The case: we do have a deadline
In a previous blog, I wrote that we are never in a hurry when it comes to developing our software. The reason is simple: quality is of paramount importance. Our software is used and reviewed directly by thousands of users, so arbitrary deadlines are usually out of the question. However, I was reminded internally that I had not stuck to this principle. For dentists, we had to have something ready before 1 December of this year.
We have been active in dental care for about a year. By connecting with the software in which dentists record their activities, we help this market create and collect invoices from their patients. This has taught us a great deal about the sector. Within the administrative domain involving insurers, the factoring company Infomedics is practically a monopolist. Submitting treatment claims is also a complex process, so specialisation is required. As we built knowledge of these processes over the year, we discovered far more demand for our software than initially expected. We also learned that contracts with Infomedics can only be cancelled per calendar year.
What to do?
Quality remains the number one criterion for a SaaS solution like Payt’s. But in this case, there was a hard deadline for dentists: 1 January 2022. Taking on the challenge of solving the declaration and invoicing process in full for dental practices brings huge time savings and process improvements. So, we decided to take it on.
The first step was to bring in extra development capacity. In addition, we allocated sufficient resources from product management and our own development team to make sure all the necessary expertise and problem-solving skills were available. We also planned to have the minimum required software ready by 1 October 2021. This would allow us enough time to address any problems arising during the testing phase.
Although I have no doubt that we will deliver the required software on time, this is not a situation we would want to repeat too often. It puts a strain on the organisation. Interestingly, the biggest impact is not on the development side but on marketing, product management, and sales. Because of COVID and the way dentists work, we had already become adept at hosting webinars outside of dental hours. But now, unexpectedly, we will need to expand precisely in these areas, rather than in software development.
