recommended practice management programs?

[Guest guest]

hello fellow practitioners -

 

this is my first time posting on this listserv; it's been welcome and wonderful

reading so far!

 

i am preparing to launch my private practice, and i wanted to see if you had any

recommendations of good practice management programs? i'm looking for something

similar to microsoft accounting, but specific to our field ... which would be

able to generate invoices, keep track of cash flow, generate reports ... any

opinions or favorite programs?

 

(other, unrelated and unsolicited advice as i'm about to start my practice is

also welcome). :-)

 

thanks in advance for any guidance,

prajna paramita choudhury, l.ac., dipl.o.m.

oakland, california

 

 

_______________

See how Windows connects the people, information, and fun that are part of your

life.

http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093175mrt/direct/01/

 

 

[Guest guest]

Good to hear from you, Progga.

I looked into a number of them over the years. Ginko software looks

good. But basically I realized that the problem wasn't getting all the

information in one place but being able to move it around. Now, I use

paper files in the treatment room, have my appointments on my Palm

phone (with me all the time), paper insurance forms from Mission

Printing (copy in paper file), formulas in Formula Finder (also a

client tracker), contacts in my Mail program etc... So I just went

back to using what tools I had available.

 

I have no doubt that you are more organized than me but the times I

tried to keep everything on the computer, I saw I was spending a lot

of time transferring information into a central computer. Ultimately,

really no benefit for me. Guess I'm stuck in the 20th Century.

 

Let us know what you find.

Doug

 

 

, Prajna Paramita Choudhury

<proggachoudhury wrote:

>

> hello fellow practitioners -

>

> this is my first time posting on this listserv; it's been welcome

and wonderful reading so far!

>

> i am preparing to launch my private practice, and i wanted to see if

you had any recommendations of good practice management programs? i'm

looking for something similar to microsoft accounting, but specific to

our field ... which would be able to generate invoices, keep track of

cash flow, generate reports ... any opinions or favorite programs?

>

> (other, unrelated and unsolicited advice as i'm about to start my

practice is also welcome). :-)

>

> thanks in advance for any guidance,

> prajna paramita choudhury, l.ac., dipl.o.m.

> oakland, california

>

>

> _______________

> See how Windows connects the people, information, and fun that are

part of your life.

> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093175mrt/direct/01/

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hey Prajna -

 

Congratulations on your new practice! I just opened my Clinic last

year after YEARS of treating part-time around my " day job " as an

Administrator at an OM school. Being in the academic environment for

so long let me really absorb a lot of additional information above

and beyond what I'd learned as a student and I STILL had a ton of

questions.

 

While I was part-time I was using Acu-base and it worked fine, but I

wasn't billing insurance. I tried using it to bill and it was a bit

of a nightmare, so I switched to Office Ally's Practice Mate - which

is free and allows me to easily bill insurance.

 

For the rest of my tracking needs I use Quicken. If I was tracking

inventory, I'd use QuickBooks instead.

 

Best of everything - enjoy your new adventure!

 

Dia

 

Dia Vickery, PhD(Theology)

Licensed Acupuncturist / Herbalist

www.acugateway.com

dia

818.578.6730

 

, Prajna Paramita Choudhury

<proggachoudhury wrote:

>

> hello fellow practitioners -

>

> this is my first time posting on this listserv; it's been welcome

and wonderful reading so far!

>

> i am preparing to launch my private practice, and i wanted to see

if you had any recommendations of good practice management programs?

i'm looking for something similar to microsoft accounting, but

specific to our field ... which would be able to generate invoices,

keep track of cash flow, generate reports ... any opinions or

favorite programs?

>

> (other, unrelated and unsolicited advice as i'm about to start my

practice is also welcome). :-)

>

> thanks in advance for any guidance,

> prajna paramita choudhury, l.ac., dipl.o.m.

> oakland, california

>

>

> _______________

> See how Windows connects the people, information, and fun that are

part of your life.

> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093175mrt/direct/01/

>

>

[Guest guest]

With regard to any software program among the many that are available for

practice, there are a couple key points:

 

1.) Avoid the use of " My Documents " as a storage location for data. This is

the common default for many programs. Instead, create and name a dedicated

folder on the C: drive (such as " Data " ) and start from day one with that as your

program's data storage location. " My Documents " is part of what in technical

terms is called a Windows profile, and the bigger that gets the more likely

you'll have crashes and slowness due to profile corruption. Same goes for any

files stored on the " Desktop " . For those already there, move all of your data

to a new and specific folder created for that purpose outside of " My Documents "

or " Desktop " . Microsoft tries to make it convenient for unaware users, but the

result is a highly increased possibility of data loss or corruption due to the

profile issue.

