At TheraPlan, we believe in building electronic solutions for every therapy clinic’s needs. One of the primary ways to take your clinic from disorganization to efficiency is to use an EMR. More specifically, a web-based EMR is ideal for many reasons. Getting away from paper-based records in general is a smart idea in our opinion, but we know that not all EMRs are created equal.
You may already realize the more obvious arguments for accessing your documentation, schedule, payroll, and more from any device via a web browser. It can be incredibly convenient, more secure than facility-based storage, and simple to communicate with colleagues.
However, there are also unexpected advantages to adopting a web-based system over server-based software. Our team has compiled six benefits you may not have thought of:
- Implementation costs can be significantly reduced. Instead of having to worry about upgrading your computers and network or installing an on-site server, you can transition to a web-based EMR quickly and at relatively low cost. As long as you and your team have browsers and a secure internet connection, you’ll be able to onboard to electronic records without much hassle. This is especially advantageous for any home-based therapists, since they won’t have to carry around any new hardware when they’re out in the field.
- The ability to pull reports for billing saves you and your admin team time. Most EMRs have report functionality, and having reports accessible online for billing purposes can drastically increase efficiency in your therapy practice. If you take care of billing in-house, your staff will be able to simply log in to your EMR from any device and pull updated reports or export new ones whenever necessary. Billing agencies, like our partner company, also love the convenience of web-based records. When they need details about a treatment or evaluation, or even demographic data for a patient, the agency staff won’t need to call your office. You can simply provide them with secure login credentials for your chosen EMR so they can perform this research themselves. Without the wait time required for back-and-forth communication, you’ll likely notice that the average length of time in which your claims are processed or appealed will shorten.
- It’s possible to keep an up-to-date live waiting list as your practice grows. Some EMRs, such as TheraPlan, allow patients to be placed in categories such as inactive, active, or pending. This is much more useful than a paper waiting list, as every person who views your patient list will know the current status of each patient. Not only does this lessen the frustration of remembering to update a physical list, but can facilitate quick communication with patients who inquire about when they’ll be able to schedule an appointment.
- Holding your staff accountable is easy with accurate, accessible records available any time, anywhere. When you can track minute-by-minute edits on documents and see time-stamped signatures, there is no question as to who did what and when. Although oversight may not be your favorite task as a clinic owner, it’s sometimes necessary to review a specific record. On a daily basis, you can also use the history feature of a web-based EMR to see how quickly your therapists are completing documentation. Whether you use it to hold staff to company policies or decide when caseloads have reached an overwhelming level, this data is crucial for business growth.
- Standardizing technology across your clinic will no longer be an issue. Since backups and updates are taken care of, your providers can simply use whatever hardware they prefer, as long as it allows access to an internet browser. While you can still recommend certain hardware, you could completely avoid the expense of providing it for all your therapists. This is a huge money-saving benefit.
- You’ll receive outside user tutorials and technical support at the click of a button. The best EMRs will predict the problems or confusion users could experience and provide resources to help. Within TheraPlan, video tutorials and PDF guides are found in our Help & Forms section. We also have a help desk manned with technical support specialists five days a week. We believe this reduces the amount of technical questions your admin staff will receive, thus allowing them to spend their time on other important tasks.
TheraPlan is your source for all info relevant to your therapy practice: patients, treatments, credentials, and more from anywhere you want to access it. Sign up for a demo today to experience both the obvious and not-so-obvious benefits of web-based technology in your clinic.
