Technology has brought immense benefits to medical practices and made life easier for healthcare staff. Doctors that wish to promote the well-being of their patients by providing better healthcare facilities and enhancing their practice are harnessing the power of technology to automate billing, manage patient records and scheduling, and prescribe medications. But when it comes to choosing medical software, there are a few mistakes that you would like to avoid.
1. Insurance verification
When you look for the best healthcare software, it is important to confirm from the vendor whether insurance verification is possible with the software. If the system does not offer this feature, you are better off looking for an alternative. Some companies ignore this aspect and have to spend long hours over the phone to get confirmation about the patient’s insurance status.
With a tool that allows your staff to do insurance verification, the entire process takes just a few seconds, saving time and money. Remember, the sooner each patient is verified, the faster healthcare professionals can see them and accelerate the entire process.
2. Digital patient records
While healthcare practices are choosing to become hi-tech, it is increasingly becoming important to choose medical software that gives you quick access to patient records to enable you to speed up healthcare and offer better service while running your practice more efficiently. This is one of the most crucial features to look for in a medical software program, but this is where some medical practices falter and fail to see it as a non-negotiable component when buying an electronic medical record system.
The best system will include this feature and facilitate your task of managing healthcare information and practicing quality medicine. You need a system that allows you quick access to patient history, diagnosis, complaints, and other important details from any location.
3. Functionality and design
Failure to focus on the design of the interface is one of the biggest medical software mistakes some healthcare facilities make when choosing a medical record system. Ignore the functionality and workflow, and you will land in a system that doesn’t seem to move any further. In fact, the interface is the most critical factor when it comes to choosing such a system. Poor design makes it easy to go in the wrong direction and waste time clicking on buttons that lead you elsewhere.
On the other hand, an easy-to-use and intuitive interface make it easy to input and access data. Contrarily, choosing the wrong system would only amount to wasting your energy on things that do not deserve so much of your hard work and time. The system should be simple to use. If inputting information into the system is tough, the program will only be a waste of your time.
Failure to focus on the design of the interface is one of the biggest medical software mistakes some healthcare facilities make when choosing a medical record system.
4. Ask & answer questions
Is the system allowed to ask and answer questions? Is it tough for clinicians to raise queries? A healthcare practitioner needs to be clear about the following: Which patient has what diagnosis? What is the medicine prescribed to them? Who has not reported in the previous six months? What is the number of similar cases I have diagnosed compared with others?
The registry of patients suffering from a certain disease is an integral part of the entire process, allowing the clinician to evaluate their overall healthcare. It is not possible for doctors to remember everything without getting quick access to retrievable records. If the system makes it tough to ask questions, simply run from that medical software. In that case, work slows and your practice suffers, requiring you to spend extra time retrieving patient records.
5. Not consulting with end users
Some practices make a committee decision, not a clinical decision when it comes to choosing medical software. This is where they err! When exploring different medical record systems, it is important to involve everyone that would be using the system, including receptionists, help desk, file room clerks, medical assistants, and nurses. You cannot optimize a software system that requires you to hire IT personnel or technicians to operate, since techies do not have clinic management knowledge. This will only add an additional burden on your resources without helping you maximize returns.
Wondering how to choose medical software that makes life easier for you? ITQlick has a host of relevant information to share with you on finding a software program that works. Be in touch with us today!