Half the battle: Finding the right software

Is your practice considering a shift to a paperless environment? If so, you should consider your provider options carefully. John Nosek, MPA, CMPE, administrator of Greensboro (NC) Orthopaedic Center, says his decision was relatively easy. Nosek decided to use Medic, a Raleigh, NC, company that had provided the practice with its billing software. The company was offering a computerized chart program it was touting that could be easily integrated with the billing program. "We didn't search further because we would have had to change our billing system," he says.

But there are other providers. Mack Mackintosh, MPA, CMPE, executive administrator of Delmarva Orthopaedic Clinic in Easton, MD, looked at other systems, including one by Cycare in Scottsdale, AZ. "We were looking at buying a whole new system anyway, so we looked around," said Mackintosh. In the end, he opted for the Medic system, too, in part because he negotiated to be a beta test site for the system, which allowed for benefits such as free installation.