Practice management system - how to choose the right software

What is a practice management system?

The practice management system (PVS) is software for the special needs of medical practices and is part of Basic equipment for registered doctors and psychotherapists. Common synonyms include practice information system (PIS), doctor information system (AIS) or simply practice software. The most important functions of a PVS include document management, patient administration, accounting and communication.

The decisive factor is Connect to a KIM serviceto be able to access the state telematics infrastructure. Only in this way can applications such as billing with an Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KV), which electronic health records or that E-prescription be used.

Typical challenges with a practice management system

Like any software, a practice management system also requires regular updates, to function safely and without interruption over the long term. These updates can quickly get lost in stressful everyday practice. Many PVS providers therefore now rely on Software as a Service (SaaS) and offer the maintenance and maintenance of their software as a subscription model.

But even updates do not always protect against failure. Like a Survey among Berliners Doctors show that almost half of all medical practices are confronted several times a month with problems related to the practice management system and the telematics infrastructure. A quarter even experiences weekly practice software crashes.

According to the interviewees, however, changing the PVS is out of the question because the effort and fear of data loss is too great. 70% of those who had already changed their practice software, however, stated that the change would have been worthwhile.

Can a PVS go into the cloud?

The connection to the telematics infrastructure is a form of cloud computing. But can practice management systems also offer cloud applications? The answer is yes, when personal data is adequately protected.

It is important that the cloud service provider itself has no access to the highly sensitive patient data. Otherwise, medical confidentiality would be violated. This requires encryption technologies whose Key material reserved exclusively for medical practice is.

In fact, PVS connected to the cloud offer significant advantages to your practice, especially because medical practices have their Keep records for 10 years must. As a result, huge amounts of data are accumulated over the long term. Storage in the cloud prevents lack of space on local data carriers.

In addition, the cloud connection allows a Work from anywhere. As a result, doctors and MFAs can also perform appropriate administrative tasks while working from home. This option makes your medical practice attractive as an employer and can help you find personnel.

What are the main criteria for choosing a practice management system?

Since one of the central functions of a practice management system is billing with statutory health insurance companies, PVS must approved by the Federal Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians (KBV) become. This fact ensures important basic functionalities and safety.

Despite strict requirements, there are a variety of providers and sometimes big differences in the scope of services. It is not easy to keep track of everything here. As an aid, we have summarized the most important criteria that you should consider when making your selection:

• Field of study: Practice management systems must support subject-specific processes, such as PAP smear at a gynecologist or audiometry at an ENT. It's important that your provider provides a PVS specialized in your area of expertise. This gives you all important functions and, ideally, still a streamlined user interface.
• Practice size: The size of your practice also influences the choice of practice software. An individual practice has different requirements than a joint practice or an MVZ. Scalability and flexibility are therefore important criteria to ensure that the software can meet the requirements of your practice size.
• compatibility: The compatibility of practice software is crucial for seamless integration into existing IT infrastructures and medical devices. Interfaces enable seamless data exchange with medical devices (GDT) or laboratory data transfer (LDT), for example. In addition, the PVS must be compatible with your existing operating system — be it Microsoft, macOS, or Linux.
• Features: Every practice management system must cover certain basic functions in order to map the daily processes in your medical practice. This includes patient management, medical documentation, and billing. In addition, additional modules can facilitate communication with patients, for example through telemedicine or online appointment booking. The KBV publishes Admission lists, which include all approved functionalities of the respective PV.
• Ease of use: The user-friendliness of practice software is decisive for acceptance and efficiency in everyday practice. An intuitive user interface, logical menu structures and easy navigation help your practice staff quickly become familiar with the software. Training and support are also important factors to ensure that you always receive timely assistance if you have any questions or issues.
• costs: Last but not least, the costs of purchasing a practice management system are decisive. Comparing these in relation to the range of functions is often difficult. In principle, it is possible to buy a PVS or rent it as a SaaS variant.

Note: You can also easily expand the range of functions of your existing PV using GDPR-compliant additional tools such as Nelly expand. Nelly offers secure interfaces for all common PVS. In this way, you are spared time-consuming changes and you still benefit from new amenities such as digital anamnesis or efficient invoice delivery with factoring.

Conclusion: How to optimize your PVS

The practice management system is part of the basic IT in medical practices. Even the basic package includes applications such as electronic health records or electronic certificates of incapacity for work included. These legally enshrined functions are intended to support digitization and thus the efficiency of your work processes.

All the more important is as much as possible smooth and intuitive functionality. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Regular updates are essential here to minimize the incidence of faults and to ensure a high level of security when handling sensitive patient data.

However, there is particularly much potential for optimizing the processes in your medical practice in the additional functions that a practice management system can offer — or supplementary software such as Nelly. This includes, for example, web-based applications for Doctor-patient communication and a far-reaching Automate routine tasks.

Take advantage of the wide range of options to optimize your practice management without much change and offer your patients a timely and seamless supply with Nelly. Wir advise you without obligation and free of charge about your individual case,

‍Contact Nelly now!

The personal names used in this article always refer equally to all persons. Dual naming and alternate names are omitted in order to improve readability.