nefficient office workflow can be a sign of broken processes throughout the practice. But sometimes it’s not you, it’s your optometric practice software. There are times when your practice is doing everything correctly, but your optometric practice software fails to perform in ways that you need to move your patients through the office workflow quickly enough.

In today’s post, we’ll uncover three signs that your optometric practice software is out of sync with your office workflow.

3 Signs That Your Office Workflow and Optometry Software Are Out of Sync 

Staff Calls Patients with Patient Reminders

Patient communication is important to keep your practice top of mind and inform patients of upcoming appointments or special promotions your practice is having. However, a lot of this information can be delivered without requiring your staff to pick up the phone and call every patient in your database. If your staff is still calling each patient to remind them of upcoming appointments, then your practice management software is out of sync with your practice management and EHR software.

Your optometric practice software should come embedded with a patient recall system that automatically sends the recall notice to the patient when the time comes. This will help your staff focus more on the patients in your practice to help them move through the appointment quickly.

The Solution Lacks a Patient Portal

If it takes your front office more than 3 minutes to check a patient in, it could be a sign that something is missing from your optometric software. If your practice management and EHR software does not come with a patient portal, then you’re missing out on a feature that could greatly improve your office workflow and cut wait times in half. With a patient portal that syncs to your practice's practice management and EHR software, you can collect important pre-exam data before the appointment and give your patients the ability to schedule appointments when it’s convenient for them. All the information is then routed to the EHR and practice management tool to minimize the amount of work your patient and your staff have to do on the day of the appointment.

You Create Workarounds

There’s a difference between workarounds and customizable software. With a workaround, you either have to work outside of the EHR to complete tasks that have to be documented back into the EHR, or you are forced to use a feature in the solution that doesn’t comply with its intended purpose. Customizable EHR configurations give you the ability to conform the software to meet the needs of your practice to make it efficient without the fear or breaking anything.

If you have to create workarounds to get your optometry software to work with your office workflow, then you may need to consider switching to a new solution.

Your practice management and EHR software should come with customization setting and regular updates that help make the software work for your practice.  

For tips on how you can improve your office workflow with the right optometry software, download the practice efficiency eBook.