There are currently over 370 vendors of medical software solutions and they all offer different variations of the software tools and services currently on the market.
And to no surprise — companies are always looking for ways to offer additional and improved services to beat out the competition.
But with so many options out there, how do you know which of these healthcare software solutions is the best fit for your practice?
To help you figure that out, we will go over:
- What are Healthcare Software & How Many Types Exist?
- On-Premise Healthcare Software Vs Cloud Healthcare Software
- Which Healthcare Software Solution is Right for Your Practice
What are Healthcare Software & How Many Types Exist?
The term healthcare software (or medical software) includes any software that is used in healthcare. There are many different types of medical software solutions out there, serving a wide variety of functions.
These can include:
- Diagnostic and therapeutic software
- Software that runs medical devices
- Software that is used in the production of medical devices
- Software used to manage and control the quality of medical services
Here’s a list of the most common types of healthcare software solutions clinics use today:
#1. Electronic Health Record Software
An Electronic Health Record (EHR) is the digitized version of a patient’s complete medical history. This healthcare software solution is a crucial component of patient care, as it stores and organizes a patient’s medical history in the form of user-friendly graphs, summaries, and tables.
Using an EHR you can share data quickly across many medical institutions, including other practices, partnering laboratories, and imaging centers. Having your patients’ complete medical history can have a significant impact on future treatments. For example, doctors can check previous diagnoses and prescribed drugs to see what has worked for the patient in the past and to avoid possible complications.
In the electronic patient card at Medesk, it is possible to view all the services rendered during the treatment at the clinic. It allows the attending physician to get acquainted with the patient's medical history, view all appointments and reports that were written by other doctors, as well as compare the results of current and previous analyses of the patient.
Learn more >>In addition, EHR software offers the following benefits:
- Provides evidence-based decision-making support through tools that help organize, interpret, and react to critical data.
- Allows you to connect with patients, medical assistants, labs, imaging centers, other healthcare providers, and more.
- Provides vital information to doctors during an emergency.
- Allows e-prescribing so that doctors can send prescriptions directly to the pharmacy, saving their patients’ time and making collecting their medications more convenient.
And more!
If you’re still unfamiliar with EHR, make sure to read all of our EHR tips!
#2. Medical Booking Software
An online booking tool is one of the most essential healthcare software solutions for any medical practice. Your admin team will spend less time scheduling appointments over the phone, while patients can quickly book themselves a time slot based on real-time availability.
Utilize the Medesk platform to integrate online payment services and reduce no-shows and cancellations. Your patients can not only choose a specialist, but make an appointment for a specific service, or even make a full or partial advance payment via the Internet. For instance, you can request a prepayment before a telemedicine consultation to reduce the chance of no-shows or cancellations.
Open the description >>With online booking you also can:
- Learn where patients first heard about your services
- Understand which patient acquisition channels and referrals are most effective
- Allow for pre-payments to reduce the risk of cancellations and no-shows
- Create unique booking links for individual doctors, services, and locations
Be sure to also check out the must-have features of medical software solutions.
#3. Practice Management Software
A medical practice is not only a healthcare facility but also a business. This means that in addition to medical software solutions that directly relate to patient care, it also needs practice management software to run the business end of things.
As a single, centralized platform, practice management software often combines many of the other healthcare software solutions listed here, serving as a one-stop shop for you and your team. This results in better-optimized processes that are synced with one another, reducing the risk of human error or the loss of important information.
With Medesk, the clinic manager can control the doctors’ workload, monitor the patient's path on the Internet, calculate advertising and development costs.
Learn more >>Of course, healthcare software solutions cannot replace doctors and non-clinical staff. They can, however significantly improve their experience at work, make your practice more efficient and secure, and help you find creative solutions using data. For this exact reason, implementing modern private practice software in your clinic will have a direct impact on patients’ health and well-being.
If you want to know more about this healthcare software solution, check out our breakdown of the purpose of practice management software.
#4. Medical CRM Software
Medical Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is another essential medical software solution for every clinic.
In a nutshell, medical CRM allows you to store and monitor all patient visit information: medical history, patient notes, personal preferences, as well as previous interactions with your clinic.
Medesk helps to manage the work with patients. The platform tracks the entire history of interaction with them: from the attraction channel to the profit received.
Learn more >>Having all this information allows you to:
- Discover patient trends. For example, which patients have come to your clinic after seeing your advertisements? What’s the average no-show rate? How do patients usually find your practice?
- Personalize communication with each patient. Your marketing team can improve your marketing strategy by sending targeted SMS or emails to specific audience segments.
- Improve patient retention. You can use the medical CRM features to send automated appointment reminders to all patients.
And more!
Read next: EMR vs PMS: Differences & Advantages in 2021
#5. Medical Billing Software
Financial operations can be overwhelming. Whether they are big or small, medical practices ought to have a reliable and secure healthcare software solution to keep track of all financial activities, such as invoices and transactions involving patients.
Without a good system in place, invoices might get lost, payments might be delayed, and the accounting team will need to spend unnecessary time putting everything in order.
Billing software keeps all financial aspects under control and provides a secure way to handle payments. Not to mention that having a system that functions like clockwork allows you to focus on other things in your practice.
Last but not least, such medical software solutions also provide data summaries and a more in-depth financial analysis of your practice.
