What leads a veterinary practice to start looking for a new practice management system?
In all likelihood, if your current system was already meeting your needs, you wouldn’t be looking. But as with any product or service that seeks to earn your loyalty, your software shouldn’t be the root cause of so much frustration in your day. And in a profession that carries an unusually high stress load, a key role of technology is to provide efficiencies – maybe even some room to breathe.
So let’s talk about what might be wrong with your current system. And before you begin your search for new software, we’ll show you why it’s a good idea to include all members of your team in this assessment – and provide you with a tool to quickly gather their input.
Signs that your current system isn't meeting your needs
It’s rarely just one thing about your software that frustrates you. Even if one or two issues rise above the rest, you might be surprised how long that list can grow when you take the time to consider your pain points.
How many of these common complaints describe your experience with your current system?
- Cannot automate routine tasks (e.g. appointments, invoices, etc.)
- Very slow and crashes often
- Outdated user interface
- Poor integration capabilities
- Not customizable / inflexible
- Too many clicks to complete tasks
- Too difficult to learn
- Too costly to maintain
- Poor, unreliable customer support
These failures may be just the tip of the iceberg. Our advice:
⭐ Create a list of your current system’s failures and shortcomings. Then try to “solve” each of those failures with the benefits of a new system – such as cloud-based veterinary software.
And the best way to be confident you’ve documented all of your current system’s shortcomings: ask your staff.
Why should you ask your staff their opinion?
A practice management system is a complex organism, and different members of your team may have a different level of expertise with certain areas of its functionality. For example, front-office staff are likely to be more familiar with the intricacies of appointment scheduling. Veterinary technicians could tell you all about the inefficiencies of entering lab results into the patient record.
Your staff are the people who use the software the most, and they understand both its strengths and weaknesses. They may also have opinions on the features they want and need in a new system, and can help you uncover blind spots that you weren’t aware of.
⭐ We’ve made it easy to collect staff input on your current system! Download, print out, and make copies of "Scoring Our Practice Management System" – and share with your team.
Click here to get your copy of the Score Card now
Consider devoting 5-10 minutes at your next staff meeting to allow the team to complete the scorecard.
The most holistic assessment of your current practice management system will come as a result of inviting the input of as many staff members as possible – and bringing their insights to the conversations you have with new software solution providers.
