We hate seeing hard-working physical therapists waste hours of their life every week on redundant tasks. Time that can be better spent helping patients heal or working on new opportunities for your clinic. After all, seeing how much time the average PT clinic spends on laundry each year is one of the main reasons that compelled us to create our EcoPro Pillow Cover. However, cutting back on laundry is just one way you can save time. In 2018, resolve to value your clinic workers time even more by cutting back on paperwork. Whether it’s time wasted analyzing bad handwriting, shredding papers, or (worst) transcribing from the pad to a computer database, 2018 is the perfect year to switch to an electronic media record (EMR) system. Here are three reasons to make the switch.
EMR Is Another Step on The Green Road
Recycling paper is great, but you know what’s even better? Eliminating how much paper you use altogether! Paper is an intense resource to produce. Before it even reaches your clinic, it must be produced in a factory, shipped to your store and then pushed through your printer. Impacting the environment with each step.
While switching to an electronic media record system won’t eliminate all your paper needs, it can help to greatly reduce the amount of paper your clinic uses to run is business.
EMR Makes It Easier to Ensure Compliance
Raise your hand if you’ve ever updated a patient inquiry form one week only to have to go back and re-update it two days later. Compliance regulation requirements are ever-changing. Regardless of your process, paper worksheets and forms are going to need to be constantly updated. One more headache for your team to stay on top of.
Most top-level EMRs come with built-in tools to help you remain complaint (without additional effort for yourself). Whether it’s auto-updates to your patient forms or high-level security for sensitive information, you can take the time (and risk) away from ensuring you’re meeting the necessary requirements for handling your patient’s sensitive data.
EMR Is a Marketable Difference
If your clinic isn’t actively taking steps to stand out in a crowded market space, you’ll never be able to attract the patient load you need to succeed. Switching to an EMR is a marketable difference on many fronts including:
- More time your team is able to devote to giving better customer care
- More time equals stronger retentions, success stories, and testimonials
- iPads and a digital check-in process means a slicker experience for your patients
- More data (analytics, progress tracking) allows you to forge a deeper connection with your patients