Medical EMR : How It can Simplify Healthcare Medical EMR

Physical Therapy Software Future

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jul 30, 2017 | Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Having a physical therapy software seems hard at first, but the practice and the staff will benefit from it in the long run. Nitin Chhoda discusses how EMR should be introduced to the practice in order to meet goals, and give your staff the right perspective.

Successful adoption of any new technology is going to take a bit of time. Most practices that adopt physical therapy software end up spending some inefficient weeks getting into gear with their new workflow.

But once everyone is on board, the latest physical therapy software systems provide convenience and efficiency where there were once hold-ups and time wasted.

Practices can see more patients, have better interactions with patients, and are more likely to collect payment from insurance companies.

Re-Imagining the System

The hardest part is going to be changing the way that the physical therapy software and management and staff think about the job they do. As the next generation of physical therapists and medical assistants is educated, they will be taught how to use physical therapy software as part of essential training.

Just as only a generation ago, nobody used email to communicate, the rapid changes in technology can seem to happen overnight for those who don’t realize what was done before.

To re-imagine a more streamlined and efficient physical therapy practice, some of us have to work hard to forget the ways we’ve always done thing. For every physical therapy practice that adopts physical therapy software, training will be essential.

Managing the staff’s expectations about what it will be like with the new system will be a big job for the practice management. Some staff members may be downright stubborn about changing the way they’ve done things. If they’ve always done their job a certain way, and it works, why would they change now?

Start With Staff Training

Implementation has to start with staff education and buy-in. There should be inspirational slideshows and meetings about the way the practice could run if everyone gets on board and uses physical therapy software.

Staff should know that they will be supported with training, time to adjust, and relatively low expectations at first.

Management and the implementation team must get the idea in everyone’s head that the change will not be easy, but it will be worth the work. If physical therapy software staff members expect it to be a simple switch, they will be frustrated even more by the challenges.

If they don’t feel it is worthwhile, they will dally with training and the transition will be slower and more difficult than necessary.

But if the right image is portrayed from the start, everyone will know what to expect and they will understand why they are doing what they’re doing.

Physical Therapy Software of the 21st Century

The next decade is going to see an increase in demand for medical services, including physical therapy. The only way to take advantage of increased patient demand is to increase your capacity as an office.

The investment into physical therapy software may feel like a burden at first, both financially and in time, but if your practice is going to survive and thrive in the new economy, streamlining the way you provide services will be essential.

Physical Therapy Software EMR Benefits

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jul 23, 2017 | Electronic Medical Records, Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Learn how EMR can be very beneficial to your practice. Discover how this latest physical therapy documentation can be more convenient when it comes to efficiency, productivity and reporting.

If you’ve heard anything about physical therapy software and electronic medical records (EMR), the reviews have probably been mixed.

Over the past five years, many physical therapy software systems have been implemented for the first time.

There are some systems that seem to work well for large scale hospitals and medical facilities, and there are others that improve the efficiency of the billing team but clinicians and doctors have not yet adopted their use.

The Challenging Times

The first few years of any new technology are challenging. Physical therapy software engineers are venturing into new territory. Healthcare providers are unlikely to see the value of something like EMR if they haven’t seen them successfully used in practice. A lot of skepticism, lack of enthusiasm, and problems with the software have given EMR a bit of a bad name.

But regardless, EMR systems are slowly increasing in popularity. More and more medical practices, from large hospitals to small private practices, are implementing technological improvements that are starting to be truly effective. Physical therapy software developers are working with early adopters of technologies to make changes that improve the systems.

Broad Strokes

The process of implementation can be a bit burdensome, but forget that part for a few minutes and imagine a medical practice that has already implemented physical therapy software. Put aside concerns about cost, and imagine that instead of a paper folder and pencils or pens, the clinicians carry around small tablet computers that are hooked into your server, where all the EMR are stored.

Each time they change rooms and see a new patient, they can quickly pull up the record they need, scan it for the relevant details, and start taking notes on the current appointment.

Sounds like the future, doesn’t it? Well, it is the future of medicine. Each time the clinician finishes a visit with a patient, an alert is sent to the medical coding and billing staff.

At their most efficient, physical therapy software solutions could even provide the first draft of codes based on common terminology and previously agreed upon standards. In ten years, it may be that every practice is using some form of physical therapy software.

Convenience, Efficiency, and Reporting

The most basic benefits of EMR are in convenience and efficiency. A physical therapy software staff or member no longer needs to pull files for incoming patients and re-file the files that have been taken out during the day.

Communication between the clinician, assistants, and billers is made smooth and instantaneous.

A lot of time is spent in physical therapy private practices just getting things and information from here to there. Everything can move at the speed of automatic alerts and emails. This will free up time for more important tasks.

And for the management of physical therapy software, having all of the data in one place and easily accessible represents a big change to the way we do business. Reporting can highlight inefficiencies as well as efficient and effective practices. The benefits of having information at your fingertips are almost immeasurable.

Physical Therapy Software: The Benefits of EMR in Your Practice

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jul 16, 2017 | Electronic Medical Records, Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Nitin Chhoda discusses the specific benefits of using electronic medical records in all aspects of your physical therapy business. Useful advantages can be found in a variety of areas such as documentation, billing, scheduling, and reporting purposes.

