Technology influences our lives in many different ways, both at home and in the workplace. With the advent of EHRs and a naturally more tech-savvy consumer, there has been a massive push to transform traditional office-based operations into ones that use tech smartly to keep the machine well-oiled. Today we look at how one piece of technology that almost all of us possess can assist us: the smartphone, and its many applications.
Check out these 5 apps / practices that could potentially boost your productivity, and save you both time and money.
1 Epocrates
This is an all-in-one-type app that does everything from check drug interactions to pill identification to selecting national and regional healthcare insurance formularies for drug coverage information. The app can also perform many calculations such as BMI and GFR, and it provides access to the latest medical news and research. According to their website, 1 out of 2 physicians use Epocrates—a whopping 1 million members of the healthcare community. It is subscription based (with a free trial).
2 Doximity
This is an industry and social platform for communication between doctors and clinicians. According to their description in the Apple app store, “Doximity is the largest medical professional network in the US, with over 60% of clinicians as members. Through both mobile and web platforms, clinicians can use Doximity’s free tools for HIPAA-secure communication, electronic faxing, reading custom-curated medical news, and career management…designed exclusively for healthcare professionals.”
3 drchrono
This is a subscription-based practice management suite and one of only a few that is simultaneously deployable on tablets, smartphones, desktops, and even the Apple watch. According to their description in the app store, “To date, drchrono’s Meaningful Use Stage 1 & 2 compliant platform is used by over 80,000 physicians & 5.5 million patients” and it was “voted the #1 iPad Electronic Health Record three years in a row by 20,000 physicians.” This app is ICD-10 ready, has real-time medical speech-to-text, electronic sending of prescriptions and lab requests, and referrals.
4 Electronic Payment Platforms
While this is more on the buyer-side of things, you can ease some of the burden of billing and possibly eliminate waste by making your practice friendly to consumers who wish to pay electronically. Apple Pay, for instance, allows its users to link up their credit cards with their smartphone, so that in many locations they can pay with a swipe of their phone. Millennials in particular are cozy with the idea of paying with their smartphone, as we touched on in a previous blog post, and it could be a great way to tap into this ever-growing market.
5 Quotes
As a physician in a private practice, you are both the brain and the heart of the operation. While Quotes is not specifically tailored to physicians, any leader will find it daily doses of knowledge and wisdom inspiring while having their morning cup of coffee. Take a look at this nice article on Inc.com for a list of 10 apps that may also enhance your leadership skills and help you formulate and realize goals for both your practice and personal life.
Give one of our representatives a ring to discuss ideas about how to make technology work for you, or fill out our online, no-hassle free quote. At PracticeProtection, we of course focus on insuring medical professionals, but our philosophy of “by doctors, for doctors” extends to helping our clients navigate the difficult road of practice management so that they can focus on what they do best: helping patients.
