Making the transition to the PT software – whether from an existing EMR or a paper-based system is an exciting development for a PT practice. A good physical therapy schedule software brings about improvement in all areas of a physical therapy clinic, including daily operations, compliance, profitability, and patient care.
However, making the switch can sometimes create stress among physical therapist and staff, as they have to adopt a new, advanced system. Fortunately, there are various steps that you can take before you make the system live that will help you maximize the benefits, make the transition easier for your team, and reduce disruption in the daily operations of your clinic.
Understanding the workflow: Various departments of your clinic will each use different components of your physical therapy software to manage their department-specific tasks and responsibilities. Thus, it becomes imperative to define these tasks and functions in your workflow, identify how your EMR will address each of them so that you can set up clear and straightforward training in these areas. Educating your staff without an ambiguity of workflow will ensure that your team correctly uses the EMR.
Learn more about your software: Take advantage of your vendor’s training modules, webinars, and materials, and educate your staff about it. Keep up with all the updates and changes regarding your system to maximize the benefits and gain the efficiencies. If you are not sure how to get started when it comes to shortcuts, templates, and triggers, it’s best to contact your vendor to get the right information.
Use add-ons and extra features: Take advantage of your software’s bells and whistles to improve efficiency. Consider using additional tools that are already built in your system that help gain abilities. Learn more about all the shortcuts and put its use to improve the efficiency of your PT practice.
The physical therapy scheduling software can allow you to do the following functions with ease:
- Enables clinicians to remind patients about their appointments via mail or texts
- Color coding the appointment calendar according to different time slots
- Rebooking the patients who need to put back on the schedule
- Using reports to critical analysis the efficiency of your clinic
- Reminders that help PTs manage their time and stay focused on the most important tasks
Train your staff: Physical therapist time is valuable, so try to figure out the jobs they are completing in the system that could be quickly achieved by your team. For example, before the patient visits the exam rooms, nurses or front-desk staff could take notes and capture the patient’s health history, present illness, family history, and so on.
Update your system: Ensure that your practice keeps pace with all the improvements and changes in the system. This way you can be sure that your clinic is using the system in the best possible manner. It can be done by assigning a ‘superuser’ in your team who keeps a tab on all the latest developments and regularly reviews new updates and information released by your vendor.
Consider technology add-ons: PTs can use ‘Smart Pens’ to write text on a tablet, or a computer that can be converted to text within the PT software. Or, they can also use speech recognition software so PTs or their staff can use their voice to add text in specific fields of the system. It helps facilitate the documentation process, making it quick and straightforward to use.