Best Patient Management Software

What is Patient Management Software?

Patient management software is authorized as a medical device to extract medical data from a medical product for inpatient therapy or diagnosis.

Patient management software, better known as Medical Practice Management Software, is meant to streamline the daily tasks of operating a medical body. Such healthcare software allows medical practitioners and doctors to access various records related to a patient, including his/her billing information, appointment schedules, and insurance payers, and generate reports.MPM should not be confused with some stand-alone applications like medical scheduling software, medical billing software, or EHR(Electronic Health Record software), the first two of which are commonly included in an MPM system. In contrast, EHR software is generally independent and records patients' medical data.

Benefits of Using a Patient Management Software

In recent years, all businesses are getting digitalized and automated, so why the healthcare sector will fall behind? With this era of digitization, the healthcare sector is witnessing a significant improvement in the competence of the staff and progress in patient satisfaction through patient management software.

1. Standardization, Ease, and Accuracy

   Patient management software digitizes the health records of patients. This brings in the ease factor for all stakeholders, especially Doctors, as it is easier to access and maintain electronic health records than paper-based patient records. Patient Management Software enables a complete standardization of the patient management system in a clinic or hospital.

   It provides a standardized way of filling out information about the patient, making it simpler for Doctors, nurses, and other para-medical staff to view the information they require for effective diagnosis and treatment of the patient. The software also brings in accuracy at the time of billing.

2. Better Health Decisions

   The electronic media records of a patient made available by the patient management software can be accessed by more than one doctor. Hence, the right and better decisions beneficial for the patients can be taken in collaboration by the participating doctors. Any remotely situated Doctor can also easily and quickly communicate with the patient - all thanks to the real-time patient information provided by the software.

   Decisions on diagnosis and mode of treatment can be altered mid-way based on the complete and accurate patient information provided by the software. This is way better than traditional paper-based records.

3. Doctor Access

   In an emergency, if a patient is brought in, it is obvious that he cannot provide his past medical history to the doctor. Here is where the patient management software can come to the rescue. The software can enable the in charge to view and access the patient’s past medical records and treatment techniques used - anytime and from anywhere.

4. Patient Access

   At the other end of the spectrum, patients can also get access to real-time reports of his/her diagnosis and treatment. The software empowers the patients always to be aware of their medical history. This helps them to plan in advance regarding their medical insurance and stuff.

   The patients will get a chance to make proactive and intelligent decisions regarding their health and healthcare. Moreover, advanced patient management software allows patients to be always in touch with their Physicians through the Live Chat module. This eliminates the need to visit the hospital for general medical advice.

5. Enhanced Efficiency

   There is a possibility of a lot of complications creeping in when it comes to healthcare history. But implementing the patient management software eliminates these complications and brings ease and efficiency. The software provides complete patient information from a single dashboard. The software makes the whole patient management system quicker, more secure, and more efficient. It enhances the standards of care and treatment provided by doctors and hospitals.

Features of a Patient Management Software

The main motto behind using patient management software is to reduce the time spent by a doctor on documentation or paperwork so that more time and better attention are provided to the patient. To achieve this goal, the patient management system consists of features that assist with common medical administrative tasks:

1. Patient Registration

   One of the important features of patient management software is that it eases the task of patient registration, i.e., collecting the required information about a new patient, such as his/her address, contact info, insurance details, etc. The patient generally provides the info by filling out a form, which, when uploaded in the patient management system, is available to all departments of the medical facility, hence reducing problems while retrieving any details about that patient later.

2. Scheduling Appointments

   A patient management system is better than a paper calendar or excels spreadsheet because it includes features that not only keep track of patient appointments but also monitor doctors’ schedules and appointment history and send automated reminders to both.

3. Managing Documents and Reports

   Patient management software includes features to organize and manage the troublesome amount of paperwork involved in the medical field. It can handle anything like preparing bills for patients, sending e-bills, maintaining accounts of patients as well as keeping track of employee payroll.

4. Handling Insurance Claims

   The software has the feature of editing a patient's data according to the standards of the insurance claim handler. The software can be used to submit claims electronically, check claim status and verify benefits information. In most cases, electronic claims are submitted using an automated software process, but some practitioners take the help of an electronic claim clearinghouse for submitting their claims.

