If you own a growing private mental health practice, maybe you have considered investing in mental health management software. If you’ve done some research, then you know how beneficial mental health management software can be for your practice. But what you might not have read in your research is how important integrated accounting can be when making a choice between mental health software solutions. Beyond the usual benefits that accompany cloud based accounting, your private practice can especially benefit from mental health accounting software.
Why Cloud Based Accounting Is Better
Ultimately the best advantage that mental health accounting software provides is its efficiency and accuracy as compared to spreadsheets, pen and paper. Excess labor and miscalculations will be a thing of the past with mental health accounting software. In turn, this will lead to detailed financial reports that can be completed in seconds instead of hours. With mental health accounting software being cloud based, these reports and data can be updated and shared automatically, providing your growing practice with data transparency. It’s especially important to consider how conveniently data can be shared between departments. Mike Whitmire from Forbes states “Accounting works with each department on a regular basis,” so the ability to share data between departments through cloud accounting software can really save your staff time and avoid unnecessary problems.
But while there is transparency within your private practice, you don’t have to worry about security leaks. Mental health accounting software is more secure than any alternatives, as Norton points out when talking about cloud based storage, “The data that you save with cloud service providers may likely be safer than the information you’ve stored in your computer’s hard drive”. This security extends to the rest of your mental health software so that you make sure that your private practice is always HIPAA compliant.
Mental health accounting software isn’t just for tracking and calculating expenses.. Mental health billing software also manages payroll information, from salary earned, to hours worked to time-off taken, and much more. All of it is made simpler for the human resources department. This feature is especially important for your private practice, where doctors might have to spend odd hours helping patients and not sitting down to take care of logistical documentation.
These are just some of the main benefits that private practices can gain from mental health accounting software. Maybe you’re wondering why you should look for integrated accounting instead of buying a separate software program to manage that facet of your business. Well, there are two big reasons why an integrated accounting feature will be better for your private practice.
How Integrated Accounting Makes a Difference
A big advantage to integrated accounting software is the ability to sync data. You won’t have to worry about whether the data will transfer or share between two programs because there won’t be two separate software programs, just one, unified software system. Synced data allows for quicker financial decision making and can offer benefits, too. For instance, your private practice can send invoices electronically and because you have your accounting software integrated with your practice management software The process is almost effortless compared to using multiple, disconnected software systems that don’t easily share data between them. Mental health accounting software also facilitates the logistics of insurance claims. Because data is centralized in one system, your staff no longer has to hunt down information in order to properly file claims—it’s already synced together.
However the simplest reason why an integrated accounting option is better is because it’s more cost effective. Why pay for two separate programs when you can pay for one instead? Additionally, there’s the benefit that the staff working in your private practice will only have to learn one software program instead of two, decreasing the cost of labor and time getting up to speed.
Patient Focused
While all of this certainly makes work more efficient for your staff, integrated mental health accounting software helps your patients as well. As previously mentioned, patients can receive their invoices electronically, meaning they can receive their invoices quicker and more securely, but there are other benefits for patients as well. Patients can pay electronically too, ultimately increasing a patient’s payment options to suit their needs. They can view their past bills, see their transaction status, and ultimately have a clearer and easier picture of what their financial obligations are in relation to their healthcare..
Perhaps most importantly is the customer portals that accompany mental health services software. Patients and staff can have communication that is convenient for both sides. If they have a question about their most recent bill, patients don’t have to spend half an hour on hold while trying to contact someone, and staff can immediately help patients with the most up to date data that’s all in one place.
The more efficiently a software handles the processes of a private practice, the more time can be spent taking care of patients and focusing on their treatment.
The Takeaway
Choosing a mental health services software is an important step to take for your growing private practice so, when you compare your options make sure to look for a software that includes mental health accounting software. Not only will it improve the efficiency of your accounting team and reduce miscalculations, it will benefit your whole practice. With secured, synced data, every process will be more effective and help both the staff and your patients.
