When things change in the healthcare industry, such as diagnosis or procedure codes, a new version of your practice management software must be written and offered for sale. Therefore, one of the most important factors to consider when looking for a new PM system is where your system will live.
We’re here to tell you that web-based practice management systems offer many advantages over client-server software. By using technologies like cloud computing to lower costs, increase security and strengthen patient connectivity, PM systems have improved considerably over the past decade.
Web-based PM software is updated remotely as changes occur at no cost to the user. With web-based software, updates usually occur automatically and overnight, so there’s little disruption to your workflow. You can also access a web-based system from any browser on either a desktop or laptop, making it a more portable solution.
But deciding where your software will be housed isn’t the only factor to consider when researching PM system vendors. Let’s take a look at other issues our clients consider to be very important.
Price
First, the PM system has to be cost-effective. Look into the price carefully. Each company values software differently, so make sure to consider all costs.
Ease of Use
You want to make sure the program is user-friendly. There is a lot to learn in the field of medical billing, and you want to ensure getting accustomed to your software isn’t impossible. This way, you save time, sharpen your workflow and avoid high turnover rates.
Capable of Multiple Providers
Most web-based practice management systems will be capable of billing for more than one physician, but they may charge you for additional doctors you register down the line. Find out what their policy is on multiple providers.
Reports
Make sure the software you purchase is capable of running a wide variety of reports. For instance, aging reports are important and you’ll want them to be easy to read and contain a lot of information. You need to be able to run 30-, 60- and 90-day reports of outstanding claims.
Also, the software should let you choose a specific insurance company and, for example, be able to run a report of all the claims out to Medicare only over 60 days.
Last, some web-based systems also enable the daily aging of receivables – a valuable tool if you find that your payers operate on less traditional payment schedules.
Clearinghouses
You will want to see whether you have a choice of clearinghouses. If you have to use a vendor-specific clearinghouse, make sure you inquire on the cost of sending claims through that company.
Patient Statements
If you are going to be billing patients, your practice management system will need to be able to print out patient statements. All practice management systems will allow for this, but they offer them in different formats.
You may want to look over the capabilities of the patient statement formats. They offer different layouts and some are easier for the patients to understand than others. The easier the statement is to understand, the fewer phone calls you will receive from patients questioning their bills.
A practice management system is one of the most important tools you can use to run your office. If you carefully consider all of the above points, you should be able to choose a PM system that integrates well with your workflow and practice culture.
If you’d like to chat about how our web-based practice management solution is more efficient than servers-based systems, please contact us at 1-877-342-7517 or hello@carecloud.com.
A version of this article was originally published on the sister site, Power Your Practice. Click here to read the original story by one of our contributors.
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