Download The ABC of Practice Management Systems Pt3


The
ABC
of
Practice
Management
Systems
In
this
series
of
five
articles
Anthony
Ridley‐Smith
sets
out
to
help
any
Practice
Manager,
in
any
environment
and
with
any
technology,
enhance
their
existing
systems
or
ditch
the
whole
thing
and
start
again!
There
is
no
perfect
Practice
Management
System.
All
products
have
their
strengths
and
weaknesses.
No
two
firms
are
the
same.
So
what
will
suit
one
firm
will
be
inappropriate
for
another.
This
means
he
can’t
be
too
prescriptive
about
particular
features
or
technology
and
will
this
be
completely
vendor
neutral.
The ABC of Practice Management Systems – Part Three In
part
three
Anthony
provides
4
more
observations
on
the
process
of
engaging
with
software
vendors
that
will help you avoid some of the most common issues with major system change projects. You
have
decided
to
change
your
Practice
Management
System.
Now
what.
A
successful
system
implementation
can
provide
your
principals
and
employees
with
the
tools
to
provide
superior
customer
service.
Last
month
we
focused
on
4
observations
about
the
vendor
selection
process:
The
price
is
not
the
cost
Involve
you
IT
support
team
Obtain
references
that
are
relevant
Approach
data
migration
with
caution
This
month
I
wrap
up
my
observations
on
engaging
with
software
vendors.
Observation
9
–
Sell
the
decision
Once
you
have
chosen
a
new
Practice
Management
System
you
must
start
selling
the
decision
to
the
rest
of
the
firm.
Arrange
a
demonstration,
handouts
or
link
to
an
online
demo.
Sell
the
efficiency
and
accuracy
benefits.
Have
good
reasons
for
why
you
didn’t
go
for
other
systems.
Create
realistic
expectations
about
the
new
system.
Don’t
overpromise.
If
it
doesn’t
have
a
feature
that
people
were
hoping
for
spell
that
out
and
why.
Invite
feedback.
A
user
may
raise
a
concern
that
no
one
has
thought
about.
Provide
a
project
timeline.
The
single
biggest
cause
of
project
failure
is
a
lack
of
communication
with
the
users.
I
have
had
the
experience
of
walking
in
to
install
new
software
with
users
saying
“Who
are
you,
what
software?”
There
had
been
no
communication
from
management.
Consider
engaging
an
outside
project
manager
to
assist
you.
I
know
you
all
have
a
fantastic
skill
set
but
project
management
may
not
be
part
of
that
skill
set.
A
third
party
can
sometimes
bring
sanity
to
a
situation
going
off
the
rails.
Sell
the
benefits
in
terms
of
efficiency
without
overpromising
Provide
an
implementation
timeline
Observation
10
–
User
training
is
more
important
than
you
think
There
is
a
classic
line
during
a
systems
implementation.
“We
are
way
over
budget.
Lets
cut
back
on
training.
Train
one
of
us
and
we
will
train
the
rest
of
the
users.”
Good
user
training
achieves
increased
productivity
faster
and
shortens
the
bedding
in
period
dramatically.
I
would
suggest
that
there
should
be
a
2
stage
approach
to
user
training:
a. User
training
on
the
day
before/day
after
migration
–
I
think
this
training
has
to
deal
with
showing
all
users
how
to
complete
their
most
basic
work
in
the
new
system.
b. User
training
1
month
after
implementation
–
to
go
deeper
into
the
functionality.
At
this
point
users
will
have
some
familiarity
with
the
product
but
have
questions
and
annoyances
that
can
be
addressed.
From
an
IT
perspective
the
typical
new
user
induction
process
seems
to
involve
forgetting
to
tell
the
IT
department
there
is
someone
new
starting
until
after
they
start.
Then
they
are
given
a
login
and
PC.
Then
the
new
user
picks
up
everything
else
from
the
person
next
to
them
who
started
3
weeks
before
them.
I
think
every
firm
–
large
or
small
–
needs
an
employee
(multiple
employees
maybe)
that
is
passionate
about
the
software
and
systems.
They
know
the
agreed
way
of
doing
things.
And
they
should
train
the
new
users
in
the
correct
way
of
doing
things
and
be
available
when
there
are
questions.
User
training
is
the
only
way
to
actually
achieve
the
benefits
in
production
Make
sure
your
new
employee
induction
program
includes
software
training
Observation
11
–
Change
the
way
you
do
things
I
am
always
surprised
at
the
number
of
firms
that
implement
new
software
only
to
completely
replicate
what
they
used
to
do
in
the
old
system.
I
really
can’t
see
the
point
of
this.
If
all
you
want
is
a
prettier
way
of
doing
the
same
things
then
change
your
colour
scheme.
The
reason
you
put
in
a
new
system
is
to
produce
real
change.
Everyone
has
a
love/hate
relationship
with
change.
But
if
there
are
some
real
tangible
benefits
that
flow
from
the
change
then
you
have
turned
a
negative
into
a
positive.
Classic
example
–
one
firm
I
worked
with
used
the
opportunity
of
introducing
proper
document
management
to
start
moving
to
digital
data
–
they
started
scanning
everything,
asked
their
experts
and
other
firms
to
send
everything
digitally.
It
changed
everyone’s
attitude
to
paper.
The
immediate
effect
was
less
paper
clutter
in
office,
everything
available
on
screen,
not
jumping
back
and
forth
to
manila
folder
and
it
made
working
remotely
more
productive.
If
the
new
system
isn’t
going
to
achieve
significant
benefits
then
don’t
waste
your
time.
Use
a
major
system
change
as
a
catalyst
for
change
in
the
way
you
do
things
Observation
12
–
Software
can’t
solve
management
issues
I
sometimes
get
the
feeling
that
Practice
Managers
would
like
a
software
system
that
eliminated
all
HR
issues.
The
perfect
software
would
capture
all
time,
produce
error
free
documents
on
time,
keep
the
budget
in
balance
and
clean
the
kitchen.
The
fact
is
that
some
issues
are
management
issues,
people
issues.
Software
can
be
excellent
at
enforcing
uniformity
and
implementing
policies,
but
it
shouldn’t
be
seen
as
some
kind
of
magic
that
helps
you
avoid
making
the
tough
decisions.
Don’t
expect
software
to
solve
people
issues
So
far
I’ve
given
you
12
observations
on
the
process
of
engaging
with
software
vendors
and
implementing
new
software
systems.
Next
month
I
will
start
discussing
software
functionality.
Anthony
Ridley‐Smith
Director
matrix
solutions
Tel:
02
9233
3548
Mob:
0412131531
Email:
[email protected]
Web:
www.matrixsolutions.com.au
Copyright
2011
Anthony
Ridley‐Smith,
Matrix
Solutions
Pty
Ltd