The Need

Running a successful healthcare practice is about building personal relationships with patients and providing excellent, state-of-the-art care. You and your staff spend most of your day giving personalized attention, focusing on the health of your patients and their families. This often leaves little time for staying up-to-date with the technology needed to run your office efficiently.

Whether you’re building a new practice or already have an established one, you may be spending valuable time maintaining your basic office functions—time you’d rather use to focus on patient care. Managing records, billing and insurance, scheduling, and the wide array of other paperwork involved in keeping your business alive can be simplified with innovative technology and improved office workflow. But the process to set-up or transition to a new office system may seem daunting. It doesn’t have to be, with help from the Apple Consultants Network.

The Expertise

There are many hardware and software solutions for the Mac perfect for your healthcare business—easy-to-learn, easy-to-use and PC compatible. By hiring a consultant through the Apple Consultants Network, you can develop an efficient office system that’s customized specifically for your needs and your budget.

And, hiring a consultant costs a fraction of taking-on an additional employee, so you get access to the expertise you need for the task at hand, without the long-term commitment or expense. You can then specialize in caring for your patients while Apple Consultants Network members can specialize in providing the best Apple technology and services.

The Steps

Step 1: Determine your needs, requirements and budget

Begin with a firm goal to improve office efficiency, allowing you and your staff to spend less time on paperwork and more time on patient care. Start by answering some basic questions:

• Do you need multiple workstations?
• Is portability a requirement?
• Would a wireless solution benefit you?
• Does your solution need to be PC-compatible?
• Are your most immediate needs focused around basic office tasks like accounting and ordering supplies? Or are they more focused on processing and recording patient data?
• What is your budget for improving the efficiency of your practice?

Step 2: Determine the elements of your solution

Once you have a general idea of your needs and budget, it’s time to choose the specific elements for your improved office system. Here are some suggested solutions for improved office efficiency:

Hardware:

• MacBook and MacBook Pro computers are perfect for portable computing
• Mac Pro and iMac computers are ideal for desktop computing
• AirPort Extreme allows wireless mobility
• iSight enables easy conferencing with patients or colleagues
• .Mac lets you send email and create a website to inform
  existing patients or promote your business

General Productivity Software:

• Microsoft Office is a complete word processing solution
• QuickBooks Pro is ideal for accounting and bookkeeping
• Meeting Maker handles scheduling and calendaring

Healthcare Specific Software: Healthcare software is segmented by specific needs of your practice.

Practice Management Software (PMS) is for billing patients and insurance companies, and for producing forms, reports, and patient scheduling.  These top PMS solutions are Mac OS X compatible:

• MacPractice

Electronic Medical Records (EMR) provide comprehensive patient care tracking. These EMR applications are excellent choices for the Mac:

• MacPractice
• PowerMed EMR
• Spring Medical SpringCharts

Reference tools are useful for quickly looking up drug or disease data, health plan formalities, clinical criteria, medical equations, and pricing data:

• ePocrates
• HierCode
• Merriam-Webster’s Medical Desk Dictionary

(Some of the products above are only available in the U.S.)

Step 3: Implement your solution

The solution elements you choose may address many needs—from wireless networking and Internet accessibility to HIPAA compliance (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and record keeping. Implementing the solution may come down to purchasing and setting-up new computers and peripherals, or installing new software and transporting existing data into new applications.

Improved office efficiency is dependent upon simple and reliable processes that you can use every day. Your technology should be a tool that helps run your business smoothly, without a lot of hassle. A member of the Apple Consultants Network can provide hardware and software training, and can even assist in optimizing the systems you already have in place. That way, you and your staff won’t lose any time transitioning to new computers, applications, or office workflow. Whether it’s new or existing technology, a consultant can ensure you spend your time focused on your passion, not the tools that support it.

Step 4: Obtain ongoing support and maintenance

Hiring a member is an investment for your business future. The relationship you begin by first hiring a consultant can be ongoing, growing as your needs grow. As the scope of your practice changes, so may your technology requirements. Whether you want continual support or hire on an as-needed basis, your practice will benefit from the high level of professionalism and service provided by Apple Consultants Network members. And most importantly, your patients will benefit from the extra time and energy you have to focus on their care.