What Is Practice Management Software?

Practice management software is a type of healthcare software that handles all of the the back-of-the-house aspects of a medical practice. From billing and health records to scheduling and supply management, a practice management system can handle it all, saving you the need to rely on a different software platform for each function.

Practice management systems are used by a wide range of other medical practices, from primary care physicians to dermatologists, oncologists, and even veterinarians. The software our firm offers — called the Social Patient Center — is simple to use and can make it easier to run your practice.

Do I Need Both EMS and Practice Management Software?

It can be tempting to take a piecemeal approach by contracting with multiple software vendors. After all, having more vendors is a way of ensuring that you've got everything covered, right? Actually, the opposite is true. Having a series of platforms means you have multiple vendors to deal with, and it sometimes results in system integration difficulties.

It's easier to find a find a single management platform that will meet all of your practice's needs. That platform is our Social Patient Center. The Social Patient Center is flexible enough to be used in a variety of medical practices, including EMS services.

What Are the Benefits of Practice Management Software?

Once you have a good practice management system in place, you won't know how you ever got along without it. From more accurate paperwork and having records at your fingertips to bringing efficiency to your billing, practice management services offer many benefits.

More Accurate Paperwork

With management software in place, your practice employees won't waste their time entering the same information over and over. A good system will keep all of that information — from patient information to documentation of treatment plans — in one place in a format that's easy to access and update. You'll also be less likely to have errors in your service's paperwork.

Records at Your Fingertips

Curious about how many times you've been called out to a particular address? Do you need to quickly evaluate your service's financial records? With a good practice management system in place, all of that information can be accessed with just a few keystrokes. You'll never have to hunt through a filing cabinet again.

Simplify Boring Tasks

Another advantage of practice management systems is that they can be used to automate some of your more mundane tasks, saving you time and money. Inventorying and ordering medical supplies, scheduling, and even tracking shipments are among the administrative tasks that this type of system can take care of.

Streamlined Billing

A good practice management system can streamline your billing process by making it easy to generate statements and process credit card payments. Having an efficient and thorough billing system will help you more promptly collect payment from your patients and reimbursements from insurers. It will also improve your cash flow.

More Time to Focus on Your Business

By investing in a practice management service, you're freeing yourself and your staff up from administrative tasks so that the focus can be on providing high-quality emergency medicine. Practice management systems can be particularly helpful in small to mid-sized medical practices such as EMS services, where staffing levels are smaller to begin with and employees are more likely to be multi-tasking. A practice management system can help a medical service become more productive and more profitable.

Better Market Your Service

A practice management system keeps your entire emergency medical service running smoothly, which will result in satisfied customers and better patient-to-patient marketing of your business. Our service can help market your service in other ways as well. The Social Patient Center, for example, can help you conduct online surveys of patients and facilitate reviews.

What Should I Look for in Practice Management Software?

If you're in the market for a practice management system, you'll want to seek out software that is particularly suited to the needs of your practice. Finding a system that is easy to use and offers plenty of support is also helpful.

Easy to Use

Managing your practice's schedule, supplies, billing, and more doesn't have to be hard. In fact, it should be simple and straightforward. Finding a software system that is intuitive to use, even for members of your staff who may struggle with technology, is important. You might want to include several members of your staff as you are evaluating practice management systems to ensure you're selecting a platform that will work for the group.

HIPPA Compliance

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act makes it more important than ever to safeguard patient privacy, information, and communication. Be sure to select a practice management system that allows your service to adhere to HIPPA requirements.

Suited to Your Practice

Medical practices come in all sizes and stripes, and you'll want to make sure to select a management system that suits your operation. Larger medical practices, for example, need to be capable of storing an almost unlimited number of health records. Smaller medical prices have their own unique needs.

Easy Scheduling

Don't be tempted to make do with a generic scheduling system or, even worse, a paper scheduling system. Purchasing a practice management service that includes a scheduling function will make your scheduling much more effective. Our Social Patient Center capably manages the complexities associated with scheduling a busy emergency medicine service.

Information Analysis

Chances are you're already tracking many aspects of your business, from the number of transports you conduct each day to the types of medical conditions you're most often called on to address. A service like our Social Patient Center can crunch all that data and generate reports that help you understand where your business stands and where new opportunities are. We can help take your business to the next level.

A System for the Long Haul

As you shop around for a practice management service, you're probably thinking a lot about the immediate needs your service has and the capabilities you'll need any software to offer. Those are important considerations, but it's also important to think about the future. If you keep a software platform for a number of years, there's a good chance it will need an upgrade at some point. Ask now about how easy the software is to upgrade and how much an upgrade will cost. Asking those questions early on, while you're still shopping around for a platform, could save you time and money down the road.

What Is an EHR?

An EHR is an electronic health record that serves as a digital snapshot of a patient's medical history. This medical history can be accessed by authorized healthcare providers from different practices who are making decisions about a patient's care. An EHR offers a more comprehensive overview of a patient's health than an EMR, or electronic medical record. An EMR usually offers a narrower view of a patient's medical history and frequently chronicles the treatment an individual has received from a single healthcare provider. EHRs and EMRs contain more patient-focused data than practice management systems.

Why Choose Our Practice

There's a lot to keep track of when you're managing a medical practice, especially if it's an emergency medical service. Don't be tempted to buy multiple software platforms with the idea that more is better. Picking a single, effective platform will save you headaches and give you the horsepower you need to run your business.

Our Social Patient Center platform has been successfully deployed in medical practices of all stripes, and we're confident it can make a difference in your business. Call Crystal Clear Digital Marketing  and ask about our practice management software solution.