Here are the top 9 reasons why 31.2% of medical providers are moving on to a better relationship with a new EHR partner.
Remember when you walked into an exam room and grabbed a paper chart to check your patient’s medical status? Or your medical school days spent sitting in your dorm room with a book opened and a highlighter in hand? Better days are here for healthcare professionals, and, today, there’s an app for every need.
Here, we walk you through the top 5 most useful apps for healthcare professionals:
1. Medscape 
Devices: Kindle Fire, iOS, Android, and Blackberry
Useful for: Physicians, nurses, medical students, and administrative staff
Cost: Free
Customer Ratings: 4 stars
Medscape, from WebMD, allows you to have the essentials at your fingertips, including: drug, disease, conditional, procedures and protocol references. This app also has more than 100 videos that demonstrate common procedures and provides you with the latest healthcare news.
2. MEDtube Medical
Devices: iOS and Android
Useful for: Medical students and patients
Cost: Free
Customer Ratings: No current ratings
MEDtube Medical is a new app that allows you to surf educational videos showing various medical surgeries and procedures. These videos can be seen by any medical professional around the world. There are over 11,000 educational videos that walk you through critical surgeries step by step. Some have even recommended this app for patients that would like to get a deeper understanding of surgeries they may be having.
3. Skeletal System Pro II
Devices: iOS
Useful for: Physicians, nurses, and medical students
Cost: $2.99
Customer Ratings: 5 stars
Unfortunately, Skeletal System Pro II is only compatible with iOS devices. This app is the result of a collaboration between Stanford University School of Medicine and Apple. It offers a 3-D look at the human body with 360 degree rotation, movement animations, annotations, zooming functions, and even name pronunciations. Connective tissues can be viewed through a scalpel tool, and references about several body parts are available through the app.
4. docbookMD
Devices: iOS and Android
Useful for: Physicians
Cost: Free
Customer Ratings: 3.5 stars
This is the Facebook of physicians. docbookMD is a communication app that allows physicians who are members to participate and interact with one another. Users can access patient information such as x-rays and EKGs and a directory of local physicians and pharmacies. The app facilitates collaboration between physicians, and it is HIPAA-secure.
5. TXTcrypt
Devices: iOS and Android
Useful to: Physicians, nurses, and medical staff
Cost: Free
Customer Ratings: 3 stars
We had a blog reader ask us to recommend HIPAA compliant texting apps other than Tiger Text. So, here it is! TXTcrypt allows you to have a private conversation through short messaging (SMS). The way it works is: 1) Type any message you want and a password 2) Tell the person receiving the message what the password is, and 3) The receiver uses TXTcrypt to decode the message by inputting the password. This app is easy to use and compatible between mobile and desktop devices.
Interested in another type of healthcare app? Check out iMedicalApps for more useful apps or our latest app SRS Tx app. This app saves time and frees physicians from Dictaphones, computer screens, and dial-ins by pulling patient lists—along with their dictation templates—loaded with smart text.
Do you have a favorite medical app? Share your thoughts in the comments box and we’ll be sure to feature it in future blog posts!
We’re sure you’ve been advised that an EHR system makes the everyday physician increase productivity and that it saves time and money. But check this out. Aside from helping doctors become more efficient, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that more than 50,000 health-IT jobs have been created since the HITECH Act.
According to our friends from DATAART, electronic recording saves the average physician up to 3 hours a day, which amounts to 750 extra hours a year that you could be spending with your family… or walking your dog… or playing golf… or skiing in Colorado!
Have something to say about this post? Spark up a conversation with us in our comment box!
It seems like a no-brainer, but customer service is all about your customers. It involves more than just fulfilling requests or offering discounts. To get it right, you have to understand your customers – and know what they want. For physician offices, this means understanding your patients.
