Technology
How To : Choosing the Right Practice
Management Software
T
reating patients or doing paperwork. Where
would you rather invest your time? For many
chiropractors, the reality is that there is not a choice
between the operational requirements of running a clinic
or seeing patients. Both are essential to success
in practice. Practice management software can help
with both of these sets of tasks. But before you can
enjoy the benefits of these powerful tools, you must first
choose the software that is best suited to your practice.
Asking the right questions about your software needs
is a good place to start.
What do you really need?
From chiropractic clinics to Fortune
500 companies, purchasing tools to
help manage and grow a business is a
complex undertaking. Investing in practice
management software is no different. Add
some rigour to the task by starting with a
well-developed needs assessment. A needs
assessment is a process through which you
will explore various aspects of your business
to determine where the inclusion of a
software tool might be beneficial.
Developing a Request for Proposal
(RFP) to send to potential vendors is
the ideal approach. However, many
chiropractors do not have the time to
devote to a formal process like an RFP.
If that is the case, performing a needs
assessment as outlined in this article is an
important exercise.
What features are essential?
Practice management software programs
offer a variety of features. Think critically
about your practice and its business
requirements, which inform the features
you need and want. At the very least, the
software you choose should help with
scheduling, communicating with patients,
generating reports and billing.
SPRING/SUMMER 2013
Need Want
Creating invoices
Software Features
and credit notes
n
n
Business tax
preparation reports
n
n
Direct billing of insurers n
n
Direct interconnection
with HCAI
n
n
Direct interconnection
with WSIB
n
n
Email communications
n
n
Inventory tracking and
reporting tools
n
n
Patient scheduling
n
n
Smartphone and tablet
compatibility
n
n
SOAP notes
n
n
Web-based and
cloud solutions
n
n
Supports multiple
practitioners
n
n
Also, keep in mind your own technical
expertise and that of your staff. Try to find
a software package that offers the features
you need in a user-friendly way backed
with reliable support from the software
vendor. The software should allow all of
the users in your practice to use the system
at the same time facilitating the sharing of
patient information.
Asking The Right Questions
1. Does the practice management software
appropriately meet regulatory requirements
around privacy and patient records?
2. the billing and scheduling function
Is
adequate to meet current and future
needs of the clinic? What if the clinic
expands to more practitioners? More sites?
A greater diversity of services?
3. ase of use: Are the screens and workflows
E
intuitive to the user? Is the workflow similar
to how the clinic currently operates?
4. the software compatible with other