How to Set Up Your Chiropractic EHR

The right electronic health record (EHR) practice management software for your chiropractic practice can save you time, reduce your costs, and increase your profits.

Benefits of a chiropractic EHR system and practice management software include:

• More efficient workflow
• Elimination of paper records
• Easy retrieval of documentation
• Integrated billing and online payments
• More efficient scheduling
• Reduction in billing and claim errors

When it comes to how to set up your chiropractic EHR system, following these ten steps will pave the way for a successful transition.

Ten Steps on How to Set Up Your Chiropractic EHR

1. Build your EHR implementation roadmap

Start the process of setting up your chiropractor EHR by outlining all the tasks that will need to be completed before you are ready to go live. These include scheduling for installation, training, testing, and migrating data.

Define key milestones and checkpoints for progress. At ChiroSpring, we will work with you to develop the schedule and guide you through the process to make it easy.

2. Define workflow and staff roles

Anytime you add new software to your practice, there will be changes to workflow. That’s a good thing because chiropractic EHR will streamline your processes and save time.

To maximize your efficiency, you should map your current workflow and analyze it for places that automation can help reduce manual work. You’ll want to compare this to the anticipated workflow in your EHR implementation. A reduced workflow will also help your staff see the value in the changes that you are making to reduce any stress that they may have about learning a new system.

3. Forecast the budget for training and migration

During the training phase, you may need to provide additional hours or resources so you and your staff have adequate time to train and practice with the new system. Some chiropractic offices block out time or reduce patient load to set aside time for training, while others add to staff work hours.

Training is essential to work efficiently in the system, so you don’t want to skimp here. However, you will want to account for any additional payroll costs.

Some practices also overlook the time that it takes to migrate current patient data into the new system.

4. Schedule EHR implementation

During your EHR roadmap, you targeted a day for implementation. With your training and migration completed, it’s now time to lock in the day. You may want to consider lowering the patient volume on the first day or two after your cutover date to give you and your staff extra time to get used to the system.

CHIROSPRING is intuitive, though. Once you get a few reps, you will find that you can move quickly through the system and do it much faster than previously, which may mean you can increase patient volume faster.

5. Set up software

You’ll need to make a few decisions during the software setup to determine how you want to set up your workflow and customize the software.

For example, for SOAP notes, you can set up macros so you can fill out typical notes without having to rekey them each time. You can also set up auto-SALT, pin commonly used diagnosis favorites and charges, and remove tabs for items that you don’t use in your practice.

ChiroSpring lets you set up your view any way you want it, since no two providers work exactly the same way.

6. Do formal training

To maximize your training, ensure that your staff members know what they need to know and have the opportunity to practice. Successful training programs include:

• Superuser training: One person on the staff is typically designated as the superuser, who will have administration rights and get more in-depth training on the nuances of the system.
• Role-based training: Staff members need to understand how the system affects their part of the job.
• Feedback: During the training process, there should be continuous feedback to look for opportunities to improve workflow.

7. Migrate patient and practice data

Depending on whether you are moving from a manual process, you will need to convert your paper records to electronic records. If you are migrating from another EHR program to a new one, you will need to set up your database, map legacy data to new fields, and transfer data into the new system.

You will also want to build in time to test and verify legacy data and new data inputs.

8. Define patient communication guidelines

Your new system will provide multiple benefits for staff and patients. With ChiroSpring, for example, you can provide online intake, online scheduling, automated appointment reminders, and integrated payments. These are huge time-savers, and you will want to educate your patients on how to use your system to help streamline your workload.

9. Go live!

You’ve trained and tested and are ready to go. It’s time to go live! Take a moment and celebrate, and then start seeing patients.

10. Review, refine, and optimize

A critical step on how to set up your chiropractic EHR system is to review workflow and processes after implementation. Questions to answer include:

• Are there areas that didn’t perform as you expected?
• Does staff need additional practice or training on any aspects?
• Can you improve workflow even more?
• Do you need to create additional macros or shortcuts to maximize efficiency?

ChiroSpring Makes It Easy

Setting up your chiropractor EHR may sound like a complex process, but we made it easy for you by breaking it down step by step. Since ChiroSpring was built specifically for chiropractors, it has what you need and can make your installation seamless.

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!