Think about it: If you never ask your patients for feedback, how do you know what they are looking for in a doctor’s visit? Lack of patient understanding can result in:
- Weak doctor-patient relationships
- Lost patients
- Poor reputation, once your unsatisfied patients spread the word
So, what are the most important things to know about good customer service? SRS recently conducted an interview with a client development manager in the Health IT industry. Here, he discusses negative and positive feedback, his interpretation of customer service, and the importance of word of mouth:
Q: What is the most important thing to understand about customer feedback?
Obviously, it is always nice to hear positive feedback, but negative feedback is most important because it allows a company to look at their product from a different perspective, which can lead to identifying areas for further development. The negative feedback gives a company the chance to fix what is wrong by first addressing the situation, developing a plan, and resolving it as quickly as possible. These three simple steps can help you turn negative feedback into positive feedback, and an unhappy customer to a satisfied one.
Q: If a client is unhappy with your service, what do you do to fix it?
I address the problem immediately. Because our clients are very important to us, issues are not something we can pass by. The faster we can solve the issue, the better the feedback and the stronger the relationship with our clients.
Q: What impact does an unhappy customer have on a company?
In my opinion, it is almost like a trickledown effect: If a client is not happy with our service or product, they are going to spread the word. As a result, we lose a client and opportunities to gain new ones. An unhappy client can damage a company’s reputation within five seconds.
Q: What impact does a good relationship with a client have on a company?
Happy customers talk to prospective customers about the good decision they made by going with our product. Who wouldn’t want to show off a good decision? When a prospect is considering a product, they want to hear other people’s thoughts. When we have good relationships, it proves we are confident in our product to the prospect, so they can be confident in us.
Q: What does good customer service mean to you?
My interpretation of good customer service is all about going above and beyond what is necessary. There are people who do just enough of what is needed, and then there are the people who take pride in their work and the company they are representing. These are the people who get true enjoyment from helping someone with a problem, or helping them learn something new.
Good customer service starts with feedback, so here are a few suggestions for gathering it from patients:
- Ask visitors to fill out questionnaires upon completion of their appointment.
- Place a suggestion box at the reception desk.
- Use a patient portal for better communication with your customers.
Once you have good customer service conquered, here are just a few of the benefits to be reaped:
- More regular patients
- More referrals from word of mouth
- Great online reviews
Happy serving!
Did we miss something? Share one of your most memorable patient experiences, and how you feel it improved your overall customer service in the comment section. We’ll be sure to give feedback and possibly feature your tips in future blog posts!
What does the word “brand” bring to mind? Perhaps you think about the last commercial you saw, an eye-catching logo, a clever slogan or jingle, or a memorable customer service encounter.
But did you ever think about how branding factors into your medical practice?
Everything a patient experiences can contribute to your brand, including:
- Appointment scheduling process
- Arrival at office entrance
- Welcoming procedures
- Completion of data collection forms
- Waiting time
- Interactions with the physician
- Waiting room environment-cleanliness and comfort
All of these experiences can be positive or negative. So, how can you ensure they are all positive? Communication is the key component for creating positive experiences.
Here are 5 areas to consider when striving for fluent communication with your patients:
- Graphics: Graphics can include logos, taglines, website design, and any visual material. Make sure your graphics stand out visually and branded to best reflect your practice.
- Written Communications: This can include flyers, medical forms, billing forms, etc. Clear and simple will best get your practice message across.
- Digital Communications: Digital communications encompass e-mails, social media networks, and patient portals. When using social media, practice administrators can take advantage of “real-time” interaction with patients. They can inform patients about news, practice alerts, last-minute cancellations, updates, reminders, practice schedules, etc.
- Verbal Communications: Voicemails, phone calls, automatic phone messages, and face-to-face communications should always feature a clear message to your patients.
- Silent Communications: Finally, your staff’s body language and attitude toward patients is just as important as any other form of communication. A positive manner will provide a welcoming office atmosphere, and may encourage a higher patient return rate.
There are layers and layers of patient experience to consider when closing the gap between what you want your brand experience to be and how it’s defined. Pay attention to your patients’ needs and ask for their feedback. This is a great way to ensure the customer experience is positive and for you to understand if you’re on the right track of branding your practice.
