Transitioning from a Salon Book to a Physical Therapy Scheduling Software System

When scheduling your physical therapy patients it seems sensible, at first, to use the old faithful “salon book.” It’s easy, inexpensive, and anyone can book appointments without training. But what problems are created by the low tech approach, compared to a modern, specialized physical therapy scheduling software system?

After using the salon book for a period of time, it becomes very clear that this is not a good long term solution. Most front desk scheduling clerks will answer the phone, jot down the appointment, and move on with life. After that, a patient calls in and asks WHEN their appointment is scheduled (they forgot). Since the Salon book is organized by date, the clerk has to flip the pages in hopes that they come across the name quickly. In the meantime, the phone is ringing and patients are waiting behind the counter. Not to mention the problems with illegible handwriting! Instantaneous access and legibility are two advantages of PT scheduling software.

And that’s just the beginning. Clinics that employ two or more therapists must find a way to communicate each therapist’s schedule. Most PT clinics make paper copies of the book but as clients call in to cancel, those schedules can become invalid as soon as they are passed out. With an integrated scheduling software, you have the ability to communicate schedule changes immediately, as they occur, giving therapists more control over their own schedule and making them more efficient throughout the day. Software also gives the entire staff different views of all schedules, allowing a therapist to transfer a patient to another therapist who may be more experienced in a specialized area of care.

Another challenge with scheduling patients is that most front desk clerks are unfamiliar with the industry and problems can arise when not enough time has been scheduled for an initial evaluation. A software system can alert the clerk when scheduling a new patient, prompting them to collect the appropriate data and scheduling the time needed for a specific appointment type.

If you are using a salon book, chances are, you are also using paper-based medical records, and a paper-based billing system. The materials used for paper-based scheduling (salon books, pencils, etc.) are inexpensive when compared to any electronic scheduling software. However, when you look at the process as a whole, the paper-based method is costing you a lot more that you realize. After all, in a PT clinic, patients don’t pay the full balance due when they check out as they do in a salon. How we wish they would!

In an effort to get patients in and out, there’s a lot that gets “dropped” in the process. Over-the-counter collections are critical to the survival of any PT clinic and scheduling software drives the timeliness and management of OTC payments to each patient appointment. Missed charges equate to free services and no clinic can survive long under those conditions. The reality is, effective billing and collections far outweighs the simplicity of a salon book.

Also see our information on Physical therapy documentation software and Physical therapy billing software.

Take a look at the case study link to see how one of our clients increased net revenue per visit by more than 35%... virtually eliminating Medicare rejections and paying for the system within months.