As the healthcare industry begins to focus on emerging technology and minimalism, many medical practices have begun taking advantage of mobile apps that can help streamline the medical office design process. If you are considering a new technology solution for your medical practice, these four unique ways to implement technology into a medical office design will not disappoint. With their varying levels of complexity, they make it possible for even the least experienced technician or designer to consider different forms: utilizing the most suitable tool for each project.
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1) Mobile Apps
A quick and easy way to implement technology into a medical office design is with mobile apps. With the growing popularity of home-based practice management, mobile apps that provide office-specific functionality are a perfect complement for today’s medical practices. The most commonly used app for doctors looks at the patient’s record and other data, offering online appointment reminders, appointment scheduling, and more. Patients no longer have to make their own appointments through paper printouts or spreadsheets (which can often be forgotten in a desk drawer); instead, they have control over the appointments. While patients may have access to their apps on multiple devices, it is important to customize them with your institution’s logo if you plan on using them regularly.
2) Online Business Management Software
Online business management software can provide an administrative solution for the most resource-intensive medical office. Not only can they be used to manage a practice’s day-to-day functions, but they also offer tracking tools and are highly customizable. Most online systems have patient account options, which allow patients to pay electronically through their bank accounts or credit cards. This feature is crucial as it provides one less aspect that the practice needs to remember to invoice when billing. An added benefit to having such a system in place is that you can allocate time throughout the week where all billing and patient accounts can be managed online.
3) Electronic Medical Records
One of the most influential transformations in medical office design has been the introduction of electronic medical records (EMR). In today’s medical practice, it is an absolute requirement to have a Physicians Office Management System (POMS) that offers standardized data entry and information exchange. With EMRs, patient records are now easily accessible to doctors without having to take the time to retrieve information from paper files. The commonest interface used by EMRs is barcode scanning. This enables all sorts of scans, whether they are employee hand-writing or digital data entry using a tablet or smartphone, can be used as an input method.
4) Personal Computer
The personal computer and laptop are still a staple in medical offices. They are primarily used as a means of communication between physicians and staff members within the office. If you still use visual voicemail, you can now transition to the cloud-based voice mail system by using web conferencing tools. This will allow physicians to receive phone calls from patients and colleagues remotely on their computers. These tools also offer remote meetings with patients for doctors who have difficulties making it into the office for appointments.
As you no doubt can see, there are a lot of options out there for implementing technology into a medical office design. While it may be possible to choose just one of these tools, there is a very real possibility that your practice could use several of these technologies. For example, an EMR would most likely be used in combination with cloud-based voice mail to enable remote access to voicemails and access to patient records.
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