QR Codes for Dentists

QR stands for quick response. They are also known as 2D barcodes or mobile tagging, and a few other names. Knowing the name is not as important as knowing what they do. What they do is enable interactivity between something that is usually non-interactive such as a piece of paper and make it active. In other words, a QR code can be printed on a brochure, a business card, a t-shirt or literally anything that you can think of, and the code can then be scanned by a barcode scanner. Barcode scanners can be downloaded to any smartphone or tablet, and there are many free scanner apps in iTunes, Android Market and the Amazon App Store. When the QR code is scanned, the action chosen by the QR code generator is enabled, which is usually to open a link to a website or a QR code can be enabled to perform all of the following actions:

• Browse to any page on a website
• Browse to Bing, Google, Mapquest maps
• Browse to Foursquare
• Browse to YouTube
• Browse to Twitter
• Bookmark a website
• Create a vCalendar event
• Create a vCard
• Make a phone call
• Send an SMS
• Send an email

History of QR Codes

Denso-Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota, developed QR codes in 1994 to track the inventory of car parts. The technology and the trademark are still owned by Denso-Wave but they have chosen to let the free market use the technology without compensation.

QR Codes in a Dental Practice

It is important to understand that a person will be using a mobile device with a camera such as a smartphone, or a tablet to scan the barcode.Mobile devices include iPhone's, iPad's, iPod's, BlackBerry's, Android phones and other tablets. Therefore, if your QR code is linking to your website, you should have a mobile website for your dental practice since the link will be displayed on a mobile device. You can have the QR code open to your home page, any specific page on your website, your Facebook business page, or any of the other options in the bulleted list above.

Examples of DDS.com QR Codes

The QR code above links to information about our mobile website services.	The QR code above links to our Facebook business page.

This is what appears on the smartphone after the QR code on the left is scanned. The user can choose to open the browser, share the link via email or share via text message.

This is what appears on the smartphone after the QR code on the right is scanned. The user can choose to open the browser, share the link via email or share via text message.