If you run a chiropractic practice, chances are you’re always looking for ways to improve how you do things. From client interactions to streamlining paperwork and improving chiropractor utilisation, if you could introduce efficiencies that would enhance the client experience, and reduce the load on your team, that would be a win all around.
Chiropractic software puts you in full control of your practice, allowing you to manage all the different areas in one central place. And, if done right, it has the potential to make your dream of a streamlined, fully customer-focused, thriving chiropractic practice a reality.
Let’s take a look at 11 undeniable reasons to love your chiropractor software:
1. Professional Client Onboarding
For a new client who visits your practice, the registration and check-in process is where they form their first impressions. Research seems to indicate you have under a second to get it right, so if you can make it easy and efficient to register, you’re making a good start. The less time they have to wait for their appointment, and the less paperwork they have to fill in, the more likely they are to enjoy their first visit, and the more likely they are to come back.
From the perspective of the office staff, a system that allows data to be captured directly from the clients’ inputs will create huge time savings, not to mention the reduction in spelling and data capture errors.
2. Improved Communication and Client Relationships
Every local business owner understands the critical importance of relationship building, and a chiropractic practice owner is no exception. Clients have come to expect excellent, transparent communication from healthcare providers, and chiropractic software is the ideal solution for managing and delivering on those expectations.
Chiropractor software offers an easy and convenient way for your practice to communicate with clients via SMS and email, with features such as:
- Appointment confirmations and reminders sent via text or email.
- First appointment email reminders with attachments and forms.
- Ability to send regular updates to all of your client base – such as newsletters that keep past clients engaged and keep your practice top of mind. And of course, these are all HIPAA-compliant messages.
- Ability to communicate with your clients using SMS / text messaging. Good chiropractic software will allow these messages to be two-way so that clients can organise or change appointments via this channel, and your team can give extra information about their appointment (eg remind them to bring something or explain where to park).
3. Client Portal Access
Increasingly patients are wanting to be included in the decisions that are made about their health and wellness which can be, in part, facilitated by a client portal. An online patient portal means that your clients have access to their appointment data at any time, from anywhere. They can choose when to book, and make changes to appointments online whenever it suits them (even in the middle of the night), and without having to pick up the phone.
Clients can even pay their bills or pay upfront with a proper client portal in place. This helps keep your accounts in good shape.
4. Scheduling Efficiency with Chiropractor Software
It’s easy to manage and coordinate your team’s schedules in one place and see your bookings at a glance. Office staff and the chiropractors themselves can quickly schedule (and, if necessary, reschedule) appointments leading to higher efficiency, greater flexibility, and better utilisation.
Your chiropractic practice management software should make it easy to:
- Manage and keep track of client appointments;
- Customise the schedule layout and formatting;
- Personalise availability and schedules for each chiropractor, as well as by location;
- Set appointment lengths according to the treatment booked;
- Track multiple chiropractor diaries;
- Send fully customised, automated appointment reminders.
5. Cloud-Based Services
If your practice is run on an in-house server, your business is at risk. You could even run into legal issues down the line as you may not be compliant with legislated data protection requirements. The most robust (and simplest) alternative is a cloud-based practice management software solution that offers full peace of mind, as well as protection for sensitive client information.
In addition, there are several other benefits that chiropractic practice owners love when they use cloud-based software, including:
- Unlimited access, anytime, anywhere. Your staff can access appointments, (the appropriate) patient notes, and more – even if they’re not in the office. This means that even if you’re on the road or on holiday, you can manage the practice remotely and see what’s happening. Or, perhaps a member of your chiropractic team is working from a different location for the day. With cloud-based software, they can immediately access the data they need 24/7, wherever they are in the world (as long as they have an internet connection).
- Online, all the time. With a cloud-based solution, you won’t experience any service disruptions. All your practice data is hosted in a remote data center and backed up to a parallel redundant server for added reliability.
- Lower maintenance costs. A cloud-based chiropractor software solution means that your data is safe because it’s secured by industry-leading professionals who understand cybersecurity. This takes the responsibility of virus protection, software updates, and backups, equipment upgrades, and server maintenance off your shoulders, so you can focus on your practice rather than scrambling to become an IT expert.
