You have made the decision to convert your documentation into a physical therapy EMR software, now what? How can you be sure that you’re getting the best product at the best price, and one that will help maximize your documentation process?
Nitin Choda provides you with a checklist that outlines key areas you will need to consider in order to choose the best and the right software for your practice.
Physical therapy electronic medical records solution is sometimes hard to find. The same is true when picking a restaurant to eat at. We need help in finding the right product.
If you are feeling a little lost and confused by all the options available for a physical therapy EMR products, don’t worry: picking a good solution isn’t as hard as it might seem.
Just keep your eye on the goal, and your hands on this checklist.
Find a decent price. Price is important. A lower price doesn’t always mean a worse product, and a low price also means you will have more money in your bank for other things. Try to find the cheapest physical therapy EMR that you are comfortable with, and that does everything you need, but not at the expense of inefficiency.
Does it fulfill your needs? Physical therapy EMR has different requirements from other electronic medical records. After all, you are dealing with physical activities more often than drug dosages. Look for a product that makes documentation simple because much of what you will be doing is documentation.
You need to make sure that the physical therapy EMR you picked is actually capable of doing what you need it to do. That means getting your hands on a copy and simulating the activities you would do throughout the day. If you find that part of your process has been left out by the solution, well, you know it isn’t for you.
Is billing integrated? This might seem like a minor thing, but keeping billing integrated with patient information is the best possible way to ensure that you handle billing as efficiently as possible.
Billing is never fun, but you shouldn’t have to keep an extra database just to deal with it. Make sure that physical therapy EMR billing is integrated with your documentation software. And you will be glad you did.
Can you document your patients quickly? The fewer clicks, the better. How quickly can you document what is happening with your patient? The tool should be capable of handling rapid note taking.
It should be able to handle you recording your every observation, and archive those observations in a way that you can get to quickly. In short, your physical therapy EMR solution should be ready to handle your patient load.
Can you schedule new appointments easily? Appointments are the bread and butter of your practice. Without them, there would be no physical therapy. You won’t even need to use your physical therapy EMR tools. Make sure that your tool is prepared to schedule and manage appointments.
What does your staff think? Let your staff try out the physical therapy EMR software. If they don’t like it, or they can’t use it, then it doesn’t matter how many features it has. A piece of software is only as good as its user interface, especially when it comes to something used every single day.
Is it mobile? Physical therapy involves moving around. You shouldn’t be constrained to a desktop computer when using a physical therapy EMR solution. It should support iPads, so you can carry a single, lightweight computer with you at all times, documenting everything as it happens in real time.
