Choosing patient management software for your new healthcare venture can be difficult. Most platforms offer a variety of features at varying prices. You may be attracted by free patient management software, but you may be concerned about whether it will meet your security needs or provide all of the capabilities you require. Fortunately, finding trustworthy free medical practice management software is far easier than you might imagine. A free plan could be the ideal way to assist your growth while keeping costs low in the early stages of your organization.
Who would be helped by free patient management software?
Many new healthcare entrepreneurs believe that it is ideal, to begin with, for free software for patient record keeping. This will allow them to manage a modest number of patients before upgrading to a paying plan if necessary. Starting a wellness practice can be costly; there are overhead fees connect with an in-person service such as an office lease, insurance, and utilities. Even if you run a virtual clinic, you will need to make investments such as developing a website and engaging a company attorney to set up your paperwork.
The last thing you need is to spend money on an expensive practice management system, especially if it is overkill for your needs. For example, at this early stage, you probably don’t need to be able to manage an unlimited number of clients, and most small firms can do without SMS appointment cancellations. However, if you select a free patient management software plan from a vendor that also offers paid options, the system will be able to grow with your company.
The Advantages of Patient Management Software
Cloud-based record keeping
You may be concerned about free software for patient record keeping and question its security. Because Healthie’s record-keeping system is entirely cloud-based. You can easily access your client’s data from any device, at any time. If a patient messages you while you’re at home, you can review their information directly from Healthie’s iOS or Android mobile app and respond with confidence.
Even if you have a free patient management software package, you have limitless document storage. All of your business and customer data is house on top-tier servers. So you can rest certain that your records are fully PCI and HIPAA-compliant.
Patient management software that is comprehensive
There are numerous critical areas of patient management that healthcare providers must stay on top of. There is intake paperwork, updating patient data, making treatment plans, and so much more. It’s all too easy to overlook minor things like rescheduling a client’s appointment.
Every step of your client’s experience is made as simple as possible by Healthie’s patient management system. Intake forms are totally paperless and simplified using templates and prefilling. Clients can make appointments online, receive automatic appointment reminders through SMS or email, and securely message you via the client engagement site. Automation removes the uncertainty and human error from patient management, making life easier for you and your clients.
Telehealth capability
Because healthcare is becoming increasingly digital, being able to provide telehealth services is critical to the success of your organization. You may host high-quality one-on-one video calls while remaining completely HIPAA compliant using the secure client portal. These can be record and post to the site for your clients to view later.
You can also communicate with clients and share important resources with them, such as handouts and videos. Clients can utilize the journaling feature to record their food intake and workouts, create goals, and track their metrics for you to evaluate.
Payment made simple
“Cash flow is king,” you’ve probably heard before. This is especially true in the early phases of your firm, so getting paid should be as straightforward as feasible. The free medical practice management software plan from Healthie makes it simple to generate invoices and superbills for your patients. You can also accept payments by direct bank transfer or credit card using Stripe integration.
Appointment Reminders that are Automated
Time saved: 1-2 hours each week, depending on the client load.
Appointment reminder/scheduler service + no-show fees saved
No-shows are a major waste of time and money.
Appointment reminders prevent this from happening, or at the very least allow your clients to reschedule if required (and per your cancellation policy).
If you opt to manually text or email reminders, it can take hours out of your week. SMS and email services typically begin about a month, with high price rises for a limited amount of appointment reminders. Furthermore, they are not always HIPAA-compliant.
Sending an automated text or email reminders through Healthie prevents no-shows at no extra expense or effort and is always HIPAA-compliant.
Message Blasts
Time saved: 2 hours each month, subject to client load.
SMS marketing service has been save (at least a month, generally separate from appointment reminders service)
Consider message blasts to be the equivalent of a BCC in an email. When you send a message blast to your clients, the message is sent to each client as if it were created specifically for them.
Message blasts are useful for the following purposes:
Merry Christmas!
Notifying clients when you will be unavailable
Promotional offers
Sending positive vibes
Within your demanding schedule, the time it would take you to individually text each client is unfeasible (and not HIPAA-compliant). SMS marketing services with group messaging begin at $9.99 per month for a set amount of messages.
With Healthie’s limitless message blast function, you can save time while also increasing customer engagement.
Office Space
Time Saved: Commuting to and from your office (this varies, but we’ll estimate 1 hour per day, 5 days per week, for a total of 20 hours per month).
Savings: Vary depending on rent.
Your business strategy and practice preferences may necessitate the use of office space. To save money and effort, you can still provide telemedicine consultations a few days a week.
If you opt to provide 100% virtual services, telehealth can make services more cost-effective for both you and your clients, especially if you’re just starting out. You’ll save money on rent because you can work from anywhere (even in the comforts of your own home), but you’ll also save additional expenditures for owning office space, such as renters insurance, furnishings, admin help, and more.
Scalability
If you begin with free practice management software that does not also include subscription plans with more advanced capabilities, you will eventually need to migrate all of your data to a new system. Making the changeover might be a huge pain when you’re busy running your company. Healthie, on the other hand, offers a variety of plans, allowing you to simply upgrade to a paid edition as your practice expands without having to re-enter any data.