Your optometry software should definitely be a tool that helps you get through your work day more easily. It should allow you to free up time, reduce mundane tasks, and help you provide better overall patient care. The smart thing for your practice is to be looking for the tools and software that allow you and your staff to run your practice as smart as possible. We've got a list of tasks that could be done smarter when using the right software.  

6 Ways Your Practice isn't Working Smart Enough with Optometry Software

You aren't submitting orders to your lab online.

You order pizza online, you shop for clothes online, you can even order groceries online, so why should submitting orders to your lab be any different? Calling or faxing in orders to your labs usually involves more work on both ends, and increases the chance for human errors. An online ordering solution (more specifically one that is integrated with your practice management system) is quicker, provides error checking, and gets the job done faster. 

Your front desk spends too much time on the phone. 

Your front desk staff has a lot of responsibilities from greeting patients to making sure patient information is all up to date to checking insurance eligibility to answering patient questions. If your staff is spending more time on the phone they have less time to spend on other tasks with patients in the office. 

The right software can help your front desk in a couple of ways. Automated patient recall and reminders keep your staff from having to call every patient manually and remind them of their appointment. A patient portal solution also provides patients with a secure online channel of communication with your practice, and allows the OD to send treatment instructions to answer patient questions. 

You aren't calculating important metrics.

Being able to stay on top of reporting and regularly monitoring important metrics allows you to continuously make improvements. The right software will come with reporting tools that allow you to easily pull information that will help you keep tabs on the performance of your practice. 

Your patients fill out pre-appointment paperwork in your office.

Patients rarely show up for an appointment ahead of time to allow them enough minutes to get all their pre-appointment paperwork filled out without pushing back your schedule. The convenience of filling out paperwork online is a win-win for both your patients and your staff. You can use a patient portal to collect paperwork before a patient steps foot in your office. Once the info is uploaded into the patient portal it's just a few clicks away from being saved directly into their health record. 

Your staff isn't well rounded in task performance.

Depending on the staff and needs of your practice, the more well rounded your staff is in day to day tasks the easier it will be to keep up with a busy schedule when someone is out sick or off on vacation. Cross training your staff so that they can use the software to help complete tasks while other staff is out will help keep your workflow running smooth without patient care suffering.

You're stuck on desktops.

The right software is going to allow you to be more flexible when it comes to technology. Cloud-based software has made information more accessible by allowing you to access your system on the devices that you choose as long as you have a reliable Internet connection. You'll be able to use tablets in the exam room to easily share information with patients, and access your schedule from home so you can see when your first appointment begins in the morning. 

Are you looking for optometry software that can help your practice work smart? Check out Uprise!