EHR Scheduling Software Features and Benefits

Effective scheduling is an important part of running a successful therapy practice, and an electronic health record (EHR) scheduling software can significantly reduce your administrative workload. 

Manually scheduling appointments and managing your schedule can be time consuming and tedious.

Enter EHR scheduling software. These tools make scheduling faster, easier, and more efficient—giving you time back to build your practice, provide the highest level of care to your clients, and foster better work-life balance. 

But what do therapy scheduling EHR systems do? What are the benefits of using an EHR, or EMR scheduling software?? And how can you use this scheduling tool to increase efficiency in your practice or fill your calendar with the things that matter most to you?

What is EHR scheduling software?

Before we jump into the benefits of EHR scheduling software and how to incorporate this type of platform into your practice, it’s important to understand what this software is..

Electronic health records (EHRs), aka practice management softwares, are platforms for clinicians and healthcare workers to use in various different clinical settings. EHRs can streamline the administrative aspects of health care, so clinicians can use, store, and access digital health records, client communications, billing and payments, documentation, and scheduling.

EHR scheduling software is built into some EHRs, but others may not have the full functionality necessary to take your practice calendar completely online. 

Features of therapy scheduling EHR systems

While the functionality of EHR scheduling software can vary by vendor, you want to look for features that are going to make scheduling easier and more effective. 

Key features to look out for when evaluating scheduling practice management software include:

Calendar integration 

In order to effectively manage scheduling, your EHR scheduling software should integrate with your calendar. 

When you block off time on your calendar, or if you already have an appointment scheduled at a certain time, the EHR software will automatically remove that time from your availability. 

Calendar syncing can prevent double-booking clients, help you practice self-care with buffer times between sessions, or avoid clients scheduling appointments during your time off. 

Online scheduling 

Back in the day, scheduling therapy appointments took significant time and effort: clients would have to call and leave a message, you would have to call back with available times, and then they would have to call back and let you know what times work. This could go back and forth multiple times before confirming a time that worked for both of you. 

With an EHR scheduling software, clients can simply go online and select a time slot for their appointment. Then, all you have to do is approve it through your software and voila—appointment scheduled. 

Online booking saves private practices hours of time otherwise spent manually scheduling appointments. It is also a better experience for clients, who often (36% of the time) book appointments after hours. 

Appointment reminders 

Sometimes, clients forget about their appointment times—particularly if they make an appointment weeks, or even months, in advance. This can ultimately lead to no-shows and late cancellations. 

The best therapy scheduling EHR systems have customizable appointment reminders built in. This allows practitioners to set automated text, email, and/or voicemail reminders prior to the client’s appointment—significantly reducing no-shows.

Appointment search functionality 

EHR scheduling platforms also allow you to organize, search, and view existing appointments and clients in different ways. 

For example, you might filter your appointments to see how many new clients are coming into your practice each month. Or, you might filter appointments based on those that are missing paperwork so you can send a reminder before those appointments—instead of finishing that paperwork in session.

Benefits of EHR scheduling

Clearly, patient scheduling EHRs can come equipped with a lot of features. But how can this kind of software ultimately benefit your practice?

EHRs offer a variety of scheduling-related benefits—benefits for you, your clients, and your practice, including:

More convenient scheduling 

As mentioned, manually scheduling a therapy appointment can be a hassle—both for the client and the therapist. EHRs make scheduling easier and more convenient for everyone..

Reduced no-shows 

No-shows can happen from time to time—and they can wreak havoc on your practice. If you don’t charge for no-shows, then you’re losing the income you would have made during the session—and if you do charge for no-shows, there’s always a chance that the client may feel frustrated and not come back to the practice. 

Having a cancellation policy in place that you can easily and securely send to your client to sign, is easily accessible in your EHR, and can even be included in your reminder text can help reduce the friction from a missed appointment. 

You can use your EHR software to send automatic reminders to clients at a chosen interval (for example, 48 hours or 24 hours prior to the session), mitigating the impact of no-shows and cancellations on your practice.

Less double-booking 

EHR software updates your calendar in real-time—which means when your client goes to book an appointment, they’re seeing your most up-to-date availability. This can reduce double- bookings or scheduling an appointment at a time that conflicts with other commitments.

Increased organization 

Keeping track of all the clients, appointments, and sessions in your practice can feel overwhelming. Using a practice management software can help you keep everything organized, allowing you to stay on top of your calendar, appointments, and scheduled sessions.

More free time

The right EHR can automate the scheduling process—freeing up time, energy, and resources for more of what you enjoy.

How to use EHR scheduling software

The best way to use an EHR will depend on the one you use. But there are some best practices that are universally applicable, such as: 

Link your calendar(s) 

Your therapy scheduling EHR system can only be effective if you add your schedule—connecting external calendars that may be relevant to keep track of your busy life. 

Link any calendars that you use to manage your personal schedule (e.g., Google Calendar, iCalendar) to your EHR. That way, as soon as you add a personal appointment to your calendar, it will automatically update in the EHR—and a client won’t be able to book that time for a session.

Use the automation tools 

One of the biggest benefits of EHRs is how they can automate processes within your practice—so, as a therapist, you’ll want to take advantage of all of those automations to save time. 

Explore what automated features your EHR offers—and then put them in place to make scheduling a breeze. For example, you can use the online scheduling tool to allow clients to book for themselves—and then schedule an appointment email to automatically send once they book. Or, as their appointment gets closer, you can have your EHR send automatic reminders so they don’t miss their session.

Get training 

Like any new software, EHRs can have a bit of a learning curve. Take advantage of any training opportunities your EHR offers. 

These tools can help you learn how to use the software in a way that truly supports your practice—and you’ll learn it a whole lot faster than if you tried to figure everything out on your own.

Train your team 

In the same vein, if you have any team members that are going to be using your EHR scheduler, like an administrative assistant or another therapist on your team, it’s also important to get them trained on how to effectively use the EHR software.

You’ll also want to make sure you have the ability to adjust their calendar access and permissions to support their function and comply with HIPAA.

Test before implementing 

Before you start using your scheduling software, it’s important to run tests to make sure that everything is set up correctly. 

Test out each feature to ensure it’s performing in the way that you want it to—and once you’ve tested everything, you can make it live and start sharing it with clients.

How SimplePractice streamlines running your practice

SimplePractice is HIPAA-compliant practice management software with everything you need to run your practice built into the platform—from booking and scheduling to insurance and client billing.

If you’ve been considering switching to an EHR system, SimplePractice empowers you to run a fully paperless practice—so you get more time for the things that matter most to you.

Try SimplePractice free for 30 days. No credit card required.