JAP Volume 7 Issue 1 Feature
Seven steps to choosing the right
practice management software Loose papers and generic spreadsheets are no longer the most efficient way to run your practice. Instead, Peter Connor, Managing Director of Healthcode, explains how to choose a good, reliable IT system to suit your needs.
practice. But working outside the NHS presents particular business challenges with which you may be unfamiliar and which can distract you from your clinical work. One is finding a practice management system which delivers both the functionality you need and a return on your investment. As a clinician, you may not have any experience of choosing IT
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systems but don’t be tempted to stick with generic spreadsheets, word processing and accounting software. Instead, invest in a specialist practice management system which is capable of meeting your specific requirements, from capturing patient details and appointment scheduling to electronic billing and generating management reports. It will repay you in the long term. Based on Healthcode’s research, many anaesthetists are
also initially worried that the process of choosing a system will require them to plough through piles of impenetrable technical specifications and unintelligible jargon. But selecting the right product and supplier can, and should be a straightforward process. The following step-by-step guide should help you make an informed decision.
Establish an assessment team Ensure you involve staff who will be affected by the practice
management system in the process. In smaller practices, this might be just you, or you and your secretary; in larger practices you might want to involve another consultant colleague, as well as representatives from your non-clinical, staff such as the person responsible for registering patients, coding and billing.
Analyse your practice’s needs The team should think about how your practice currently operates
and how it can be made more efficient. For example, if you provide a pain management clinic, you could follow a typical patient through your practice, from the moment they are referred and make an appointment, to their treatment, discharge, billing and payment. Calculate the administrative time and cost to your business to manage each patient and identify any bottlenecks in the process. Would a practice management system make your lives easier? Key areas to focus on would usually be:
• Capturing and storing patient details. Filing hard copies of documents takes up valuable space and it may take time for someone unfamiliar with the system to retrieve a patient’s details.
• Diary management. If you work with surgeons in a number of private hospitals, provide pain management services and work some sessions in the NHS, it can be difficult to manage your
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reater clinical freedom and the opportunity to generate additional income are enticing prospects for anaesthetists who are considering independent
time effectively. How could you ensure your staff know the whereabouts of you and your colleagues at any given time and can schedule your appointments accordingly?
• Managing and storing correspondence and communication. This may include communication with patients, surgeons and PMIs.
• The billing process. Manual billing can be time-consuming and inefficient, and most practices will benefit from the ability to generate and submit bills electronically.
• Financial analysis and reporting. Do you need a faster way of generating valuable business information about the financial performance of your practice?
Establish your budget When considering cost implications, think about whether your
existing hardware and operating systems provide an acceptable platform or if you need to upgrade. Some older systems may have specific requirements and demands on hardware, which might not be necessary for more modern, online solutions. Look at the minimum hardware and operating system requirements for the most popular practice management systems as a guide. An additional factor to bear in mind is that different providers
have alternative business models. You could opt for an online solution, such as Healthcode’s ePractice manager, for which you pay an annual service subscription depending on how many specialists there are within the practice. This gives you unlimited access to the system from any computer with an internet connection, which could be an advantage for those who practice in a number of different locations. Alternatively, you could purchase the software under license in the
same way you might buy a package for your home computer. You may need to buy several licenses depending on the size of your practice and how many users will need access. As with any software package you will have to consider the upgrade path and associated costs. You should also consider how much to budget for on-going support, as this is not always included (see the section ‘research vendors’ for more information on what support you might need). If support turns out to be an additional cost, check if you will need to budget for a one-off payment or a recurring fee. Another key part of your financial preparation is setting a target
for when you expect to see a return on your investment. It can be tricky to put a value on the business efficiencies you hope to achieve but there are some obvious areas where your investment can bring rewards. For example, practices which have automated their billing cycle have been able to reduce administrative time and costs while improving their cash flow and Healthcode has seen a 74 percent increase in electronic bill volumes with an anaesthetic source code in the last five years. It’s a good idea to seek the help of your accountant in producing
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