- Regular backups. Unless you have a great system in place and employees who understand the importance of regular backups, it’s likely that this is another one of those tasks that just won’t get done in a busy practice. Even if you do a back-up, these are extremely prone to failure, so unless you’re regularly testing them, you won’t know if you have a true backup. But a good software solution will ensure that your practice data is backed up regularly, so if disaster strikes, you’ll be ready (and your records will be intact).
- Real-time support. If you choose a leading chiropractic software, you’ll get access to immediate support, wherever you are in the world, in addition to a full-service practice management solution.
- Legal compliance, for healthcare practices, there are legislated requirements for how you look after your patients’ confidential information.
6. Streamlined Bill Paying
The right solution can translate into better cashflows through proactive bill management. It should be possible to set up alerts if a customer has outstandings, and have immediate invoicing so that you’re always on top of your accounts.
Staying on top of your accounts receivable is one of the most important steps to put in place if you want your practice to be around in the long-run. But this can be a time-consuming process if you don’t have the right systems in place. If you can use an automated billing solution instead, with real-time reporting, you can reduce the load on your staff, as well as a number of billing issues that result from human error (and lead to non-payment).
Some software will automatically alert you if a client has an outstanding bill when they are making their appointment. This helps you keep debts under control.
7. Reduced Claims Issues and Faster Reimbursement
At each stage of the process, from initial verification of clients to human error that creeps into the filling process, chiropractic billing software can help avoid and reduce claims issues. Depending on where you are in the world, claiming from insurance will have different requirements, and the chiropractor software that you use should have the functionality, as well as the supporting documentation, to ensure that claims are filed accurately the first time. This can have a big impact on the number of issues that you have with claims, as well as facilitating faster reimbursement.
Chiropractic software will also:
- Reduce the number of forms that need to be manually filled;
- Allow you to identify bottlenecks with electronic submissions;
- Flag any outstanding amounts due from clients;
- Highlight if there are issues with claims that need to be resolved with the insurance.
8. Electronic Patient Notes and Files
As a practice owner, you want to keep the focus on your clients, delivering excellent service, and helping them optimise their health. Chiropractic software has an important role to play in enabling this as it can streamline processes that would otherwise mean that the needs of patients or staff would have to take a backseat.
One of the important areas where software can introduce efficiencies is note-taking. Where a chiropractor would usually have to catch up on note-taking in the evenings, electronic patient notes can dramatically reduce the time that it takes to complete accurate, thorough notes. It’s estimated that taking proper patient records can take up to 25% of a chiropractor’s day, which easily amounts to two hours a day, every day, and this can be significantly reduced with the right chiropractic software.
Internally, having a good system in place allows your team to share important information that might be relevant to the client. This helps everyone understand the situation and respond in an appropriate manner.
9. Scalability
Importantly, an effective chiropractic software solution will be able to support any practice size across multiple locations. And if you have plans to grow in the future, it can scale with you, all you need is a computer and an internet connection.
10. Ease of Use
One thing that should always be a priority when choosing your chiropractor software is its ease of use. It should be simple for new staff to learn basic functionality quickly, and an intuitive interface makes it the most efficient, and therefore preferred, way to make appointments, schedule reminders, follow-up with clients, and manage invoices.
11. Cost-Effective
If you consider the cost of setting up your own servers and backups, an on-site or remote technical support team, and additional staff to deal with the increased load of paperwork and compliance requirements, it suddenly becomes a very simple decision. Chiropractic software can cut all of these costs, both in terms of finances and time, in addition to providing a stress-free, easy-to-use solution at a reasonable price. It’s also going to free you up to focus on other areas of your practice where you can add more value, which will improve your bottom line in the long run.
As technology continues to progress and develop, it makes sense to use a professional, end-to-end practice management software solution. Having the right chiropractor software is the key to running a successful practice because you and your staff will benefit from:
- reduced paperwork;
- less client admin;
- increased efficiencies;
- accurate, up-to-date client health records;
- decreased billing and coding errors.
At the end of the day, you want your practice to run like a well-oiled machine in all areas, from reducing missed appointments to improving client retention and streamlined billing. All this is possible with the right software, which underpins every aspect of the practice.
If you’re a chiropractic practice owner who is struggling to manage your practice, it’s possible that the right software could turn everything around. The software you use is the web that holds all the different aspects of your practice together and, because it’s centrally managed, it can make the execution of all the different areas far more streamlined.