 

2.) As is often said in the computer biz, there are two types of people: those

who have lost data, and those who will. Don't be either one. Back up your data

regularly on an external hard drive, CD/DVD, etc. and most importantly take it

offsite along with the discs for any programs you purchase! Backups don't do

you any good if they are lost in a fire. Just assume everyday that your

computer will crash or your drive gets fried, and ask yourself if you are ready

to recover and keep your practice going without a hiccup.

 

 

Although I'm an herbal student at this point, I have seen in over ten years in

the computer networking field that these two points are critical. Feel free to

contact me off-list for additional input.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Jamey Kowalski

St. Petersburg, FL

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I use Clienttracker, but am beginning to phase it out. I think it's a great

program to start

with as it does everything (calendar, contacts, invoice, inventory, reports,

billing, etc.), and

most importantly it's inexpensive, I think around $300. From what I've seen,

AcuBase is

probably a marginally superior product, but it is now much more expensive, 6 or

$700

upfront, plus a few hundred dollar, yearly renewal fee.

 

also, if you're just starting your own practice clienttracker is really helpful

because they

have templates for most of the intake and legal forms you'll need.

 

The biggest drawback to both of these programs, and all other acupuncture

specific ones

that I know of, is that the info is not stored remotely, or accessible online.

I found this

very difficult, especially when scheduling patients. I now use iCal on my mac

and iPhone,

and have it synced through mobileMe which has been an amazing improvement over

the

ClientTracker calendar.

 

For the same reason, I'll soon be loading all of my contacts into mobile me, so

they'll be

accessible via any computer and my iphone, and best of all, I don't have to

worry about

backing anything up, it is always safe, as it's automatically on my office

computer, home

computer, phone, and a remote server.

 

for billing I also use Office Ally, this has been a lifesaver. I make my HCFAs

in client

tracker and submit them to officeally, though you can fill out the HCFAs

directly into office

ally and skip client tracker if you want.

 

I'll probably phase out client tracker altogether as soon as the new quickbooks

for mac

comes out, which is supposed to be a significant step up from the current mac

quickbooks.

 

but as I mentioned, I'd recommend starting with client tracker, it does

everything pretty

well, and most importantly is very affordable.

 

Sean Michael Hall, L.Ac.

 

East Bay Acupuncture & Natural Medicine

2346 Stuart St.

Berkeley, CA 94705

(510) 457-8886

www.ebacupuncture.com

 

, Prajna Paramita Choudhury

<proggachoudhury wrote:

>

> hello fellow practitioners -

>

> this is my first time posting on this listserv; it's been welcome and

wonderful reading so

far!

>

> i am preparing to launch my private practice, and i wanted to see if you had

any

recommendations of good practice management programs? i'm looking for something

similar to microsoft accounting, but specific to our field ... which would be

able to

generate invoices, keep track of cash flow, generate reports ... any opinions or

favorite

programs?

>

> (other, unrelated and unsolicited advice as i'm about to start my practice is

also

welcome). :-)

>

> thanks in advance for any guidance,

> prajna paramita choudhury, l.ac., dipl.o.m.

> oakland, california

>

>

> _______________

> See how Windows connects the people, information, and fun that are part of

your life.

> http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/msnnkwxp1020093175mrt/direct/01/

>

>

[Guest guest]

Years ago I wrote a favorable review of Acubase. Back then it was

basically a herb and formula database and I think this was before it

had any client features. Apparently they still use this review in

their ads. Unfortunately, now I wouldn't endorse the product because

of this expensive renewal requirement of the program. Too bad.

Doug

 

 

 

, " sean_michael_hall "

<seanmichaelhall wrote:

>

> I use Clienttracker, but am beginning to phase it out. I think it's

a great program to start

> with as it does everything (calendar, contacts, invoice, inventory,

reports, billing, etc.), and

> most importantly it's inexpensive, I think around $300. From what

I've seen, AcuBase is

> probably a marginally superior product, but it is now much more

expensive, 6 or $700

> upfront, plus a few hundred dollar, yearly renewal fee.

>

> also, if you're just starting your own practice clienttracker is

really helpful because they

> have templates for most of the intake and legal forms you'll need.

>