Perceptions matter when wemake investments, includingthe investment in new soft-ware. Perceptions help us

decide what is important and whatis irrelevant, and how we focus ourattention. But sometimes percep-tions are wrong. And when they arewrong, perceptions give us someshortcuts in thinking that can slowdown our buying process or evenprevent us from investigating theproducts we truly need. We callthese kinds of perceptions, miscon-ceptions. There are many percep-tions about software and not all arehelpful. Here are three commonmisconceptions that get in the wayof doctors finding the software thattheir clinic truly needs.

Misconception: You need the most up-to-date software you can find.Reality: You need software that

supports your practice now, and for

the next two to five years.

Up-to-date is always changingand is difficult to catch. That is thenature of technology, including chi-ropractic software. When is the lasttime your most advanced cell phoneor laptop remained the mostadvanced cell phone or laptop forlonger than a year? Or even sixmonths? The life cycle of software isobviously longer than the latestsmart phones since it takes clinicsoftware longer to become obsolete.Yet, the principle remains. In orderfor technology to stay relevant,upgrades are always on the horizon.To have the latest Mac or the newestversion of Windows is fun. To chasethe latest clinic software featureswithout some serious strategybehind it could be fun. But it couldalso be expensive and unproductive.

No matter how exciting software

bells and whistles might be, havingthe latest and the best only makessense if that’s what you need rightnow. If you are very confident thatit will become necessary in the next12 to 24 months, then play with thepossibilities. But be honest withyourself about what is ahead. Forexample, if you are not ready to con-vert your practice to completely dig-ital management within the nexttwo years, then having a DICOM x-ray storage and flat panel screens,no matter how impressive, may notbe necessary.

Behind the latest features there isalways a list of standard softwarefunctions that are tried and true. Atone point, these functions were up-to-date and state-of-the-art. Now,they are non-negotiable. Not everylatest and greatest feature is goingto end up on this list of non-nego-tiable features. While standard is

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Are SoftwareMisconceptions StoppingYou From Getting theSoftware Your Clinic Needs?

By Henri Nuber

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not as exciting as state-of-the-art,it is the perfect baseline to startexamining what is necessary now.Compare software packages andfind out what is standard in each,then work your way up to the bellsand whistles. Change your percep-tion to make software shoppingless confusing.

Misconception: Software is a luxury andit is expensive.Reality: Software is a cost

of doing business. The right soft-ware may even offer a return onyour investment.

Every practice relies on softwareto some degree. Therefore, everypractice sees value in automating at

least one part of the practice. Whileyou will still see colleagues with apaper bound scheduler, you willnever see chiropractors keepingtheir books in a leather boundledger. And handwriting HCFAforms is only something that youwould do in a natural disaster withno power. Software is definitelya cost of doing business. Andthat does not change, whetherthat means a laptop, Quickbooksand Google Calendar for a youngstart-up practice, or a full clinicmanagement system with electronichealth records.

The perception of software as aluxury tends to grow with the levelof clinic automation. The connectionis not accidental. Full scale digitalclinic management with everyaspect of the practice in completeintegration is not the least expensiveway to run a clinic. However, it isalso not necessarily a reward to beenjoyed by the few. The proper set-up of a fully automated clinic canoffer opportunities for the doctor toadd dollars to the bottom line andrecoup on the software investment.According to some vendors, thismay mean even adding value to thepractice beyond what is spent on

software. For example, many pro-grams expect better collectionsthrough smarter coding and fewercoding errors, resulting in severalthousands more per year.

Software is a cost of doing busi-ness with a wide range of invest-ment. The more automation youhave, the more you will spend. Therisk is therefore greater but so isyour potential return on investment.The less automation and integration,the smaller your investment, andthe fewer clinic tasks you maintainthrough technology. Some programsare less than a grand, and others cantake you over ten thousand. Andwith the modular way that manyprograms are sold, software is really

as cheap or expensive as you wantto make it. If your price tag is look-ing more like a luxury to you, thenrethink your perception of return oninvestment and on whether thosefeatures are really necessary for youright now.

Misconception: The secret is in findingthe right program.Reality: Rather than focusing

on the program, you should startby focusing on the company behindthe program.

In the perfect world, a softwarepurchase means entering a relation-ship with a business partner whohappens to be meeting the softwareneeds of your practice. Because pur-chasing software is more than justpurchasing a program. When youcompare programs feature to fea-ture, it can get really hard to distin-guish what makes one software pro-gram different from another. Every-thing on the outside of the box or inthe product description soundsgood and often very similar. Yetcompanies, their support and howthey interact with clients can bequite different from each other. Ifyou are on the low end of softwareinvestment, then you are probably

going to be less picky about whoyou are buying from. If you aremoving toward a paperless practicehowever, your vendor’s supportthrough your adoption and execu-tion of this process can make the dif-ference between a quick and pain-less transition and a difficult one.

Clinic software often requiresmore than just an installation disc ora download from a website. Youcannot run good software on out-dated hardware and expect a fullperformance. You may not have theright networking components foryour paperless practice, for exam-ple. Training will become an inte-gral part of your success, as willaccess to software upgrades and the

right hardware upgrades. The per-fect program is never going to beperfect if the support is lacking andyour staff hates to deal with it. Ifyou can find a company that youtrust, then find out if their softwarefits the needs of your clinic andmove on from there. The needs ofevery clinic are a little bit differentand there is no perfect program thatcan meet them all.

Chiropractors often have percep-tions about software that may notbe true. They are misconceptions.Many doctors think that the latestbells and whistles, or their faith inthe perfect program or seeing soft-ware as an indulgence of a success-ful practice are guiding themtoward a proper software invest-ment. Or toward a lack of invest-ment. But it may not be true if theseperceptions are wrong. The factis you do not need the latest soft-ware, the perfect program or a luxu-rious software suite to make a use-ful software purchase. Lose thesemisconceptions and you might havean easier time finding the companyand the software that your practicetruly needs.About The Author — Henri Nuber is thepublisher of D.C. Products Review.

When you compare programs feature to feature, it can get really hard to distinguishwhat makes one software program different from another.

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