- New England's Only Dental-Specific IT Provider
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Dental Lab Communication IT for Tampa Bay Practices
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Ezra Angelo
- • July 23, 2026
Dental lab communication is one of the workflows where technology has changed most dramatically over the past five years. Tampa Bay dental practices sending restorative cases to dental labs are increasingly using digital case submission workflows: digital impressions from intraoral scanners transmitted directly to the lab, CBCT data shared through cloud-based case management platforms, and lab portals that provide real-time case status without phone calls. Each of these digital pathways requires specific IT configuration and has HIPAA implications that practices frequently overlook because the lab relationship does not feel like a covered data exchange.
Ekim IT Solutions is the dental-exclusive IT provider serving Tampa Bay from our office at 600 N Westshore Blvd, Suite 701, Tampa, FL 33609.
A dental lab that receives patient case data, including digital impressions with patient identifiers, CBCT files linked to a named patient, or shade prescriptions with demographic information, is a Business Associate under HIPAA. A signed BAA with every dental lab the practice uses is a required compliance step that most Tampa Bay practices have never completed.
Digital Case Submission Workflows for Tampa Bay Practices
Practices using intraoral scanners including 3Shape TRIOS, iTero, and Medit i700 submit cases digitally through each scanner’s respective platform: 3Shape Unite, the Align Technology platform, and Medit Link. Each platform transmits the scan data to the connected lab through cloud infrastructure. The IT configuration involved is ensuring the scanner workstation has reliable internet connectivity with adequate upload speed for large scan files, that the cloud platform is accessible through the practice’s firewall without the clinical VLAN being exposed, and that the case submission workflow is tested before clinical use.
Lab Portal and Communication Platform IT Configuration
Ekim IT Solutions configures these lab communication IT components for Tampa Bay practices. Tap one to see what it involves.
Configuration component
HIPAA Compliance for Dental Lab Relationships
Every digital case submission that includes patient-identifiable information, which most do, constitutes the transmission of protected health information to a Business Associate. Beyond the BAA, the transmission method must provide appropriate encryption. Standard email without encryption does not meet HIPAA’s transmission security requirements for PHI. Ekim IT Solutions documents the lab communication workflow in the HIPAA Security Risk Assessment for every Tampa Bay practice we support, confirming that each lab relationship has a signed BAA and that case transmission uses HIPAA-compliant encryption.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ekim IT Solutions serves Tampa Bay from our office at 600 N Westshore Blvd, Suite 701. We configure digital impressions, CBCT sharing, and lab portal connections correctly, with the HIPAA safeguards the lab relationship actually requires.
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- • July 23, 2026
