EHR Implementation Challenges with Aesthetic Clinics

EMR/ EHR platforms are the need for all healthcare providers, especially when they are directly linked with the healthcare regulation, but still, cosmetic spas and aesthetic clinics have been slow in adopting this ground-breaking technology. Now, most of the available EHR platforms are primarily designed for medical practices and so lose a lot of their value or usefulness when they are implemented in the aesthetic space.

The challenges to implementing an EHR for aesthetic clinic space range from compatibility to data migration to privacy. Below are some of the EHR implementation challenges faced by aesthetic clinics and how Elixir can help resolve them.

1. Compatibility: Of all the EHR implementation challenges compatibility is the biggest one mainly because existing legacy EHR systems have not been designed keeping in view the specific needs of aesthetic practices. They completely neglect crucial system required by aesthetic clinics to operate and push the existing solutions on the practices. This causes further inefficiency and redundancy in the system.

Luckily, new age EHR systems like Elixir are emerging to provide tailored solutions to aesthetic clinics which give them the same experience and importance as medical practices. Some of these functions include:

• Smart Scheduling: Elixir offers options for smart booking which can be completed for virtual & in-person appointment booking. These bookings can be easily integrated with Outlook, Gmail, etc. Elixir also helps send appointment reminders via SMS & email & help you set reminder frequency. Elixir helps you keep track of each & every appointment so that you can bill your clients accordingly.
• Custom patient note templates: Elixir’s unparalleled capabilities to create each and every note template is by far the best usage for aesthetic clinics. While the legacy systems struggle with creating your existing note templates, Elixir just does it at the click of a button. Not just that, advance note-taking capabilities of Elixir enable you to attach images and edit them as required.
• Create and send electronic prescriptions directly to the pharmacy: With e-prescription capabilities of Elixir, you can send prescriptions directly to the pharmacy of your choice.

2. Training: Every new software brings extensive onboarding and training sessions. Healthcare teams which are earlier comfortable with manual documentation find it difficult to transition to digital systems, despite all the long-term benefits of an electronic medical record system. This proves to be even more difficult with the EHR system that are difficult to grasp and have a steep learning curve. Healthcare professionals see this implementation as a disruption rather than integration and likely reject it. But this is not the case with Elixir, which has a user-friendly and intuitive features for successful implementation to decrease the overall time frame that healthcare professionals spend on the documentation. Our easy to read manuals and interactive training sessions just take a couple of hours of your time frame. It is as simple as a plug and play option.

3. Upfront cost: The major problem for smaller institutes is the upfront costs associated with bigger EHR systems which add costs for storing data on the server and cybersecurity upgrades. Cost of IT infrastructure might just throw off smaller aesthetic clinics which have just one location and a handful of people working there. The solution to this cloud based EHRs like Elixir, which work on completely secured Salesforce platforms to store your patient data safely without having to invest in additional hardware.

4. Maintenance costs: IT upgrades, maintenance costs are some of the recurring costs that smallest clinics might have to pay for legacy EHR systems. But that all erases with cloud-baessed EHR systems that are accessible on any device with an internet and also handle maintenance and repair issues at their own end. Also since the data is not stored in-house, you don’t need to beef up cybersecurity budget to reduce risk of attacks. There won’t be any additional costs other than the monthly subscription fees.

5. Data Migration: While data entry and migration are the most time consuming parts of EHR implementation, Elixir even helps you with that with their customizable notes which allows providers to create each and every note template which can be saved and used every time a patient undergoes a treatment. Even for migrating data from one cloud server to other, Elixir offers unparalleled abilities to connect with everything, making your transition even smoother.

6. Privacy concerns: Legal disputes arise from security breaches that can cost a hospital hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. This can be avoided by not going digital in the first place. Again, this concern is relevant for organizations and institutions that choose to host their data in-house. Without an in-house IT department, their health information system is at severe risk of corruption or downtime. Even with a capable team, hackers can still find their way into the system and cause data breach. With a third-party provider, your organization doesn’t have to worry about these things. With data secured on the cloud, the vendor has the legal obligation to protect the health information and your liabilities are minimized in case of a breach.

So what makes Elixir different?

Elixir has been created by healthcare industry pioneers with specific features and functionalities for aesthetic clinics. On top of improved workflow and easy access to electronic records of your patients, Elixir can reduce physician burnout and improve the way your clinic handles bookings and appointments with the following features:

• Digital consents and online payment: Send consent forms that can be electronically signed by the patient in the comfort of their own homes. These consent forms are conveniently stored on the EHR, alongside any other patient information. With the online payment integration, your clinic can allow patients to pre-pay for their treatments. This increases sign ups and helps confirm appointments, increasing conversion through convenience.
• Customizable and flexible: Elixir is an electronic record software built with better functionalities than software used by primary care providers. Whereas traditional EHR are rigid and difficult to use, Elixir is intuitive and extremely user-friendly. Customizable functionalities are available to turn patient care and digitalization automatic and hassle-free.
• Zoom conference integration: With Elixir, telemedicine is the norm, not a separate option. Aesthetic providers can host online consultations over the secure network through video conferencing. These bookings are automatically included on the calendar.
• True plug and play: Elixir can be used on any device with an internet. There is no need to invest in additional equipment or think about new recurring costs. The platform is hosted on HIPAA compliant servers and performs automatic back ups, meaning zero maintenance is required from your team.

Do fill out this contact form if you feel that Elixir will be an asset to your system.