Step 1: Where to Begin/Choose an EMR Wisely
You are looking to open your new medical practice, but don’t know where to begin. You have your office space picked out, and now you need to set it all up. But where to start? First, you should decide on an EMR (Electronic Medical Record) to run your practice. There are numerous things to think about when looking. You want something that is not too expensive, as you are trying to build your revenue stream and not go broke in the process. You also need software that will grow as you grow. Finally, you want something easy to learn and use. As you already are heavily involved in starting a new business, you don’t want to get bogged down with a difficult EMR startup:
- Cost Effective
- Expandable
- Easy to Learn
- Easy to Use
Step 2: Determine Your Needs
Once you have started working with a salesperson from an EMR company, ask them if you can speak to an implementation specialist regarding getting started. Usually this person can help as a consultant to help you create a plan on running the practice and ensure don’t overspend on services or hardware you do not need. There are several things to consider as you startup:
- How will you be billing (insurance vs. cash based / fee for service)?
- Will you employ a medical biller or use an outside service?
- Will you need a cloud based EMR or do you prefer office hosted?
- What kind of hardware/tools will your new practice need?
Step 3: Opening Your Practice
Now that you have chosen your EMR, determined your billing option, established what tools/hardware and additional software you need, now it is time to put it all together. You may decide to hire an IT person to set up your computers and network for you, or maybe you can set up your computers yourself, and have your ISP (Internet Service Provider) configure your network for you. Then you can reach out to your EMR sales executive and implementation specialist to set up and install your software package(s). You should schedule your new staff people to come in and work with your implementation person to get you and the staff trained and ready to go. Some EMRs offer some free training options (webinars, videos, etc.), and others may offer paid training options (onsite or remote) as well. Once all of your equipment is installed, and you and your staff are trained, you are ready to open.
To learn more about running an efficient practice, visit our Resources page for helpful videos, webinars and white papers.
