This is the first question you should ask when considering appointment and patient data management systems. What issues do you intend to solve for your team with this new software? It needs to be worth the effort and money. Once you’ve identified the challenges you face, it will be easier to determine if a system can address them.

Consider the following:

• Is the current workflow cumbersome?
• Are there issues with patient retention?
• Do you work with multiple systems?
• Are patient data currently secure?
• Does the current workflow function well for both remote and in-clinic staff?
• Do you spend a lot of time confirming appointments?
• Do you have a high no-show rate?

Answering these questions will help you figure out exactly what you want from your practice management software.

A practice management system may seem like a significant investment, but it has the potential to transform how your clinic operates for the better. A good system should be scalable, save you time, increase productivity, and keep your staff happy. All of these are important metrics to track. A dashboard with reports and statistics will help you monitor crucial information, from financial to operational perspectives, enabling you to make key decisions that will boost your business and measure the positive impact of your investment in the system.

Any medical practice management software should bring you benefits such as:

• Reducing medical errors
• Cutting down time spent on manual processes
• Boosting staff morale
• Improving patient care
• Enhancing communication with patients
• Improving monitoring of financial, operational, and medical data

A demonstration of such software will allow you to ask questions related to specific benefits for your configuration.

If the system wasn’t created by someone who fully understands the challenges of a private medical clinic, it’s unlikely to efficiently cover your needs. Those who created the system should understand what it means to address these needs for clinics like yours.

Analyze the provider’s website in detail and quickly look for reviews to see the experience of other users using that software.

A medical practice often consists of a diverse group of people with different goals and abilities. Your new system should be easy to use and navigate, with features that cater to the needs of all users, whether it’s reception staff, auxiliary medical personnel, doctors or managers. Every staff member should be able to find the information they need without requiring a high level of IT expertise.

The idea is to have most, if not all, of your activities take place on a single platform, avoiding jumping from one system to another and saving precious time. Can you track a patient’s medical history and manage treatment plans in the same place where you schedule appointments? Can you customize medical charts, forms and other documents? This will make a big difference.

The healthtech world moves quickly, and without regular updates, a system can quickly become stagnant and outdated. The system should move and evolve with the medical industry, adapting to new technologies, trends, and customer needs. Look for recent feature releases on social networks or ask about the latest release during a demonstration, as well as plans for the future.

On the other hand, new features shouldn’t compromise the integrity of the current system. There should be a strong purpose for a feature release, and any decent provider of a practice management system should be able to provide solid reasoning for a new feature. Change can be difficult when you’re used to a certain way of working, so you want to ensure that many new features or changes don’t distract from your daily work.

Selecting the right system for your medical practice is just the first step. Implementation and configuration follow, which can be daunting for those who haven’t done it before. Check if you’ll receive help and training. Ask about the response time of the support team, for example.

This information should clarify that if a problem arises, the level of support ensures that you can return to normal activities with minimal negative impact. If you have doubts, address all questions during a demonstration – a staff member should be able to provide details about implementation, training, and support.

The essence of the matter is this: if a practice management system does not improve the experience of your patients, then it is not doing its job properly.

Think about the different stages of your patient’s experience. What problems do you want the practice management software to solve before, during, and after an appointment? Quickly adding appointments and automatically sending SMS reminders are just two examples of ways a system can have a positive effect at every touchpoint.

Our team, specialized in simple and intuitive design, truly understands clinic management and the need for easy-to-use software. InteroCloud is 100% online medical software, meaning there’s no need to install programs or rely on an expensive IT department. InteroCloud will help you start your journey to digitization and will be there for you whenever you need help.