Want to learn more about running your own medical practice? Read our complete guide to private practice management!
#6. Telemedicine Software
With the world turning more and more to digital solutions, many have looked to telemedicine for online treatment of minor issues, post-operative checkups, and recurring prescriptions.
As telemedicine becomes a standard for many patients, you might miss out on many opportunities if you don’t implement a medical software solution that gives your patients the option to book online consultations.
You will be able to conduct online patient appointments directly in Medesk. There is no need to use personal numbers, employee contacts or third-party programs. Within the platform, all actions and connections are performed on behalf of your clinic.
Learn more >>In addition to reaching a wider group of patients with telemedicine, you can also:
- Convert any booking into an online video consultation
- Share screens with your patients to increase their engagement in their own care
- Automatically send reminders directly to patients using secure video links
Struggling to focus on your patients with everything else on your plate? Check our advice on how to spend more time on patients and less time on paperwork.
#7. Reporting and Data Analysis Software
Nowadays, it is easier than ever to collect, structure, and analyze large volumes of data. You only need to find the right medical software solution and it will take care of the rest.
The benefits of data gathering are endless. From proof of concept to deciding which department or specialty to expand, so-called big data is key. By regularly running reports and looking at graphs, you can improve the quality of your service and ultimately increase future revenues.
#8. Personal Health Record Software
A Personal Health Record is a type of medical software solution used to monitor diseases and functions as a medical diary. Patients can use this healthcare software solution to record any symptoms, medication side-effects, sensations, or their general well-being in between doctor’s visits.
This can be very helpful to doctors in making accurate diagnoses and prescribing appropriate treatments, as it provides health reports with more data points over longer periods. It can also help doctors detect if a patient’s health condition is worsening by catching the symptoms early on.
Such healthcare software solutions can be stored either on patients’ personal devices or can be integrated into the clinic’s software.
Read Next: Patient Management Software and its Benefits for Clinicians
#9. Medical Diagnosis Software
Medical diagnosis software uses Artificial Intelligence to make more precise diagnoses with minimal chances of error.
This healthcare software solution allows doctors to share anonymized patient data so that AI can automatically fill any information gaps and generate a probable diagnosis. The AI software achieves this by using medical diagnosis equipment and applying relevant knowledge.
Individuals can also use these medical software solutions to help determine whether their symptoms require medical attention.
#10. Medical Imaging Software
Another common healthcare software solution used in many healthcare practices is medical imaging software, which usually comes in handy in processing MRI/CT/PET scans and creating 3D models.
With Medical imaging software, you can create tailored 3D models of patients’ anatomy such as models of their teeth, fractured bones, or circulatory systems and/or design custom equipment or body parts such as artificial limbs or coronary stents.
On-Premise Medical Software Vs Cloud Medical Software
Medical software solutions can be stored either on-premise or online. There are many benefits to each of these options so it can be difficult to choose which one is better for your healthcare practice.
To help you make a well-informed decision, here are some of the pros and cons of each method:
On-Premise Medical Software
Pros:
- Is safer and less susceptible to hacking and data breaches
- Can be used without an internet connection
- Relies on your internal servers, meaning you never have to worry about connectivity issues
Cons:
- You are responsible for your security, so you will need a more robust IT department
- Implementation can be more expensive initially
- Requires physical space for servers, making it inconvenient for smaller practices
- Susceptible to physical damage from events such as floods or fires
Cloud Medical Software
Pros:
- Simple online installation with no need for a large or in-house IT team
- Can be accessed from anywhere and by anyone as long as access is allowed
- The vendor provides robust security services you might not be able to afford yourself
- Is backed up online and safe from any kind of physical damage
- Implementation is cost-effective
- You can collaborate with everyone who is using the same system even if you operate across multiple locations
Cons:
- Subscription fees can cost more in the long-term
- More vulnerable to cyber attacks
- Less extensive customization options
- Internet connectivity problems or limited bandwidth can temporarily hinder the use of your software
For more information about essential healthcare software solutions, check out our list of the top 6 software solutions that every practice needs.
Which Medical Software Solution Is Right For Your Practice?
With so many medical software solutions available on the market, you might be wondering how to choose the right ones for your clinic.
Unfortunately, there’s no simple answer to that. It really depends on the specific needs of your medical practice and many different factors can play a part in this decision (such as clinic size, medical field, and budget limitations, to list a few).
However, if you’re looking for a cost-effective option that incorporates many of the healthcare software solutions on our list, Medesk is an award-winning practice management software that provides most of the features listed above and more!
With our medical software solution, you will be getting:
- An online booking tool that you can link on your website and social media, making booking appointments quicker and easier for your patients
- An EHR system that will track your patient’s entire medical history and travel with them anywhere they go
- Medical CRM to keep track of doctor-patient interactions, collect valuable feedback, and improve your services
- Medical billing tools that automate the payment process, saving you time and reducing errors
- Telemedicine so that you can provide online consultations to patients that cannot visit your clinic in-person
- Reporting and analytics tools that help you compile reports in minutes and keep track of your clinic’s performance
And much more!
If Medesk sounds like the right medical software solution for your clinic, start our free trial!
Drop us a line and we'll get right back to you. We'll answer all your questions and help you to choose the best subscription model for your needs.
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