Software interface with offices

Our company, Planet DDS, offers web-based software and services to dental offices. Over the years, we've talked with various labs about integrating a lab interface into our application, but never moved forward on it. We are contemplating a new approach to a certain segment of the market, and I would appreciate any thoughts.

First, I'll state the question: Are there any distribution synergies between a lab and our company by creating an integrated interface for a laboratory application in the practice management application?

The background: we are going to offer a (nearly) free version of our software that can easily run an office that doesn't want a lot of technical sophistication. It's a lot like the Eaglesoft strategy, except ours really will be almost free. In short, once an office is running our software, we make more money from the services that we offer to the offices than we do from software sales. We also will charge for more sohphisticated upgrades to the application for those that want more bells and whistles and those who want electronic medical record capabilities.

We are looking for distribution partners who can benefit from offering a free practice management application that ties in with their value-add internet connection to an office. We recognize that only a small % of offices at any time are looking for new or replacement software, but there are about 1,000 per month nationally. So, we see an opportunity for ourselves and various partners to get new business in some unique ways.

Anyway, we've lined up a few other distribution partnerships who could gain from a real time interface with practice management software (insurance companies, clearinghouses, other online vendors, and various consultants), and I'm just exploring if it makes sense to pursue anything with labs.

Bill.