5. Inventory Management

   Patient management software contains features like keeping track of the inventory of the medical facility, monitoring stock and distribution, supply levels, and preparing a list of items dispensed to a patient, thus eliminating the requirement of manual data entry.

   Patient management system may include on-demand features like Medical specialty features, Prescription writing, Mobile access, Payer contract analysis, etc.

What Should Look While Purchasing Patient Management Software?

You should consider the following before you start your hunt.

1. Compatibility

   While looking for patient management software, make sure that it is compatible with the EHR/EMR software you are having. Both systems must be able to interface with one another as you won’t find it convenient if you have to enter the same data twice, first in MPM and then in EHR, doubling your office workload.

2. Choosing a Combo Package

   Looking to buy both MPM and EHR software? Never blindly settle for a bundle because you don’t want the rigorous hunt for both systems separately. Make sure that both of them are perfectly tailored to fulfill your requirements. Otherwise, one patient management system can work perfectly for you while the rest of the package scrambles your work.

3. Certification

   Checking for system certification is good, as a certified product is better and more reliable. But remember, a certificate doesn't mean the software is best for you. Customer support, the functioning of the patient management system, and your satisfaction matter the most and benefit you in the process. You may contact other users and get their reviews on the product before buying it.

4. Customization

   Choose software that can be easily customized according to your requirements so that you can make the most out of it. A properly optimized system delivers what you want and satisfies you while cutting the workload and expenses.

   Some other factors that should be brought under consideration before buying Patient Management Software:-

   • Price-  Money matters greatly if you run your medical facility for profit. Thus, get a system that fits your budget.
   • Business Size- You can choose a patient management system according to the size of the medical body. For example-Solo, practice, 6 to 10 doctors,11 to 20 doctors, 50+ doctors, etc.
   • Delivery mode- Systems are divided into three segments: on-premise, cloud-based, and web-based. Decide which will be best for you.

Cons of Patient Management Software

While the software has numerous benefits for all stakeholders, some potential cons are associated with the patient management software. If you are looking to buy patient management software for your hospital or medical clinic, then you need to keep the following cons in mind:

1. Privacy

   One of the important potential cons associated with the software is that privacy issues may crop up time and again because there can be many stakeholders or ‘users’ wanting access to the patient’s electronic medical records.

   Multiple access requests, and that too at the same time, invariably compromises the privacy factor. If the authorities or the software users are not following the guidelines, then the information's security can be risky. To avoid this, no unauthorized person should be able to access the data, and the required permissions should also be set.

2. Need For Training

   Properly using and executing patient management software requires a good amount of training. Users need to undergo proper training on how to use the software best. The right guidance is also required so the software users can get the desired results. The medical staff and the Doctor need to learn and get familiar with this new way of patient care. If any of the stakeholders of the software get it wrong, there arises the possibility of data loss.

   Sometimes, you may lose patients' information while using the software. It will happen only due to poor individual and system interaction or lack of knowledge regarding using the software. Thus, proper training is a must for the effective use of the software, and this can be counted as a potential disadvantage.

3. Poorly Designed Interface

   The value of design and open data regarding patient management software is very high. The user interface of the software must be very simple and easily navigable. It should not happen that the user has to spend so much time aggregating details from numerous sheets and slides on the software.

   The software must produce all sorts of data in a usable format so everyone can use it without wasting their precious time. If the software you want to buy has a poorly designed interface, users will stop using it and find other alternatives to achieve their objectives.

Market Trends of Patient Management Software

The global patient management software market is expected to reach $247.1 million by 2018. Despite the high operational cost and lack of trained IT professionals, there are huge opportunities for growth and development of the market, mainly due to the high standard of facilities provided, solid back-up by the government, and increasing patient awareness.

Regarding delivery options, the web-based segment shared 68.4% of the market in 2013. The cloud model will show the highest growth rate thanks to low operational costs and greater data accessibility. While talking about specialties, physicians are the largest community to use the patient management system.

North America has emerged as the largest market for patient management systems, followed by Europe. Other important markets include India, China, New Zealand, and countries in the Middle East.