In case you missed it: Dentalcompare from August:
A second much better solution is multiple monitors. The private practice monitor is placed at the 12 to 2 o’clock position behind the patient for the assistant and the public patient monitor is placed at 5 or 9 o’clock for the patient and dentist.
…Dual monitors allow the user to have two monitors showing completely different things. This is done by extending the desktop. That means you can view different windows, such as a chart behind the patient on the practice monitor and patient education in front on the patient monitor. However, a drawback to this set up is that you cannot input data simultaneously in both monitors. One computer is running both screens so there is still only one active window even though there are two monitors.
via Emmott On Technology: Putting Operatory Computer Monitors in Their Place | Dentalcompare.com.
Getting computers in the treatment area is a great first step. However if they are not placed in a way that makes them easy to use they don’t get used and the time and investment is wasted.
I am not a fan of monitors or TVs in the ceiling. They are very hard to upgrade, are by definition fixed in one spot and can only be used by patients lying flat on their back. The dentist cannot easily see it to show stuff to a patient. Patient monitors should be much much more than entertainment and when they are stuck in the ceiling they lose all the other options. Including as an x-ray view box for the treating dentist.
