7 Benefits of Electronic Medical Records For Your Aesthetic Practice

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are a digital record of the patient’s medical and treatment history maintained in any clinic. They can be thought of as an electronic version of the patient’s medical records, kind of like the doctor’s file that is with you and your medical professional. The advent of technology has led to innovation and convenience in the healthcare sector too. Thus, a large number of aesthetic practitioners are also adapting to the use of EMRs. Further, the requirements of data protection under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) also make it necessary for medical practices to pay attention to security of patient data that they maintain. An effective EMR can lead to a lot of benefits for your aesthetic practice. We discuss some of the benefits below:

1. Saves Time - In a manual setup, record keeping is a necessary but mundane task which takes away precious time which could have been spent on patient care. It is also quicker to retrieve records of patients who come in the second or third time if their medical and treatment records are kept in a digital format using EMRs. With specific reference to aesthetic practice, the use of digital technology can be really useful in showing patients the improvements in their appearance over time through side by side photography.

2. Ensures Compliance - As stated earlier, HIPPA compliances have become one major reason why aesthetic practitioners are moving to EMRs from manual record keeping. These days, EMRs are well suited for HIPPA compliances and what’s more, they are regularly updated by the software providers so that they can report as per the changing regulations.

3. Anytime Scheduling - A robust EMR for aestheticians also has a scheduling feature built in the system. This is crucial because if everything from patient records to practitioner notes are maintained digitally, it doesn’t make sense if you have only one way to book an appointment - through calls. The system makes sure that patients can make a booking at any time they like. It also ensures that not only are the aesthetic practitioners available to take care of them but the necessary equipment is also at their disposal.

4. Better Inventory Management - In an aesthetic practice, there are a lot of products that need to be administered to the patients. For all these products, inventory management is required to be done otherwise there would be chaos. An EMR system records the lot size and the dosage of the product that you administer to the patient. Also, once it is administered, it automatically gets deducted from the inventory. All this leads to better inventory management. This is also very helpful when there is a complaint from a patient as it is very easy to identify the lot size and batch number of the product administered to them.

5. Increased Billing - Healthcare is only going to get more expensive. In this context, an aesthetic practice can benefit from an organised work flow system that an EMR brings to the table. Whenever we discuss the pros and cons of EMR systems, the most talked about benefit is that it saves a lot of physical space as all the data is maintained in the server. What is forgotten is the benefit of increased billing that results from a fully integrated system. The staff at your aesthetic practice will be more efficient due to this process improvement and thus lead to higher billing on that front too.

6. Increases Credibility - The use of an EMR signals to your patients that you are taking their data privacy seriously. It is well known that physical data is more prone to misuse or leakage as compared to digital data which can be password protected with multiple levels of access. Further, it also lets the patient view their progress in terms of their appearance over time with the treatment that they are receiving immediately from day one. This increases the credibility of your practice in the eyes of the patients.

7. Enhanced Communication - One of the major benefits of using an EMR is that it leads to enhanced communication between you and your patients at one level and between you and your team at another level. Colleagues in your team can share sensitive patient information with each other for purposes of consultation without worrying about violation of privacy.  

When it comes to use of EMRs in an aesthetic practice, the benefits far outweigh the initial cost and effort it takes to digitise the existing records. Thus, it becomes crucial for you to choose the right EMR which leads to efficiency in your team. In the digital age, it is important to choose one which also provides automatic data backups so that you do not lose all the precious data which is integral to your practice.