Top 4 Acupuncture Practice Management Software Features
Acupuncture clinics need EHR and practice management software features designed to dramatically alleviate their administrative burden. Often these alternative medicine practices are operated by a single provider who wears many hats, so high quality practice management software can make a world of difference for acupuncture practitioners. DrChrono user and Chief Operating Officer of Acupuncture Atelier, Afsheen Khosrowjerdi, found as much to be true in the practices run by him and his wife, Sara Khosrowjerdi.
“We don’t have the revenue in acupuncture that doctors do to support the large staff required to handle all the administrative functions. Then on top of treating patients every hour for an hour, we have to manage scheduling patients, customer service, keeping the books, website maintenance and all of these other things that large practices can comfortably outsource,” he said.
All of that work on top of performing the primary function of acupuncture treatments can be too much to handle for any provider, but hiring more support staff can be financially out of reach. That is why acupuncture practices need to find the right practice management software. This article will break down the must-have practice management software features for acupuncture clinics.
HIPAA Compliant Patient Portal with Online Patient Check-In
Traditional patient check-in workflows can be tedious, and once the paperwork is filled out, the information needs to be manually processed and entered into your system. Acupuncturists do not have time to waste on lengthy check-in procedures. When assessing a practice management system, it is important to make sure that they have a patient portal that digitizes that entire appointment check-in process. Not only will it save you time, but it will also stand out to your patients in a positive way.
“We’ve gotten review after review saying we’re super professional, super clean and incredibly knowledgeable. You don’t get that at other acupuncture places, and part of it is because we use DrChrono. There’s a check-in app, and when you walk in, there’s two wall mounts with iPad kiosks for patients to use,” said Khosrowjerdi.
Beyond the intake process, an easy-to-use patient portal will allow you to more easily and securely share information with patients. You can message through the portal to answer any questions they may have, or you can even share patient education materials such as a video explaining acupuncture treatments for respiratory issues. With a HIPAA compliant patient portal, providers can rest assured that any information shared with patients is done safely.
Automatic Insurance Eligibility Checks
Health insurance eligibility verification is another time consuming task that can be frustrating for acupuncture clinics to navigate with their patients. Instead of having to manually track down this information, you should seek out a practice management software that can automatically verify coverage eligibility for acupuncture treatments.
“The software lets us verify people’s benefits really quickly, and we couldn’t do that before. On top of that, we don’t get any questions on billing because as an out-of-network provider, I can tell a person exactly what the responsibility is upfront, making a more transparent experience for our clients,” Khosrowjerdi explained.
Online Appointment Scheduling
With all of the time spent treating patients throughout the day, you likely have little time to spend answering phones to schedule appointments. Waiting through long phone queues is also a particularly frustrating experience for potential patients, and there are better ways to fill your appointment calendar. Look for a practice management platform that provides an online appointment scheduling widget for your clinic.
Online scheduling is a much cleaner experience for patients, and it will save your clinic a lot of time that would otherwise be spent on the phone.
Open FHIR API for Third Party Healthcare Applications
A flawless electronic health record and practice management software is a healthcare holy grail that has yet to be discovered, but finding a platform with an open API that facilitates third party app integrations can get you the other features you want.
“The saving grace to me for DrChrono is actually the partner marketplace where we’ve been able to integrate with apps like NextPatient which is just rock solid. The fact that you have third party app integrations, and you have an open API is a huge positive that can solve a lot of issues,” said Khosrowjerdi.
A robust partner marketplace can ensure that your acupuncture practice gets the support you need with tools for patient messaging, AI-powered appointment scheduling, reputation management and more. Utilizing these applications in conjunction with your practice management software will smooth out rough edges and make running your acupuncture clinic much easier.
Conclusion
Finding the right practice management software for acupuncture can be a game changer for your medical practice. Spending the time to pick the right platform and learning how to use it will pay off significantly in the long run.
“It would cost us substantially more to do any of this in-house. The only way our business works is to run super lean on staffing, so we have to lean on technology, whether it’s relationship management software, practice management or EHR,” said Khosrowjerdi.