Orthotown June 2017 - 20

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ucla98
Member Since: 9/28/07
Post: 20 of 34

Yeah, I wouldn't be able to see high volume of patients in just four hours if I didn't have
this simple but efficient paper chart system. I can still treat patients even when there is a brief
power outage. The grass is always greener on the other side! I just don't want to waste money and
switch to a new paperless system just because of some annoyances of having to carrying charts to
different offices. It may take more time and create more headaches in dealing with new paperless
system (because of slow download/upload times, computer glitches, iPad breakages, etc) than to
just transfer the charts between offices.
Many of my patients also move from one office to another because I am only at one
location a few days a month. They missed their last appointment and didn't want to wait for
one month, so they come to my other office. Some want to see me every three weeks to get the
treatment done faster. If it's a temporary move, my staff just makes a copy of the treatment
sheet and not have to bring the whole chart. It's good that there are non-patient days for my
staff to handle all of this. ■
4/27/2016

maloccl
Member since: 5/7/08
Post: 21 of 34

Power outages would definitely be an issue, but I guess you could just pick up a pencil in that
case for the few hours. What if you had a fire, flood, theft? In these situations, digital records
and backups really shine.
Actually, iPads are battery-powered and the server and router have a battery backup. So, I
guess power outages of a short duration are not a big problem. We haven't had a big power outage
recently that I can remember. ■
4/27/2016

bentwire
Member Since: 5/29/08
Post: 22 of 34

UCLA: I can't argue with that. Making our current system better rather than changing the
system might not be a bad idea.
Splint: Sometimes I wonder if Edge was the right choice. I like it in general, but like you
have experienced it can be a bit slow even with high-speed connections. I wonder how web-based
software compares. The ability to run a web based software on any kind of hardware would be
nice. (Could mix Mac/PC hardware without difficulty.
Maloccl: Wow-that's an impressive system you've got figured out there. Thank you for
sharing. Having patients schedule themselves sounds awesome. So you haven't had problems with
the patient scheduling the wrong type of appointment, or for the wrong time or interval? I'm sure
you can control some of the parameters to prevent these problems, but in practice I wonder how
well it works. Sounds like it's going well for you. ■
4/27/2016

maloccl
Member Since: 5/7/08
Post: 23 of 34

The assistant sets "next visit" times. The computer provides a list of acceptable options to
the patient that matches assistant settings. Text and emails are used as appointment cards or
reminders from the iPad.
This can be a little less friendly, so I have my staff be present to help and talk at the front
desk. The staff likes how the problems of scheduling mostly disappear. I think the parents like to
see all the scheduling options-and they seem to rarely complain about appointment options. ■

4/27/2016

JUNE 2017 // orthotown.com

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