Leah Sheppered
New Patient Coordinator | Towne Lake Family Dentistry
Working With Technology, Not Around It
How Towne Lake Family Dentistry made its front desk more efficient with Paperless Intake.
When Towne Lake Family Dentistry set out to modernize patient intake, the team had already tried one digital system and walked away from it. Its online forms were so hard to use that the practice went back to pen and paper. Leadership wanted a platform every team member could run with confidence, from front desk staff in their 20s to a colleague in their 70s. That decision led them to mConsent, and it changed how the front desk runs every day.
A system the team had already walked away from
Before mConsent, Towne Lake Family Dentistry relied on an intake system that few people on the team found easy to use. Leah Sheppered, now the practice’s New Patient Coordinator, was the youngest staff member at the time. Even she struggled with it.
“It was hard for me to use, which I found very bizarre. We actually went back to just doing pen and paper for a little bit with our patients because the online forms were so hard to figure out.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator
Paper meant scanning, manual filing and more room for error. The practice wanted to go digital again, but the next system had to clear a higher bar. The team spans several generations, with members in their 50s, 60s and 70s, and leadership wanted every one of them to feel comfortable using the full platform.
“We wanted to make sure everyone in the office would be comfortable being able to use all that it has to offer.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator, Towne Lake Family Dentistry
Electronic intake, written straight back to Dentrix
Towne Lake moved patient intake to mConsent Paperless Intake, connected to its Dentrix practice management system. Patients complete their paperwork electronically, snap a photo of their driver’s license and upload their insurance card. The front desk then reviews each submission and approves it.
That approval step is a choice the team values. Many intake systems post forms automatically, which leaves staff searching patient by patient to confirm what came in. With mConsent, approving a form takes about three seconds, and the team can see who approved it, when, and when the patient finished their paperwork.
“Approving each intake form only takes about three seconds, and it helps us keep better tabs on everything. We can see who approved it, what time, and when the patient filled out their paperwork. It’s all trackable.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator
Once approved, everything is written back to Dentrix. The practice customized how documents file into the Dentrix Document Center, so insurance cards go under insurance and IDs go under ID, with no manual sorting afterwards. Small corrections are easy too. If a patient enters “Thomas” but goes by “Tom,” staff can fix it before it reaches the chart, without waiting on a lag or creating a duplicate record.
Leah’s favorite feature is one she thinks other practices overlook. Allergies, medications and medical alerts from the patient’s intake show up as pop-ups and flags in Dentrix. “The hygienist or doctor doesn’t have to go search for what they’re allergic to,” she says. “It’s right there. It just saves time.”
“Technology is at a point where you can automate anything you want. But there is something essential about having a team approve this kind of thing. It shapes the experience a patient is going to have.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator, Towne Lake Family Dentistry
Built for the whole team
The practice chose mConsent with its entire staff in mind, and the result held up. Team members in their 50s, 60s and 70s, several of whom describe themselves as less comfortable with technology, picked it up easily.
- People: Every generation on the team uses the full platform, with no designated “tech person” required.
- Process: A quick manual approval keeps four front desk staff aligned on what’s done and what’s pending.
- Technology: Completed forms, IDs, insurance cards and medical alerts land in the right place in Dentrix.
“You don’t need to be a technology expert to figure it out,” Leah says. “Having a great product doesn’t mean much if you can’t get your team to use it effectively.”
No paper, no scanning, no manual sorting
Today, Towne Lake’s intake runs without paper, scanning or manual sorting. Four front desk staff share one view of every new patient packet, approve it in seconds, and know exactly where it went in Dentrix. Clinicians see allergies and medical alerts before they walk into the room.
The change reached beyond the software. Leah describes her experience with mConsent’s support and customer success team as positive from the start, whether by phone or email. What stands out most is how the team responds when something goes wrong outside the practice’s control, such as a server disconnecting.
“Nobody on the other end acts like we’re inconveniencing them by asking for help. I’ve worked with several other companies that I can’t make that same statement for.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator, Towne Lake Family Dentistry
She also notes that mConsent cares about the quality of the experience her team has with the product, not only whether it works. For the practice, that combination has made mConsent part of how the front desk operates every day.
“It feels like you’re working with technology instead of having to work around technology. It feels like mConsent was designed for dental offices to make everything better, easier and more streamlined.”
— Leah Sheppered, New Patient Coordinator, Towne Lake Family Dentistry
Making front desk work easier starts with the right tools
If an office manager is unsure about mConsent, Leah’s advice is simple: give it a try. She likes how easy it is to customize, how little technical knowledge it requires, and the support team that helps when questions come up.
“Based on the experience we’ve had, we’re incredibly happy with it,” she says.
Leah also believes software should make front desk work easier, not harder. As she puts it, “It should be embracing the process rather than impeding it.”
For Towne Lake Family Dentistry, mConsent has made the intake process easier for the whole team to manage with confidence.
