Top health care software companies have big head counts and engineering budgets. That didn’t stop Dr. Sarah Khan and her small team from finding their place in the PM software market.

“I’M DRIVEN BY innovation and impact,” says Dr. Sarah Khan, founder and CEO of Seattle-based Dental Consent Cloud. “Dentistry is just one piece of the puzzle—I love creating solutions that address real needs in the health care industry.” As a commissioner on the Washington State Department of Health Dental Board, she noticed one recurring issue: “Doctors would come before us with flawless charting and patient notes, yet they were somehow missing their consent forms. I asked myself, ‘Why is this still a problem?’ ”

Slashing Complexity
“In a rapidly evolving digital age, many practices are still trapped in the outdated cycle of paper-based consent forms or overwhelmed by bloated software systems that add complexity without value,” Dr. Khan says. “What they really want is something more focused, something that specializes in one thing and does it exceptionally well.”

Dental Consent Cloud was born from that insight: a software solution she says is focused on simplifying the delivery and acknowledgment of consent forms and postoperative instructions. By addressing these two critical gaps, Dr. Khan’s platform not only streamlines operations but also reduces the risk of malpractice, empowering dental professionals to focus on patient care.

Unafraid to Challenge
Entering a market dominated by much larger competitors wasn’t a significant deterrent. “Yes, there are bigger players out there, but I’ve always believed that if you’re truly passionate about something, you can find a way to make it happen,” Dr. Khan says. Dental Consent Cloud is the product of a long-held mindset that dictates “working backward by identifying a genuine need first. I’m not trying to make software and then sell it to dentists,” she emphasizes. “I think about what the ideal solution would look like, and then I work hard to create that solution.”

Leveraging her preexisting business relationships with a trusted software developer and a HIPAA attorney, Dr. Khan assembled a team to help bring her vision to life. Worst-case scenario? She’d have a tool that perfectly met the needs of her own practice. In the best case? It would resonate with others in the industry—and so far, she says, it has.

Listening and Growing
Dr. Khan tested Dental Consent Cloud in her office “for about a year” before offering it for sale. “If our cloud-based web app won’t work reliably with any OS or device, seamlessly, that kills the simplicity.” She says her team also “did signifi­cant stress testing to make sure it can handle thousands of transactions at a time, because that’s what I would expect from a tool I use.”

One of the most valuable lessons she learned early on was how much putting users first can boost a company’s success. “Our biggest piece of feedback was that Dental Consent Cloud didn’t automatically pull information from practice management software.” While her users appreciated the simplicity of a stand-alone consent solution, they also wan­ted integration with their existing systems. So she began integrating Dental Consent Cloud with popular practice management platforms. It’s an opportunity to expand her user base that comes at a price, as her PM partners take a cut from every sale. “It’s like Apple’s App Store, in a sense,” she says.

Going with Her Gut
As Dental Consent Cloud continues to grow, Dr. Khan has expanded her team, bringing on part-time staff to handle demos and support. And she’s already brainstorming her next big idea. “I’ve always believed in keeping my circle small when it comes to advice. If you have two or three people whose opinions you trust, that’s all you need,” she says. “The key is to trust yourself and take that first step. Once you’re in it, you’ll figure out the rest.”