Patient Management Software and its Benefits for Clinicians

Patient management software has become a vital piece in the puzzle for all private clinics that want to succeed. It’s simply no longer enough to rely on manual tasks completed by overburdened colleagues. Since there are very clearly set rules as to what you need to communicate to your patients and when they need to be seen in your clinic next, it makes perfect sense that you can automate and optimise a lot of this work. All it takes is a little bit of prior preparation and your patient management approach will take on a whole new lease of life.

Clinic management systems like Medesk include a range of clever in-built tools for optimising patient care and engagement. The ultimate goal is to automate as much as possible so you can easily track and inform patients about their lab results, diagnoses, upcoming appointments, outstanding bills and much more. The benefits for patients are rather obvious, so let’s look at what your clinic stands to gain from using patient management software.

Reduce the Burden on Your Admin Staff

The team members behind the reception desk are well-used to dealing with a high volume of paperwork and other admin tasks, but that’s not to say that this should be the norm. In fact, the more you are able to unburden your colleagues, the more they can focus on greeting patients, encouraging continued attendance and generally creating a welcoming atmosphere for both staff and patients.

With a great patient management software, you can expect to optimise your admin work by:

• Producing formatted medical documents at the click of a button
• Contacting specific patient groups with bulk communications
• Configuring automatic appointment confirmations and reminders for patients
• Keeping track of all messages and documents sent out to patients

Medesk appointment reminders

Streamline Information Gathering in Electronic Health Records

Electronic health records (EHR) are a key component in the provision of healthcare such that anyone who has ever been to the doctor has such a record. The benefits of having an EHR management system in your private practice are clear from a medical perspective, but did you know that you can use an EHR for far more than just logging a patient’s medical history.

• Organise medical data by appointment date, procedures, documents produced and more
• Keep hold of all documents written and sent outside of specific appointments
• Log all invoices and billing statuses to keep your aged receivables down to a minimum
• Upload and store external documents like medical images and scanned consent forms
• Delegate and track due tasks assigned to clinicians and admin staff alike

EHR in Medesk

Recall Patients at the Right Time

It’s crucial that you keep your patients coming back time and time again if it’s what they need. Naturally, it keeps your clinic above the water from a financial perspective, but it also makes sure that you both fulfil your obligations to bodies such as the CQC and provide patients with the right level of support for long-term conditions. Much of the reporting you do back to the CQC shows off what you have done to encourage patients to re-attend your clinic, and you can use patient management software to recall such patients with ease.

Recall patients en masse and make sure you provide the best quality of care by:

• Sending a text message to all patients at once with an appointment due
• Ensuring that all chronic diseases are taken care of in a timely fashion
• Offering regular checkups to help keep patients engaged
• Showing the CQC that you are up to speed with all your patients’ needs

Schedule Appointments and Ensure High Attendance Rates

Patient retention is a key aspect of your practice’s day-to-day activities. After all, it is much cheaper to retain an existing patient than attract a new patient. That’s not to mention that you want to provide the best possible care such that your patients stick around and stay engaged with their own healthcare.

Make sure that your appointments are well-attended by patients by keeping them engaged as follows:

• Provide all pertinent information in automated and specific email communications
• Send regular reminders at your preferred time intervals
• Give out secure video links for online consultations
• Remind patients of their appointment with a last-minute SMS
• Analyse reasons for cancellations and no-shows so you can get to the root cause

Patient Management Is Key to Your Clinic’s Success

No matter how good your treatment methods are, the only way to guarantee your clinic’s success is to communicate well with your patients. Medesk patient management software helps you to keep in touch with your patients without having to lift a finger. You can provide all the information they need to engage in their own healthcare and keep coming back to your clinic just by booking appointments in your schedule.

Related Reading:

The Complete Guide to Private Practice Management

What Is Medical Practice Management Software (PMS)? [2024]

How to Manage Your Private Practice: Keys to Success