While hospitals are struggling with a huge web of information to be managed by medical EMRs, physical therapy private practices have an advantage when implementing physical therapy software.

A private practice has a smaller number of employees to train. But most importantly, a physical therapy private practice has a very specific set of needs that physical therapy software can meet.

Reporting

For physical therapy management, nothing can compete with the reporting capabilities of physical therapy software. If reporting is used optimally, the average number of visits per patient can be easily checked.

This number can also be correlated with referral statistics. Inefficiencies can be identified where patients are most likely to self-discharge. In the past, this kind of detailed reporting would take a lot of time to compile. With physical therapy software, reports can be generated in minutes.

Billing Efficacy

Another realm where reporting does a very important job is within the billing department. Medical billing is notoriously cumbersome, with insurance companies paying roughly half of all submitted claims.

Physical therapy EMRs actually improve the success of submissions. Physical therapy software can help eliminate errors, increase the efficiency of the process, and make identifying the reasons for rejected or denied claims much simpler.

Medical billing staff will have access to tools that can track the insurance companies that reject or deny claims with the most regularity. Health care practice management can make decisions about keeping or dropping insurance companies based on real numbers.

Scheduling

Scheduling in a physical therapy private practice is also a place where inefficiency costs money. What happens when a patient cancels? How often do cancelled appointments get re-scheduled?

Do cancelled appointment slots get filled regularly? Are there patients who often do not show up for appointments? Physical therapy software review makes answering these questions simple, and provides solutions to fix problems with scheduling.

The Essentials

Managing a private practice is not a simple or easy job. Scheduling, medical billing and coding, and identification of inefficiencies can turn into time wasting tasks that lose money for the practice.

Handling these essential tasks is usually the job of the staff, but they can only do so much if they are still using outdated and flawed systems.

Inevitably, it is easy to tell which practices are using physical therapy software or a medical EMR.

When walking through the door of a modern physical therapy private practice, it is clear that an office has streamlined their practice management since they use a physical therapy software. Patients aren’t left waiting and the receptionist or medical assistant has the time to answer questions.

Of course, physical therapy private practices that use physical therapy software are more efficient, have better insurance claim acceptance rates, and tend to adjust quickly to problems that arise. The initial transition period always presents challenges. But the value of adding physical therapy software to your practice is well worth the work and time.

Physical Therapy Software: Adoption of a Tablet-Based EMR

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jul 9, 2017 | Electronic Medical Records, Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Investing in a tablet-based EMR can do a lot for your practice. Although it is not a requirement to have tablets in your practice, doing so will make the physical therapy documentation process a lot faster. Nitin Chhoda explains the benefits of having a tablet in your practice in further detail.

Tablet computers are everywhere these days. They are used as educational tools, as the fast and easy replacement for a laptop, and as a way to improve informational exchange.

Tablet-based EMRs and physical therapy software really are making the job of a physical therapist more flexible and successful.

But the improvements come with a lot of changes, and for many, those changes will be challenging. So why should you consider spending a lot of money on new tablets and an integrated physical therapy software tablet-based EMR?

The easy answer is that in the long run it will save you money and make your practice more efficient.

But that may not feel like a fair answer. How can a small physical therapy private practice really make up for a big expense like fancy tablets?

The Costs Aren’t What You Think They Are

First of all, it turns out that purchasing tablets for your physical therapy software and practice will not be the overwhelming expense you expect it to be. Tablets can be just a couple of hundred dollars each when you buy them as a consumer.

If you do some research and communicate with tablet manufacturers, you may find that you can get an even better deal on a large purchase.

You can get close to wholesale prices if you are buying for your practice, and as a health care provider and physical therapy software user, some companies will give you great discounts. The tablets will not be the biggest capital investment you make, but they will make implementation and adoption of an EMR much more fun, exciting, and interesting for your staff.

Benefits Abound

And if your staff is truly on board with the big changes that will come from physical therapy software adoption, then the entire process will go more smoothly.

You can expect some difficulties, as with any change in the way people do their jobs.

But if you make implementation the priority and introduce the software and hardware together, you may find that your staff will be more interested and excited to learn new things.

Starting Out Slow: Some Good, Some Bad

If you do adopt physical therapy software without tablets, at least at first, you may not get the full benefit of the programs. Clinicians will still need to get back to their desk to make the notes they need to make.

Or they will continue to carry paper and pens around, which is one thing you’d be better off eliminating entirely. Of course there is also a good side to taking things slowly. Naturally, your bottom line will have more time to adjust.

It’s Better to Start Sooner Than Later

You can make the changes to your physical therapy software scheduling and billing that come up and improve efficiency before you invest in tablets. With the improvements you and your staff see, everyone might be eager for more improvements.

The process of implementing physical therapy software should be considered carefully. What will work best for your staff?

Some practices take it slowly and things work out just fine. But other practices implement a fully integrated, tablet-based physical therapy software system and find that the way things work is dramatically changed for the better.

