Plastic surgery software is a collection of tools that streamlines clinical and organizational workflows. It is used to analyze document management, change appointment scheduling, and improve patient interactions.
Plastic surgeons have credit for being on the “cutting edge” of new technologies, so it’s not unusual that many encompass software to streamline their clinical and administrative workflows.
Nevertheless, plastic surgery practices face challenges common to most medical procedures: they require optimizing time spent with patients and time spent charting, managing to program efficiently, and invoice profitably. These are hurdles most medical systems address.
But plastic surgeons have some different needs, too. For example, they need software designed to manage a large number of forms. They also require a sophisticated image management solution and a scheme that allows scheduling in various locations.
Examples of Plastic Surgery Software
Acuity Scheduling: Save time and keep your plastic surgery practice correlated with Acuity’s HIPAA-compliant, self-service scheduling solution. From the minute a patient lists an appointment with you, Acuity performs patient admission, sends marked & customized confirmations, addresses text reminders, stores PHI, allows patients to reschedule based on your availability, processes payments, and considers patients as checked-in. With Acuity, your day-to-day run more smoothly! All you require to do is present at the right time.
athenaOne: athenaOne constitutes the moment of care, executes administrative and quality assistance to guarantee full payment, and follows all physician orders so doctors can concentrate on what they do best. Deliver high-quality care. With athenaOne, Doctors profit from continuous access to the best works of the nation’s largest clinical network, the most up-to-date and comprehensive quality rules and industry guidelines, and 24/7 aid.
Kareo Billing: With Kareo Billing, there’s no more reliable software to maintain your in-house billing process. The web and mobile applications support your practice to manage patients and the complications of billing insurance efficiently. Kareo is a proven platform used by more than 75,000 providers. In addition, Kareo Billing will automate your entire process so you can get paid faster.
Assessing Plastic Surgery Software
Plastic surgery software is designed to match the specialty’s unique clinical needs. In contradiction, plastic surgery practice management software supports efficiency in the day-to-day administration of the system. While some methods may buy only EMR software or only routine management software, most will help from an integrated solution that incorporates both.
Features of Plastic Surgery Software
- Image Management: The system should import and store images, overlay photos for before-and-after viewing and allow physician annotation. Many EMR systems include mobile support and let users take photos from an iPad or other tablet automatically attached to the patient record. Some EMRs also have Picture Archiving, and Communication System (PACS) modules that stock and conduct X-rays or other radiology scans.
- Record Management: Plastic surgery practices manage large forms. Your software should be available to store and handle all the patient forms.
- CPT & ICD Coding: The software should reference current diagnostic and procedural codes like CPT and ICD. Some systems can get frequently used surgical techniques so that they can be picked up promptly.
- Plastic Surgery-Specific Templates: Some systems will incorporate templates explicitly designed for the plastic surgery practice, like templates for implants, multiple injections, laser procedures, and more.
- Hands-Free Dictation: Plastic surgery examinations are often hands-on, so physicians benefit from software enabling hands-free representation. Many solutions incorporate hands-free dictation characteristics.
- Scheduling: Several plastic surgeons require to schedule patients in various locations: hospitals where surgeries are performed and duty areas where exams are displayed. The best practice management software will aid these complex scheduling requirements.
Not all software for plastic surgery will incorporate all of these hallmarks, and various systems will support various features to different degrees. However, plastic surgeons should recognize the elements most critical to their practices.
Advantage of Plastic Surgery Software
- Sturdy plastic surgery software will assist you in organizing your practice better and spend your time more effectively. In addition, you should expect the following benefits when performing and using a system correctly.
- Efficiency: You didn’t be a doctor to fill forms and file paperwork, yet you find yourself consuming the bulk of your time exploring. In addition, the system will automatically file and organize paperwork and images, with access granted to everyone in practice, making administration much more accessible.
- Organization: When you constantly have to schedule exams and surgeries in complicated locations, it can be effortless for you—and your patients—to get disordered. With plastic surgery software organizing your scheduling, you can automatically track who needs to be where, when they need to be there, and what they need to have with them. As a result, your employees and patients will be less likely to be worried about where and when an appointment is listed.
- Improved Patient Relations: Although ability and organization alone should make your patients happier with your practice, plastic surgery software can also enhance their expertise with you as their doctor. Hands-free dictation can allow you to spend more time speaking to and studying. At the same time, image management functionality means you can easily share the x-rays, before-and-after photos, and explanatory diagrams that can help put their minds at ease.
Considerations of Plastic Surgery Software
- Software as a Service (SaaS): It leads to cloud-based or Web-based software. It can be located online through an Internet browser rather than saved regionally on a practice’s servers: SaaS software’s simple remote and on-the-go access. The reduced up-front costs (since hardware costs are minimized) make SaaS solutions particularly popular with plastic surgeons. To learn more about SaaS medical software, read our Web-based EMR guide.
- Mobile Support: Due in part to the tech-forward approach of many plastic surgery practices (as well as the tactile nature of the profession), tablet usage is prevalent among plastic surgeons. Many solutions support tablet or smartphone use. Those seeking a plastic surgery system for Mac will be especially drawn to systems designed specifically for iPad use at the point of care, such as Modernizing Medicine’s Electronic Medical Assistant. For more on tablet-supported solutions, check out our iPad EMR guide.
- Meaningful Use: The U.S. government offers monetary incentives for practices to adopt and “meaningfully use” certified electronic health records (EHR) systems. Practices that treat Medicare or Medicaid patients may choose to participate in the Medicare or Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs.