The contemporary information technology (IT) has moved ahead of its applications in some sectors of the real world. It is to the dismay of us younger consumers, why there are still so many medical and dental practices resisting the trend and keeping our communication with their offices still in the dark ages.

Good half of dental practices offices scattered over the city have already a brochure type of Websites, but only a very tiny fraction of medical walk-in clinics and certainly no solo medical practitioners. Dental practices with such websites do not employ any elements of IT technology.

Using a real case of my personal experience with a Toronto dentist. Google’s search will pop up number of local, Toronto dental directories online. What are the reasons for a Toronto dentist to be listed on the first place? The dentist has a selection of dental directories to choose from and I will not make a choice for him. It is a fastest way to get his practice indexed by Google. Good directories are not free, but they provide a wider exposure to the dental office. If it is a popular dental directory in Toronto, it can be found on the first search page and might list several dentists that are in the same category or proximity, for us to choose from. Google’s early listing on the search page plays the same importance to the younger and techno-savvy generation, what used to be asking relatives and friends for a personal referral, to the older generation. Now I see a dentist’s listing in the directory and it is a weekend and I want to create an appointment for next week.

The dentist has a colorful ad with a brief outline of his services and I do not bother looking for his website. I would like to schedule an appointment with him next week, but I only see his phone number in the advertisement. I will leave the computer and dialing his number from my home phone, only to reach his answering machine. Did the dentist think about convenience for us, the necessity for us to change the media and the possibility that we might reach a dead-end. I hate leaving my voice messages anywhere, it is an anachronistic communication to the web phones’ generation.

There must be a better way, mustn’t it? I like the dental directories since there are many listings all-in-one place and that allow me to hop from a listing to a better one, I hope. I hope in vain, since they all appear to be lacking in the benefits of listings that I am looking for. Some listings have click to their dental websites inundated with boring stuff.

There should be a comprehensive online presentation in the directory, regarding time availability of all dentists listed in the directory. Attach an appointment request form for the selected dentist of user’s choice. I am sure that the technology must be already available and there are many online users, would love such a system. The only potential obstacle that I can see is the readiness of Toronto dentists and dental clinic owners, to start subscribing to such cool systems. If there are readers in agreement with my views, I would ask them to talk to your local dental and medical practitioners about it. Let them know about your expectations and changes that you would like to see.

I am sure that IT people already have such a technology available for asking. It is just on us, new patients and consumers to start voting for dental and medical offices with our wallets, but also letting them know, why.

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