Case Study with Dona Ana Community College
Elmer E. Gonzalez, MBA, Ph.D., RDH, CDA Dental Programs Department Chair
Connecting the Pieces: How Doña Ana Found the Right EHR
In the heart of New Mexico, nestled among six campuses, Doña Ana Community College (DACC) was facing a challenge familiar to many colleges and institutions: how to modernize without disrupting the hands-on, high-stakes learning that defines their programs.
For years, DACC’s Dental Hygiene and Assisting programs operated with a patchwork of systems. One platform handled clinical case management. Another tracked student assessments. The result? A fractured workflow that strained faculty, confused students, and left IT teams scrambling to keep everything running.
“We needed one software for both workflows,” recalls Dr. Elmer Gonzalez, Department Chair of Dental Programs. “Remote cloud use, multi-clinic integration, and student assessment tracking were all critical.”
The Breaking Point
With 42 students and 25–30 staff members spread across three active dental clinics, the cracks in the system were becoming impossible to ignore. Faculty were toggling between platforms. Students couldn’t see their progress in real time. And preparing for CODA accreditation felt like piecing together a shredded document.
The lack of integration led to:
- Redundant data entry
- Inconsistent reporting
- Increased administrative overhead
- IT teams overwhelmed by on-premise maintenance
That’s when DACC made a bold move: to unify everything under one roof with Ascend Academic, a cloud-based platform built for the future of dental education.
The Turning Point: Choosing Ascend Academic
Dr. Gonzalez and his team evaluated several options, but it was Ascend Academic’s flexibility and dual focus—on both clinical operations and academic assessment—that stood out.
“Ascend isn’t a cookie-cutter solution—it evolves with us,” he explains.
The platform offered:
- Streamlined operations by unifying academic and clinical workflows
- Cloud-based access for faculty and students across multiple locations
- Integrated tools for EHR, imaging, charting, and treatment planning
- Reduced administrative overhead and improved data accuracy
- Real-time dashboards for tracking student progress and competencies
- Built-in faculty tools for supervision, approvals, and feedback
- Improved collaboration between faculty, students, and clinical staff
And most importantly, it allowed DACC to merge clinical and academic workflows into a single, streamlined experience.
The Climb: Implementation with Intention
The transition wasn’t without its hurdles. Migrating data from the previous software, especially radiographs, required time and patience. But the college approached the rollout in three deliberate phases.
“Ascend has always been open-minded to improve based on feedback. That makes it stand out from other software.”
Key Value in operating across multiple clinics with cloud:
- Supported scalability across campuses with seamless access
- Enabled centralized data management and reporting
- Reduced infrastructure complexity while improving uptime
1. Needs Assessment
- Faculty, staff, and IT collaborated to define what success looked like for educational and operational requirements.
2. Deployment
- Data and image conversion took center stage, with a focus on minimizing disruption.
3. Training
- Early training focused on clinical workflows, but DACC’s feedback helped shape the academic side of the platform —proving that the best software evolves with its users.
The Payoff: Accreditation, Efficiency, and Empowered Students
Today, DACC’s dental programs are not just functioning—they’re thriving.
“It’s imperative to have accurate tracking mechanisms. Ascend gives us the data we need to prove student competency and compliance.”
Elmer E. Gonzalez, MBA, Ph.D., RDH, CDADental Programs Department Chair
IT Teams Reclaimed
With fewer on-premise systems to manage, DACC’s IT team can now focus on strategic initiatives rather than reactive troubleshooting.
Overall, the payoff was:
- A lower total cost of ownership by minimizing hardware and maintenance
- Enhanced security and compliance through enterprise-grade cloud protocols
- Greater freedom for IT teams to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure
The Bigger Picture: Lessons for Dental Hygiene and Assisting Programs
DACC’s story is more than a software upgrade—it’s a blueprint for how post-secondary institutions can modernize without losing the hands-on, high-impact learning that defines technical education.
Key Takeaways:
- Centralize your systems to reduce complexity and improve data integrity.
- Go cloud-first to future-proof your programs and reduce IT strain.
- Choose flexible platforms that adapt to your workflows—not the other way around.
- Prioritize accreditation readiness with real-time tracking and reporting.
- Partner with vendors who listen, iterate, and grow with you.
Is your Dental Hygiene or Dental Assisting program ready to modernize its clinical and student experience?
Learn how Ascend Academic can help you unify operations, support accreditation, and empower your students for the workforce.
