Go-live day is when every untested assumption about your software setup becomes a real problem in front of real patients. Practices that prepare thoroughly have smooth go-lives. Practices that treat go-live as the start of the testing phase do not.
Here is the complete preparation process for a dental software go-live, whether you are opening a new practice or migrating to a new platform.
Need every operatory tested and staff ready before go-live day? Find out in 15 minutes if we are the right fit.
The Three Most Common Sources of Opening Day Failures
The most expensive go-live problems are always discovered on go-live day instead of the week before, when they could have been fixed without disrupting patient care.
Imaging bridges not tested with actual hardware. Confirmed on paper during setup but never verified with the actual sensor or camera in the specific operatory where it will be used.
Staff trained on a demo environment, not the live system. Training on a sandbox does not prepare staff for the configured system they will use with real patients.
Backups configured but never verified. A backup that runs without errors but produces corrupted or incomplete restores provides no protection. Restore testing must be documented before go-live.
All three are preventable with one additional week of preparation.
Go-Live Preparation Timeline
Check off each item as it is completed. Every unchecked item on go-live day is a potential opening day problem.
Overall readiness
0 / 18
Four Weeks Before Go-Live0 / 5
Two Weeks Before Go-Live0 / 3
One Week Before Go-Live0 / 5
Go-Live Day0 / 5
Frequently Asked Questions
At minimum, two to four hours of hands-on training on the live configured system per staff member, plus a simulated patient day for the full team together. Training duration depends on how different the new software is from what staff currently use. Migrating from one cloud platform to another requires less training time than moving from a server-based system to cloud.
Contact your IT provider immediately. Do not attempt to troubleshoot production systems during patient care without IT support. Have a clear protocol for which problems require rescheduling a patient versus which can be worked around while IT resolves the issue. Document every problem that occurs on go-live day for your IT provider’s post-go-live review.
Minor issues are common. Major disruptions that affect patient care are preventable. Practices that complete a simulated patient day, verify imaging in every operatory, and confirm backup restoration the week before go-live rarely experience anything more than minor adjustment issues on the actual day.
Every workstation can access the system and log in correctly. Every imaging bridge has been tested with actual hardware in its actual operatory. Staff have completed training on the live system. A successful restore from backup has been confirmed within the past 48 hours. Your IT provider is confirmed available for support on go-live day. If all five are true, you are ready.
Approaching go-live on a new dental software platform and not confident every IT component has been tested before patients arrive?
Ekim IT Solutions works exclusively with dental practices. We serve New England and New York with on-site support and dental practices nationwide with remote support. We manage the IT side of dental software go-lives from pre-launch testing through opening day support so your practice does not discover problems in front of patients.
Go-live day is not the time to find out what was not tested. Make sure your IT is ready before the first patient sits down.
Ezra Angelo
