My recommendation is always to take it one step at a time. Don’t overthink it.
Imagine your process first, just replacing the paper with digital. The secretary and you, the doctor are basically still in the same places.
You’re just switching to a typewritten form rather than writing it. So imagine the intake, the patient going to the front desk, the secretary writing. Imagine that whole flow. As long as you can imagine that flow, it will be easy to transition.
Start with one patient profile
Inside SeriousMD, you need to be able to add a patient profile. Whether it’s a loved one or your own name as a profile, as long as there’s a profile, there are things you can do. So the first step is always going to be adding a patient profile to start testing.
Try the flow yourself
Try the flow, even adding patients, even if that’s mainly your staff’s task. That way, you know how things work, and you can easily see how your staff can operate. When they make excuses or report issues, it’s easy to understand. It won’t take more than a couple of hours to get to know the flow.
Save templates as you go
I also suggest you give it a try by just putting in the templates. Practice them, and save some of them so you know how it functions.
With our platform, you can always save things on the fly. When you’re already using it in the clinic in the first week, you’ll realize, hey, this is something we can reuse. For example, a prescription: a set of medications you always prescribe for the same situation. You can just save that into a template and reuse it in the future. It just compounds over time.
Walk us through your process
Once we have a clear idea of the process, we’ll know how to help you better.
Most of the time, when I notice clinics that come from software they asked somebody to build, or somebody they found online, or a provider that just walked in and offered it to them, it’s usually just about the features. It’s usually about, “Hey, you can do this.” Everyone can say they can do X/Y/Z. Everybody can copy features now. But not everyone actually understands the problem.
Each clinic has a different process, different manpower, different skill levels. As long as we know the constant, which is the process, it will be easy to integrate digital. That goes for any niche. It doesn’t have to be just healthcare.
When week two gets hard
Just continue adding the patients. That’s it.
As you continue to transfer your records from paper over to digital, and as you see your file cabinet emptying over time, you’ll notice more and more benefits. You’ll be able to access data anytime you need to. The more you see it, the more the benefits compound.
That’s when you’ll see, hey, this is actually useful.
Just do it one at a time
I would not worry too much about having all your records in the EMR immediately. Just do it one at a time. It should be as the patients come along. Some doctors think about getting all their file cabinet paper records into the EMR before they start. That usually ends up failing.
It’s pretty much like adapting to any software or any sort of workflow, like AI. You have to have enough experience. That way, you’re going to understand what’s happening and what you can or shouldn’t do, so it fits the way you want to work and it fits your clinic workflow.
At least in the start, you don’t want to disrupt too much, so operations still continue as they are. You’re just plugging it in with some efficiency help from software.
Of course, things will slow down at the start. Same with your staff. They’ll get used to it, and then you’ll start to see how it actually helps your business.
