dental office. 

	How did you create your voice technology? 

 recognized that there was an opportunity to develop this revolutionary technology for dental practices, especially since dentists’ hands are often occupied. Once the technology was fully developed, Simplifeye partnered with 

, a smart voice assistant that simplifies clinical workflows. DEXVoice enables practitioners to control DEXIS software by voice command. 

More from Simplifeye: Putting your smartphone to work in the dental practice

	Why is voice technology a good fit for dental practices? 

	Voice technology is being used everywhere. We’ve all been using it in our cars for years, and now people are using voice to activate timers, order new products or ask for the weather report. Products like Amazon Echo and Google Home are flooding the market, and dental practices now have the exciting opportunity to jump on board. 

	Voice is a perfect fit for dental practices because of its benefit to adhering to infection control protocols. Because dental professionals are constantly wearing gloves, using a computer is a tedious and inefficient task. Our focus is to have dental practices move away from having to touch a mouse and keyboard, and instead leverage their voices to complete both simple and complicated in-office tasks, such as viewing radiographs or preparing instant case presentations. 

	How does this voice technology respond to commands and complete tasks?  

	We’ve partnered with industry leaders such as DEXIS to create a really special technology called DEXVoice. While dentists have previously had to pause mid-procedure to put the handpiece down and take off their gloves to look at images, take patient notes or call for a hygienist, they can now use DEXVoice to say a command without interrupting their workflow. 

	DEXVoice is voice-activated by Simplifeye, allowing dentists to say commands like, “Alexa, compare the bitewings of #19.” Suddenly, two radiographs will be displayed on the screen, allowing them to explain the needed treatment and help the patient understand at a new level. Because the patient will have a visual comparison, they can instantly see why a filling is needed. 

	Dentists can also ask Alexa to “show all of #4” and the bitewing, PA, intraoral image and CariVu of #4 will instantly be displayed in a grid, creating a beautiful case presentation for the patient. They can even ask Alexa to capture a full-mouth series or capture a PA of a specific tooth. This would normally take more than 25 clicks with a mouse, but with voice activation, all they have to do is place the sensor in the correct position and hit the exposure button. 

More from Simplifeye: How Simplifeye can streamling practice workflows

	Where do you see the future of voice technology going in dentistry?

	A better question might be, “Where is voice not going?” If you start to think of the many interfaces we have to interact with as dental professionals, voice can assist in almost every instance. When applied correctly, a visual user interface (VUI) makes complicated movements or tasks easier with just a simple, natural language request. 

	Let’s imagine a technology that costs next to nothing and always gets the job done right when you ask. That is voice’s present and future. While trying not to give away too much of our pipeline, Simplifeye will first be adding high-quality instructional videos to our voice repertoire. Imagine asking Alexa for an implant demo and having a beautifully narrated video immediately show up on a 40-inch screen in front of your patient.

	Then, imagine voice starting to affect hygienists’ daily routines. What if the charting and note-taking experience was completely voice activated? The possibilities are endless - and, we can say with confidence, achievable. 

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Voice technology­ - meaning hands-free information access  - is coming to dentistry, and the impact will be revolutionary.

Why your mouse may soon be obsolete

	Last month, I had the opportunity to meet with a team that is revolutionizing how dental practices use technology. In the past, we’ve told our staff to keep their smartphones away from work, reasoning that these devices would get in the way of productivity, as well as client service.

	Dr. Ryan and Zach Hungate, founders of Simplifeye, have a different take. They believe smartphones are ubiquitous and have an unquestionable place in today’s dental practices.

	I sat down with Ryan and Zach, to learn how smartphones and smartwatches are changing how we run our practices. Ryan is a trained orthodontist with prior experience at Apple, while Zach is an entrepreneur and private equity investor. The two started Simplifeye in 2015 to assist healthcare providers run the business side of their practice.

	Why should smartphone use be encouraged in dental practices?

	According to Pew Research, 95 percent of Americans now have a cellphone of some kind, and 77 percent have a smartphone. When smartphones first came into existence, they were seen as a distraction, and many dental practices introduced a zero-tolerance phone policy.

	However, smartphones are everywhere, and they should be leveraged at dental practices, rather than tolerated - or worse, prohibited. These are powerful, personal computers that can enhance productivity and the patient experience. We feel there is a need to fundamentally support dental professionals’ interests in technology and provide them 21st century options.

Related reading: How to use Simplifeye to streamline workflows

Why have people been resistant in the past?

	When a new technology is introduced, it’s natural to be resistant. As humans, we’re wired to worry about change and how it will impact our lives, our businesses, and even our code of ethics. When smartphones burst onto the scene, many dental practices subscribed to the idea that they should continue to operate exactly as they had in the past, even though they were missing out on amazing advancements in technology.

	Many practices also worried about security, HIPAA compliance and how they would implement a change. Additionally, many practices did not understand how they could use a tool like a smartphone or smartwatch in the office. Thanks to custom-built solutions made specifically for the dental industry, that’s changing. Dental practices everywhere are now implementing these new technologies and seeing the positive results.

	There’s no question that HIPAA compliance is important. Dental practices want to be sure that they are compliant and doing everything they can to protect their patients’ medical information. As long as the app uses proper encryption, it can be HIPAA compliant. That’s why it’s essential to use apps built specifically for the healthcare field. Using apps like Google Hangouts, Facebook Messenger or texting are not compliant. With apps like Simplifeye, an owner can pick and choose which employees have access to patient info, as well.

Related video: How Simplifeye helps dentists stay up-to-the-minute with their practices

	What applications are smart devices used for?

	We’ve seen dental offices across the country leverage smart technology to improve operations. Apps via smartphones and smartwatches provide staff immediate access to patient and procedure lists thus increasing efficiency. These apps also allow staff members to instantaneously collaborate with each other. Simplifeye on a smartwatch gives staff members comprehensive appointment information the instant they need it. 

	Why are dentists, their teams, and manufacturers so excited about Simplifeye’s technology?

	The reason we built Simplifeye is because inter-office communications in dental offices have not been updated since 1998, when desktop-to-desktop chat systems were introduced. 

	 Light systems are antiquated and distracting, desktop chat requires you to be at a monitor to view the message, walkie-talkie radios are disruptive and there’s too much background chatter, and sticky-notes or face-to-face communication are inefficient.

	Simplifeye is the only secure workflow and communication suite for dental offices. It’s designed to make you and your team more efficient by providing offices with data, such as average wait time and how long it takes to do certain procedures, which you can then use to optimize your operations. Plus, Simplifeye’s end-to-end encryption with all operating systems means it’s entirely HIPAA compliant.

	Smartphones and smartwatches are becoming fixtures in our lives. They’re revolutionizing how we work and communicate and improving how dental providers serve their patients. Simplifeye’s technology not only makes it easy to bring smart devices into the office, it dramatically improves dental practice interoffice communication and information flow. 

	To learn more about Simplifeye, go to www.simplifeye.co

A new dental technology maximizes the use of smartphones and watches at work, making bringing your smartphone to the office a practical option.  