‘Patient Journey’ and ‘Patient Flow’ have become two prominent phrases in healthcare due to the simple fact that healthcare organizations want to increase quality of care and patient throughput (how many patients can be seen in a day/week/month/year). Clinics and medspas must remain competitive in today’s marketplace where options are endless, and every opportunity must be maximized. From check-in to filling out forms, to moving between consult and procedure rooms, successful clinics and medspas are working to ensure doctors and staff provide top-quality service to as many patients as their schedule allows (otherwise known as capacity).
By mapping the many pathways throughout various patient sales cycles based on services, products, and market segments, healthcare providers gain greater insight into how to optimize ‘more’ of their workflows in a ‘better’ manner.
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 medspa 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 medspas 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.
In order to take a point-of-sale system made for a hair salon, and provide it to a medspa, POS companies use pricing as a tactic to seduce medspa 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?
Achieving this coveted "more/better" intersection is only possible by utilizing 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 medspas 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 there are 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.
Modern EHR platforms such as Symplast solve the ‘more/better’ equation. These cloud-based systems include all of the necessary clinical and operational features and go as far as to present them on a 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.
Most EHRs provide on-site implementation because of the complexities surrounding patient flow. And while more expensive than remote training, the EHR knows the importance of staff training and providing workflow guidance to ensure a successful go-live date, and high patient satisfaction.
Whether you are about to open up a brand new med spa, or your business is already up and running, it’s never too soon to commit making your business “more better” and realizing greater success. Speak with professionals, do your research, and conduct live product demonstrations to determine which solution is best for your medspa.