Mogo Cloud review

Having an origin as far back as 1980’s makes Mogo one of the original dental practice management software providers. The founder of this product, Ming Wu, in fact still owns the company, based in Willmont, Illinois. 

Evolving from locally hosted software to a cloud based solution, Mogo Cloud makes the claim of being the only major dental software hosted by Microsoft Cloud. Mogo Cloud’s goal is to be an all-in-one solution serving the needs of both general dentists, and also the full variety of dental specialists.

Features

To start with, Mogo Cloud does have a free trial, which is generally preferred rather than a free demo. With a free trial, a practice can really fully test drive the software, before making a commitment.

Just from the name, Mogo Cloud, you could probably guess that this is based on cloud architecture. Being a SaaS offers inherent advantages including data redundancy as it backs up directly to the cloud, and that updates are done centrally without any user input. A cloud based service is only reliable if the server it runs on is, so rest assured that Mogo Cloud is hosted by Microsoft Azure, a well respected and dependable cloud service. This also assures that it is totally HIPAA compliant.

The front desk also benefits from the Mogo Cloud feature set. A nice feature is the online patient forms, allowing patients to register, request appointments, and provide a medical history completely online. Patient privacy is ensured as the forms are all secured, via an office supplied online access code. Mogo Cloud also has an integrated timekeeping function, dubbed Time Clock, to track employee hours for payroll, and also track benefit time, a nice value add which avoids the cost of additional software.

An increasingly important area for dental offices to pay attention, patient engagement is also supported by Mogo Cloud. For example, there are options for eReminders to be sent via email, or text, at no additional charge and included in the suite. These useful eReminders are transmitted for a variety of reasons, including confirmation of appointments, simple appointment reminders, or even for just a birthday wish.

Yet another important aspect for a dental practice management program is billing. Mogo keeps track of the billing cycle, with flexibility baked in to accommodate a practice that bills on a daily, weekly, or monthly cycle. With an Accounts Receivable Report, statements are organized via your choice of parameters, for example by the provider, the patient, or the aging period. From this report, we can then send out statements, which can then be either printed, or emailed for convenience.

Mogo Cloud can also send out electronic claims for submission as it is partnered with Change Healthcare which enables eClaims. Furthermore, there is claims tracking to determine an acceptance or rejection right from within Mogo Cloud.

Drawbacks

A significant shortcoming, particularly for cloud based software, is that Mogo Cloud does not offer any mobile apps.

On balance, user reviews do bring forth some issues. First up is workflow that gets described as clunky, with no less than four prompts needed to print a receipt, and too much time required to input data, such as a full series of x-rays, or a treatment plan. Another concern that some users report is that the program has intermittent crashes. Also, a practice indicates an issue when multiple users simultaneously attempt accessing a chart, for example a dental hygienist is updating the treatment plan, and the front office is closing out the visit, they both can’t be in the same chart simultaneously.

A final drawback is that the software only works on Windows PCs, and is not designed for Mac. 

Support

The support options for Mogo Cloud are limited. Our first option is a phone with a toll free number  provided. The unfortunate part is that the hours of support are restricted only to weekdays- 8 AM to 5:30 PM Central Standard Time.

The next option is an online portal. Users can enter a query, and be sure to include your name, the practice’s name, an email address and your phone number.

The final potential route is an email address for a submission, but the address, “mogo@mogo.com” is a general address, and not specifically for a technical support inquiry from what we can tell.

The other options are lacking, starting with chat. Another miss is the lack of webinars, whitepapers, and ebooks. However, with more searching, we did find some on demand video education, with titles including “Adding new patients,” and “Patient lookup list overview” among the options we found under “Training,” but not under “Support.”

Criticisms aside, the Mogo technical support team does get rated the “Highest in customer support in the dental support industry” in a recent Clinician’s Report survey.

Pricing

Mogo Cloud pricing is focused on a single affordable package, and avoids the multiple tiers that often attempt to upsell you on a feature to the next higher tier. This approach certainly simplifies the choice, and we like the inclusion of such essential features as unlimited tech support, upgrades to the latest version of the software, and access to the training videos. The cost for the package is $250 per month (£190).

We also appreciate the upfront pricing, as much of its competition avoids transparency. Unfortunately, the costs go dark hereafter, with no clarity on how many users and practitioners this plan covers. Furthermore, for practices with multiple office locations, Mogo Cloud offers “Special pricing,” which hardly tells us much other than we need a quote to make sense of it.

Final verdict

Mogo Cloud, as the name identifies with, is a cloud based approach for dental practice management software. The ups include the simplified tier structure of a single available package, the included toll free support, and electronic claims handling. The downs cover the limited support hours, the lack of pricing information on additional practice locations, and the missing mobile apps for enabling easy access to the practice’s data when away from the office. On balance, no dental practice management software has achieved perfection, and Mogo Cloud has created an attractive offering for the busier dental practice.

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