There are possibly hundreds of third-party vendors that integrate with Open Dental. Processes like patient communication, revenue cycle management, merchant services, and more have all been simplified by third party services. However, not all integrations are created equal. It’s important to ensure that any integration you’re using interacts with your data safely and securely. This post will go over the various types to help you be able to make more informed decisions when choosing which integrations to use.

Database Interactions

Before we talk about integration types, it’s important to know what kind of interaction with the database you are looking for from your integration. If you remember from our Technical Jargon blog post, your database is all of your patient data. Every patient, every appointment, every procedure is part of your database, and all of these items are important.

Programs that interact with the database can affect what shows in Open Dental. Whether it’s a payment that was added to the Account Module, an appointment that was scheduled, or even just a commlog for the patient.

Integration Types

There are endless possibilities with Open Dental, and integrations are no exception. Open Dental has Native Integrations, Program Bridges, and the ability to interface with other third-party vendors to take all sorts of actions in Open Dental. It’s important to know what type of integration you are looking for.

• Native Integrations: Some third-party vendors are directly integrated into Open Dental for processes such as electronic prescriptions, claim attachments, and more. These are built with direct collaboration from Open Dental and the vendor.
• Program Bridges: A button in Open Dental that launches an external software or link, often used to launch x-ray software.
• API Integrations: A safe way for third-party programs to communicate with the Open Dental database.
• Non-API Integrations: Some programs only need to “read” from Open Dental, without adding anything to your database. There are many safe ways to access data without the need for an API integration. They are often referred to as “read-only”.
• Dangerous Integrations: Any program that writes (inserts data) directly to the database without using the API or a native integration is dangerous. Integrations like these can cause corruption, missing patient data, and all sorts of other consequences that can be problematic for your office.

What is the API?

The Open Dental API (Application Programming Interface) is a sure-fire way to make sure your database is interacted with safely. Think of it as a shared language that allows various programs to integrate with each other. Luckily, you don’t need to be a programmer or even tech-savvy to ensure the API is being used. Simply ask your third-party vendor if they are utilizing the Open Dental API.

If you are a programmer, and want to learn more about the API, visit our API Specification page!

Implementing Third Party Services

When you are researching what third-party services to integrate with Open Dental, it is important to know how that service integrates with the database. If the program is going to be adding anything to the database (even something as small as a commlog), make sure they are using the API to do so.

Our Third-Party Vendors page has a list of vendors we know are using the API, but it is not an exhaustive list. There are plenty of other programs that integrate with Open Dental! It also lists vendors that are potentially dangerous (i.e., not using the API) or unknown, if we do not know how they are interacting with Open Dental but offices are often using them.

Have more questions about third-party integrations and the API? Don’t hesitate to reach out to our support team for the answers you are looking for!