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Delivering care to young children differs greatly from treating adult patients, which means pediatric practices have unique operational requirements that are best streamlined with specific technology-enabled solutions. Instead of opting for a software tailored to adult therapy, pediatric clinics need a system with specialty specific documentation, interactive engagement and configurable practice management tools that ensure proper storage of electronic medical records (EMR) (i.e. immunization cards, family medical history etc.) as well as adequate reporting capabilities. Also, pediatric therapists should adopt a billing software that includes a pediatric format for notes along with goal banks, assessment content and standardized test data relevant to the population they serve.
How Pediatric Practice Software Is Different From Regular Software
Aside from physical and occupational therapy providers, applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapists and speech/language pathologists (SLP) benefit from software that makes it easy to document visits and quickly complete therapy progress notes. It’s also important to leverage specialty-specific workflows and customizable forms that let you focus more closely on individualized treatment plans, rather than exhausting time on extensive data entry.
- Specialized Clinical Documentation
When you utilize sub-specialty templates, you can reduce the time spent on sourcing correct codes for diagnoses and treatments. As an added benefit, these templates empower users to easily collect all the necessary information needed (all-in-one platform) to properly verify insurance and manage patient revenue. In addition, customizable tables, forms and engagement narratives allow you to create targeted clinical questionnaires and better track patient outcomes that may be unique to each child’s needs (i.e. developmental growth).
- HIPAA Compliant EMR
Patient information and visit data are only valuable if you can retrieve and share it with ease. In the past, the usual approach to storing electronic medical records (EMR) involved installing software on company hard drives, but now, cloud-based solutions are becoming the norm. With one secure, single source database, you can access patient information from multiple locations and devices, which can be ideal when multiple therapists are involved in a patient’s care or when referring physicians need to stay up-to-date on a child’s progress. However, most importantly, you need a solution that securely protects sensitive client information and that is fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
- Telehealth and Patient Engagement
As more people keep discovering the convenience of virtual care, pediatric therapy practices should consider implementing telehealth, which not only gives patients and their parents the ability to participate in visits together but also enables effective communication as well as supports a clear understanding of treatment plans. Better yet – clinically embedded telehealth with screen sharing capabilities, increases documentation efficiencies and establishes better trust between patient, parent and provider. With telehealth, you can offer families more opportunities to fit therapy sessions into their hectic schedules as well as connect with patients in rural or remote areas who might not have easy access to in-person pediatric therapy close by. Click here to learn how physical therapy providers explicitly benefit from telehealth.
Without the right software in place, medical billing can be a time-consuming, labor-intensive process for your team. While older approaches require significant manual intervention and management of printed paperwork, high level automation helps streamline all your revenue cycle and billing processes in one place – electronically.
- Interoperable Billing and Engagement
Interoperable or standalone solutions allow you to seamlessly utilize different clinical softwares simultaneously within one single source database – this means if you use Clinicient or WebPT for EMR and Practice Management, you can still leverage Raintree’s RCM, billing and collections tools.
Click here to learn more about our low code, no code platform. In addition, pediatric therapists should search for softwares that include a comprehensive set of reporting filters that allow you to quickly sort through claim status codes, evaluate staff productivity and manage sub-specialty specific reimbursements. Click here to discover new and upcoming ledger strategies!
Aside from billing, engagement is another major priority for pediatric therapy practices. Due to the fact that a majority of their patients are minors, pediatric providers should heavily focus on connecting with parents via online portals or clinical kiosks. You can also find platforms that facilitate scheduled or on demand engagement campaigns, automate appointment reminders, host customizable patient/provider dashboards and most importantly, deliver electronic statements (click here to learn more about the power e-statements). By automating many of your day-to-day tasks, you can improve operational efficiency and increase revenues while empowering your team to focus more energy on delivering optimal care to your patients. Additionally, an integrated task manager can help you automate internal task triggers, track progress and monitor staff or user activity.
Managing a pediatric therapy practice will always be a complicated endeavor, but the right software can make all the difference in how you optimize clinical efficiencies, stabilize financial processes and deliver excellent patient care. To learn more about how Raintree offers providers an all-inclusive pediatric therapy software solution that streamlines every facet of the patient experience, from patient intake through final payment – click here.