Best Practices for a Successful Chiropractic EHR System Implementation

The average chiropractor sees 139 patients every week. That’s just under thirty patients a day. If you can save just one minute on each patient, you can recover an extra half hour every day. This can help you see more billing patients or just relax a bit. Either way, it frees up time to work how you want.

Utilizing best practices, you may be able to save even more time with the right chiropractic electronic health records (EHR) system. Conversely, if you fail to implement your system properly, it can create headaches and impact your ability to care for patients. It’s better to take a measured and strategic approach for implementing a chiropractic EHR software platform.

Here, we share eight best practices for a successful EHR system implementation. First, however, let’s determine the definition of chiropractic EHR.

What Is Chiropractic EHR?

Chiropractic EHR is clinical and business management software that simplifies recordkeeping, patient information, and billing.

The best EHR system will help you reduce errors and maintain compliance. When you have an all-in-one system to handle everything from patient intake, onboarding, and scheduling to SOAP notes, care plans, invoices, billing, and insurance, you can significantly improve your efficiency.

Eight Best Practices for a Successful EHR system Implementation

Here are eight best practices for a successful EHR system implementation, starting with choosing the right chiropractic management system for your practice.

1. Selecting the EHR System That Fits Your Practice

The EHR system that you choose to manage your practice makes a big difference. When you pick an all-in-one EHR solution that can handle all your practice’s needs, like ChiroSpring, it will make every step of your installation and implementation more efficient.

You also want to choose a vendor that will work with you as a partner during the integration process and provide outstanding customer service after implementation.

2. Creating a Strategic Implementation Plan

A successful implementation requires planning. You’ll need to establish a timeline for adoption and rollout. Working in concert with your EHR, you can develop a step-by-step implementation plan for efficient deployment.

Include staff in the implementation planning. This helps with buy-in and holding staff accountable to the deadlines that they set.

3. Managing the IT Integration

Most chiropractors don’t have in-house IT support, so you will need to rely on your vendor for setup and customization. In most cases, you won’t need help because many modern EHR platforms reside in the cloud. If you do need assistance, consider getting outside help.

4. Digitizing your Records

Set aside time to digitize your records as soon as possible. The sooner that you can get all your documentation into the platform, the more efficiently you can work. You’ll need to import patient and financial history.

It can be a lengthy process, so make sure you schedule enough time for your staff to complete it.

5. Customizing Your Software

While there are certainly common practices, many chiropractic offices work differently from one another. You should customize the software to create a compatible workflow that works well for you.

Creating shortcuts (macros) can save you time. For example, with ChiroSpring, you can create preformatted SOAP notes or Auto-SALT with the click of a button.

6. Training Your Staff

Don’t shortcut the staff training process. You’ll likely be changing habits and adapting your workflow. Without a solid training process, staff can get frustrated, resist changes, or default to the old way of doing things. This can undermine any efficiencies that you might gain.

Many practices shortcut their training and it’s a mistake. One study of more than 72,000 clinicians uncovered that most of the problems that people had with EHR systems could easily be overcome with adequate training.

7. Testing and Practice

Don’t forget to practice! It’s better to make any mistakes behind the scenes rather than in front of patients. A bit of practice can help you increase speed, which creates more efficiency. During testing, be alert for any areas where you can create additional shortcuts or efficiencies.

8. Educating Your Patients

You will want to educate your patients about how your new EHR system impacts them. For example, you can walk them through online intake and appointment scheduling. If you use ChiroSpring, you’ll have integrated billing and payments, so you may want to show patients how they can pay their bills online.

Implement the Right EHR for Your Chiropractic Office

The right EHR and practice management software can provide significant benefits, including:

• Greater efficiency
• Streamlined operations before/during/after patient visits
• Less paperwork
• Streamlined claims and payments
• Access to all patient records in one place

ChiroSpring is the number-one cloud-based chiropractic EHR proactive management software. Built for chiropractors by chiropractors, you get everything that you need to run your business in one software package.

ChiroSpring is an all-in-one practice management and EHR system built specifically for chiropractors to help them regain face-time with patients, spend less time on back-office tasks, maintain a limited staff, and save operational costs.

To see how CHIROSPRING can help you simplify how you manage your practice, reach out to one of our specialists today!