Audiology EHR Software Buyers Guide
Last updated: June 07, 2023
The Vital Features that Make Audiology EMR Software Effective—How Does Yours Measure Up?
Yours is a unique niche and you deserve specially designed tools to get your work done. No, general software simply won’t do. Below we’ll prove it to you.
Since you’re not a software specialist but an audiologist, identifying what you really need could be challenging. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Below we’ll help you:
- Understand the purpose of modern EMR software
- Realize what you need from your EMR
- List the features you’re going to look for when you’re shopping for yours
It’s time to get the most from your practice, and the RIGHT kind of technology will help you get there.
Start With a Solid Foundation
The first step in the process of picking your electronic medical record package is to make sure it’s designed around a standard set of guidelines:
- A user friendly interface which makes your implementation phase shorter because you & your staff won’t find it too daunting to switch to the new setup.
- Your service provider must provide excellent security for the data they host, as well as technical assistance to minimize downtime.
- Easy compatibility with other equipment and software already in use in your office.
- Not only helping with your billing, but scheduling too. Automated features such as sending out statements regularly will improve your cashflow.
- Providing a short, easy method to import or input data, so you spend less time on administration and more time with patients.
EMRs have become vital tools in running practices dynamically. When your bottom line improves you’ll know it’s a worthwhile investment to pick a quality product.
Pick a Size
Something many health care professionals get wrong is using EMRs that are not appropriate for the size of their practice. You can imagine a large practice will have unique needs compared to a small clinic or audiologist’s office.
Ideally, your package must be scalable so it will adapt to your practice. However, you will also find products that are specifically designed for either small or large setups. Make sure you don’t pay for features you’ll never use, or for a program that will never really facilitate your functioning. You don’t want to end up doing tasks manually if there’s an automated solution somewhere out there.
Keep an eye out for these features while you shop for an audiology enr software that is specifically helpful for the audiologist.
Features That Make Audiology Practices Flourish
Teach via Tech
You know a lot of your patients’ success is based on them understanding their challenges and learning coping mechanisms (hopefully also overcoming the problems). The more information you can provide, the more insight they have and they can become active participants in the process.
The ideal EMR will help you with this by providing a platform to share information. You can use this during a consultation, but also send it via email. When your audiology EHR facilitates communication with your patients, sharing information becomes effortless and quick—that’s when you’ll start utilizing it more.
Easy Charting
Notes about your patients’ conditions are vital to your work. Your notes on progress, challenges, and side effects will help you devise the best plan. But of course, you can’t remember everything and a paper-based system is simply not effective: You can misplace your charts or bringing yourself up to date with a case that takes too much time out of your day.
With an effective audiology software, your charting is captured digitally in a format appropriate for audiologists. In one glance you can see your patient’s history and current situation, so you can focus on your patient during each consultation.
Relevant Workflow
The charts, documentation, and conditions that form part of your workday are different from what many other healthcare professionals face. You work in a very specific niche.
Imagine trying to speed up your workflow with templates designed for a GP. You won’t have appropriate menus and documentation will take a long time. However, with an EMR designed for audiologists all menus, boxes, tabs and tick boxes will contain information relevant to you:
- The conditions you treat
- The aspects of the human body you test or ask questions about
- The degree in which this condition affects the patient’s life
With very few mouse clicks you can record a large amount of data, all because your EMR is set up for you.
Do you feel software will limit how you can function? Luckily not. Software providers go to a lot of effort to tailor these products around specialists’ needs. For your niche alone you’ll find over 100 templates if you pick an EMR worthy of your attention.
Go one better and ask your service provider if it’s possible to customize the templates to speed up your process even more.
Going Mobile?
Depending on your work method you may be on the road a lot: Do you see patients at the hospital, travel between different offices, or assist other professionals at their practices? If this is you, your EMR is supposed to make this easier on you too:
- Save all your patient data on a server
- Make the system accessible via your mobile device
- Now you have all patient data on hand
- Your phone shows you the day’s schedule with real-time changes available
No matter where you’re practicing today your information will travel with you.
Tracking Hearing Aids
A popular feature many audiologists now can’t function without is having their EMRs track hearing aids. You provide advanced care which automatically benefits your practice, as more patients will be attracted to advanced methods.
Conclusion
Perhaps you feel your niche doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, as not everyone even knows the multitude of conditions you help treat. Don’t feel you have to settle for less any longer. The Audiology software industry offers valuable solutions meticulously designed for you.
Do you have any more questions to help you identify the best one? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