Physical Therapy Software – EMR Selection

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jul 2, 2017 | Electronic Medical Records, Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Before switching to electronic medical records system, there are important things that a practice owner should prioritize.

Nitin Chhoda points out the stages that a practitioner needs to complete before changing from a manual physical therapy documentation to an automated EMR system.

Every physical therapy practice manager wants to know exactly which physical therapy software is the best.

Of course, which is best will depend a lot on how the practice works currently and what you are hoping to achieve.

But there are a few helpful steps that physical therapy management can take to make sure that they are selecting the best EMR, one that will work for the staff, management, and benefit patients, as well.

Long Term Goals

Before making any decisions, in fact, before you even start looking at what is available, sit down and draft a list of long term goals for the practice. Have you been frustrated by the lack of tracking in the scheduling and re-scheduling of patients?

Do you want to improve the acceptance rate of claims submitted to insurance companies? Are you hoping to improve efficiency like using physical therapy software? Would you like your practice to have a more professional and modern feel?

Setting down a few goals is going to be critical to choosing the right physical therapy software. After all, you are not purchasing the software just because you like fancy software. Physical therapy software should help your practice to reach goals that you have determined because they are important for the continued success of the practice.

Working With Staff

While reporting and analysis may be the benefits to physical therapy management, there are numerous potential benefits to staff when adopting physical therapy software. Find out what your staff would like to improve upon.

Are your billers feeling overwhelmed? Does the receptionist handle a lot of miscellaneous tasks that could be eliminated with the elimination of a paper records system?

Not only will you learn what your staff needs from an EMR, but you will also plant the seed of potential benefit with the staff.

If you start with goals, both for the entire practice and for individual staff members, you can set your sights on the things that everyone will gain from adopting physical therapy software. If everyone knows how they will benefit, they will be more willing to work to adjust to the changes they will need to make.

Asking Around

Some of the best information you can gather about physical therapy software will be from other practices like your own.

It may be hard at first, but if you can identify practices that had similar goals, you can find out which software solutions might actually help you to attain your goals.

Often managers will have a lot to say about their experiences with physical therapy software implementation. If you give them the time to talk about what they did, you may learn some very valuable lessons.

Additionally, once you have goals of your own, you’ll know what questions to ask both users of software solutions and the software developers themselves.

By preparing yourself, you will know what you need the physical therapy software to do, and you can work towards goals rather than adopt software that may or may not actually be useful for you and your staff.

Physical Therapy Software: “Time Stamping” to Optimized Productivity

by Nitin Chhoda PT, DPT | Jun 26, 2017 | Electronic Medical Records, Physical Therapy Documentation, Physical Therapy Software

Nitin Chhoda expounds the main purpose of “time-stamping” by measuring productivity.

He also points out that this system should be done in a non-intrusive manner so that the staff and physical therapy management team will coordinate with each other to address the practice’ needs and optimize productivity.

Time stamping is not a very new idea in the general sense. Emails are time stamped, as well as most photographs taken with digital cameras.

But time stamping in regard to physical therapy software is a very recent development, one that has the potential to improve productivity within your practice.

Gaining Productivity Starts with Measuring Productivity

For those professionals who work in practice management, measuring productivity has been imprecise, at best, and generally impossible.

Without proper physical therapy software, can you measure the success of a single visit with a patient? Does each physical therapist have daily goals for how many patients they will see? Is it worth everyone’s time to keep track of these details?

Some managers in a practice that has no physical therapy software yet focus on what they can quantify; because it is possible to find out how many patients a physical therapist sees in a day, you can measure how productive they have been based on the number of hours they have worked. But to gather the information takes time and energy, and most therapists would prefer to spend that time doing anything else.

Measuring Productivity In a Non-Intrusive Manner

No one wants to be grilled about their daily productivity; or even worse, who would want to write up reports on their own productivity? Requiring this kind of reporting and accountability without the use of physical therapy software can be very bad for morale.

The problem for a physical therapy practice will be measuring productivity. Therefore, the goal for the practice could be to find a way to measure productivity in a non-intrusive manner. The purpose of the goal will be to find ways to improve productivity, using measurable physical therapy software data.

EMR Solutions for Meeting Goals

This is the perfect goal to highlight when searching for an EMR for your practice. Time stamping is now used in some of the top physical therapy software EMR solutions as a way to keep track of the activity of each physical therapist, without forcing them to do the reporting.

Rather than focusing on productivity, time stamping is a way for each staff member to clock in and out each day.

But rather than simply tracking the hours that each staff member works, time stamping as part of an EMR system can use the information alongside other information tracked by the EMR, such as number of patients seen by each physical therapist.

Without needing to add much to the day of the staff member, the manager or owner of the practice with physical therapy software has now access to a measurable data stream for productivity.

Naturally, the question of productivity is more complex than how many patients are seen per day. But the number of visits divided by the number of hours spent at work will give a productivity measure that you can compare from one physical therapy software staff member to the next.

Reporting is Power

Once again, the real power of physical therapy software and EMR solution is to track information with minimal effort by the staff and then convert that information into valuable reports. Practice management can then use those reports to analyze the performance of staff members as well as the practice as a whole.