What Type Of Software Do Med Spas Use?

A med spa owner has plenty of things to manage in the day-to-day operations of their business, and it isn't always easy to keep track of it all. From checking if the right massage therapist or plastic surgeon has reported into work that day to making sure that online booking and appointment scheduling works as intended, there are plenty of responsibilities that a business owner and the staff need to work with managing a med spa. Medspa software makes this process a lot easier.

But what type of software do med spas use? There are generally three types of software that are essential to the daily operations of a med spa: patient/client management software, scheduling software, and administrative software. While these types of software aren't always exclusive from each other, a med spa will usually use software that can fulfill each of the three criteria in some way.

The Three Essentials Of Medical Spa Software

The goal of med spa software is simple: it makes the management of both clients and employees simple for the business owner or other higher management of the medical spa itself. There are three functions (and types) of medical software that your business should always be looking for:

Patient Management

Medical spas have the unique distinction of being halfway between a salon and a hospital, combining medical procedures with cosmetic treatments in the same building. This means that a medical spa often has to keep track of plenty of personal data about their patients and the exact kind of care that they need, so as to better treat their underlying condition and provide better service.

If your practice needs help with keeping patient information in one place, one type of management software you should be on the lookout for is an electronic medical record (EMR) or an electronic health record (EHR) system. These software systems effectively digitize the traditional paper record passed around from staff to staff, even traveling between different practices and different networks. They're an excellent tool for understanding how your medical spa treatment can be improved for a patient that's been referred to you, or to help a patient keep track of their own treatments.

These systems can even help and codify and sort your patient database for better management. Once fully integrated into your operations, you'll be able to sort your clients by the procedure that they look for on your premises, whether that's Botox injections, chemical peel, or even laser hair removal.

One thing to keep in mind is that while this software makes sharing things easier between medical professionals and staff in your own practice, there are strict rules that govern the sharing of patient data without their consent. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is an essential guidebook to what you can't and can't do with the patient data that you have.

Appointment Booking

One daily task that can quickly take up time and energy if not done properly is managing the appointments of your clients. To schedule, an appointment takes more than just jotting down their name and checking if their preferred attendant is there. It's making sure that their appointment doesn't interfere with other patients, require anything in stock that you don't have, or necessitate medical treatment after the procedure.

For this reason, appointment booking software should do more than just have appointment reminders: it should also offer you a comprehensive overview of how much capacity your med spa has with its staff and services. While client management does become a lot easier with the implementation of the correct appointment booking software, the other half of the benefit of using it is that it keeps the daily operations of your med spa relatively free from conflict.

Not only does this save you precious time and resources, but it also improves your reputation in your med spa network and distinguishes you from your competitors. If you can distribute your appointments effectively, you can essentially guarantee that there will always be customers walking through your door all the time - without sacrificing the quality that your clients have learned to expect from your business.

Of course, make sure that your appointment booking software also has all the essentials of helping book appointments easier for your patients as well. You can give them the ability to set up their own appointments online, or create an appointment book for them to consult before booking their own procedures. This can be particularly useful if they're looking for an extensive procedure like plastic surgery.

Administrative Software

Things like inventory management can be one of the most tricky parts of running a med spa, due to the specialized nature of the tools and accessories required for each different service your business may provide. Administrative software makes inventory management more manageable – not only with keeping track of where everything is in your med spa but also making sure that you have access to additional supplies when you need them.

This can be as simple as keeping your supplier’s record on file to automating requests for supplies if your med spa needs resupply every month. Administrative software frees you from the manual task of labeling, sorting, organizing, and retrieving the tools, supplies, and equipment that you need, giving you an instant overview of where everything is and whether or not you need any more of it.

Another issue that administrative software can help a med spa with is personnel management. Depending on how big the med spa is, there may be a constantly revolving roster of plastic surgeons, clinicians, doctors, and other medical professionals that report in and out of the business. This can be tricky to keep track of, especially when it comes to issues like attendance and payroll. Administrative software can be an overarching platform to keep all of these concerns in one place, making sure that a business owner has full oversight and control over their staff and can make changes as they see fit.

However, using administrative software also has the burden of making sure that you pick a software or a software provider that can secure your data and support you through its implementation into your business. Since the majority of your business operations will now depend on the smooth running of your administrative software, finding a provider that you can trust and a platform that you can use without too much time and training is crucial to the smooth operation of your medical spa.

These functions (and software types) can either be found bundled in a comprehensive piece of software or split up between different software. No matter what kind of software you pick, it’s important to check if it can help you with these three areas so you can manage your medical spa better.

Single-Software vs. Multi-Software

One question many business owners have is whether or not it’s better to use a single software or platform that can handle everything in their medical spas from end-to-end, or use different software that is specialized towards a specific function. While the best approach will be determined by plenty of factors, here are the major considerations of each approach:

Single-software use means that there’s one point of access and one point of exit for your medical spa’s entire operation. This can help keep things streamlined, prevent the loss of data or other records, and is easier to integrate into your overall business structure. However, if this software fails, your entire business will be severely hit.

Multi-software approaches mitigate the risk of your entire medical spa going to a standstill since each software compartmentalizes a function, and it’s possible to get different software that backs each other up. This can help you identify and focus on key areas that need work without affecting anything else. However, this can be confusing to operate for staff that don’t have experience with juggling different software.

Ultimately, the issue of whether you should use single or multi-software approaches will depend on how you want to run your medical spa, and the exact needs you require from medical spa software.

Using Medical Spa Software And Spa Management Software For Better Client Management

From helping manage patients to inventory management, medspa software has fast become a necessity for the operation of any salon or day spa looking to expand and streamline their services. Whether you're a medi spa looking to make appointment scheduling easier or a plastic surgery building your medical professional network, med spa software makes medical spa management easy and efficient for the service provider and the client alike.

Calysta EMR knows what a medical spa client needs from their med spa or medical practice - which is why we're a proud partner of spa owners and other cosmetic and medical practices looking to improve their client management through software. For more information about how we can help you with our medical spa scheduling software and other services, contact us today.