“Patient Journey” and “Patient Flow” have become two prominent phrases in healthcare simply because healthcare organizations want to increase both their quality of care and amount of patient visits. Clinics and med spas looking to enhance their quality of service and patient visits must look beyond basic software solutions like POS system if they’re truly looking to make a difference. From checking patients into their appointments to processing payments once the procedure is finished, having an EHR that can handle these processes for you will really take your practice to the next level.
By mapping the many pathways throughout various patient sales cycles based on services, products, and market segment, healthcare providers gain greater insight into how to optimize ‘more’ of their workflows in a ‘better’ manner.
THE MISTAKEN MINDSET OF MED SPAS
While plastic surgeons don’t seem to question their need for an electronic health record or electronic medical record (commonly referred to as EHR or EMR) that helps optimize their patient flow, many new med spa owners feel that a robust point of sale (POS) software may meet their needs. But a POS is just a glorified cash register, software designed for a single customer flow: come in, buy something, and leave. Seems easy enough, but is that how successful med spas handle their patient flow?
Should you treat the flow of a Botox patient the same as someone coming in for a laser treatment? Do POS systems have patient intake and consent forms, and enable the patients to digitally sign and initial? What about before and after photos? What about HIPAA-compliant messaging between the business and patients? All of these moving pieces need to be considered, and are fine examples of the clear separation between EHR and POS.
A MED SPA IS NOT A SALON
In order to take a point of sale system made for a hair salon, and provide it to a med spa, POS companies use pricing as a tactic to seduce med spa owners with cheap, remote training. But what is the value your business will see from their services? Picture your time you checked-out of a retail store – how professional did it look when the cashier needed to ask a manager for help? Guess what, they probably received remote training without any confirmation that the employee understood what they were taught. Do you picture your medical staff fumbling through their system the same way?
IMPROVE YOUR MED SPA WITH AN EHR SOLUTION
If you’re really looking to improve your work processes, utilize one software system that manages both the clinical and the business/operational activities and tasks, including the point of sale. The critical mistake of using an inexpensive, basic system to run your business is a common occurrence, and one that can be costly down the road. But newer med spas are receiving good advice from sales trainers, business analysts (like me) and resources like AmSpa, and able to start their business the right way. And as 2020 approaches, with the updates to HIPAA regulation, more and more medical spas are discovering how to correct this error and adopt an EHR system to increase staff productivity, patient satisfaction, and practice revenue.
A great EHR will include the point of sale component within it, which means all of the financial and accounting activities and data are integrated and ‘talking’ to the clinical data points for a patient. You, as a small business owner, now have the whole picture in front of you. No more mistakes due to human error. No more unnecessarily redundant staff workflows. No more missed opportunities for patient engagement, to upsell, and to capture referrals.
GROWING YOUR BUSINESS REQUIRES CLINICAL EFFICIENCIES
Modern EHR platforms such as Symplast include all of the necessary clinical and operational features in one single, mobile platform. This means that doctors and staff can use iPads to check patients in, have patients digitally provide all of their information (along with signatures), capture and edit high resolution photos, and even book the patient for their next appointment. This robust functionality is seamlessly interwoven into one complete platform that optimizes ALL of the various workflows patients will produce. Symplast is leading the charge for aesthetic providers with innovative workflows, instead of a POS provider who merely adjusts their product to be used in a medical market.
ACHIEVE SUCCESS WITH SYMPLAST IN 2023
Whether you are about to open a brand new med spa, or your business is already up and running, it’s never too soon to commit to making your business better and realizing greater success.
Symplast’s HIPAA secure, cloud platform provides an end-to-end solution for aesthetic practices and med spas. Not only does Symplast incorporate a powerful yet user friendly EHR, it also includes advanced Practice Management features, Inventory/Point of Sale, Credit Card Merchant Processing, Multimedia Management, Consent Forms eSign, and more! Schedule a free pre-demonstration with one of our team members to learn more about Symplast.