When implementing new EHR software, it’s important to communicate the benefits of the new system and how it can directly impact your staff. Since it will be changing a lot of what your staff are used to, it may take a little time and convincing. Today, we’ve put together some benefits your staff can experience with a new system. We’ll specifically go through how your front and back office workflow will be impacted and made easier. Think of these as your talking point cheat sheet!
EHR Software Impact on Your Front and Back Office Workflow
Front Office Workflow
Scheduling: Your front-desk staff can stop relying on a scheduling book or Excel sheets to schedule patients. Your practice management system will be able to help them schedule patients and check on their status. Multiple staff members can view and edit the schedule as needed, so the next staff member checking the schedule will always have the most updated version.
Pre-Testing: All equipment being used to complete the pre-test should be synced up to the EHR, which means that the technician or optician won’t have to deal with reporting the results on a paper form and handing it over to the next staff. Data can now be directly imported into the EHR for the doctor to use.
Patient Recall: Instead of setting reminders on the calendar to call patients and make follow-up calls, the system may have automated solutions for patient recall and reminders.
Patient Portal: Patients will be able to make appointments through the patient portal which reduces your time spent on the phone. The front office staff will also be able to receive questionnaires through the patient portal before the appointment, reducing time it takes for staff to fill out administrative forms.
Back Office Workflow
Claims Management: If you are currently submitting paper claims, a practice management system can relieve a lot of the burden of manually filling out forms and reconciling payments, and ensure that you get paid faster. If you are using a clearinghouse, you should be able to integrate it with your practice management system. That way, your staff won’t have to relearn how to file a claim.
Reporting and Analytics: A practice management and EHR can provide you with more analytics to manage the financial side of the business. Instead of just looking at the books and your profit margins, many practice management systems come with reporting tools that can help identify issues such as billing errors and unusual billing patterns.
Ophthalmic Product Ordering: Calling or faxing in orders to the lab is an inefficient way to order ophthalmic products. Sending orders through your practice management system will ensure that your orders are correct when you submit them to the lab. And if you already use an online ordering solution, just like a clearinghouse solution, it’s one less thing for your staff to learn if you can integrate it with your practice management system.
Frame Catalogs: Frame sales are a big source of revenue for your practice, so you want to make sure that you are pricing your frames accurately. With the right system, you won’t have to spend time manually importing pricing data or looking up the measurements from frame catalogs, your practice management system will be able to help you manage inventory.
Convincing your staff of the benefits of a new practice management and EHR system is just the first step to making the switch. Download our guide to change management to find out how to manage the whole process, from implementation to go live!
