Today's blog post comes from WebPT Copywriters Char Bohnett and Erica Cohen.

You’ve done your research; scoured the tradeshows; evaluated your options, and frankly, the writing’s on the wall: Digitally documenting with a rehab therapy-specific EMR just makes more sense than charting on paper—for your practice, for your patients, and for your sanity. But before you go ditching the pen and paper, you need buy-in, maybe from the clinic decision maker or maybe from your staff. Here’s how to go about pitching an EMR so everyone’s on board.

Tailor the Benefits
Sure, the EMR you have in mind (WebPT, of course) has tons of great benefits, everything from intuitive initial evaluations and professional finalized notes replete with your clinic’s logo to a color-coded front office scheduler and helpful alerts and reports. But no one wants to sit through a lengthy barrage of features (read: boring). Understand your clinic’s pain points first, and then tailor your conversation to how an EMR will help you solve these specific issues.

Have a front office staff who spends most of their time contacting patients to remind them they have upcoming appointments? Bring up the automatic appointment reminder feature, which can significantly reduce no-shows and cancellations, so your staff can focus on more pertinent items.

Have a clinic director who’s concerned about how much revenue he or she is losing each month because of missed referral opportunities? Remind him or her about the referral tracking report, which provides direct line of sight into which physicians are frequently referring your clinic’s services and which ones may need a reminder about your team’s fantasticness.

In short, create an emotional connection first by showing how your proposed EMR will address a real need and you’ll have one more advocate on your side.

It’s October and that means it’s time to paaartay—not just at our PPS 2012 After Party, but everywhere, all month long in celebration of all our fabulous rehab therapists. In addition to cake, ice cream, high-fives, and everything else party themed, it’s our opportunity to reach out to the community and educate them on the unique benefits of PT treatments. (Want some tips? Check out our webinar on Marketing the PT Profession.)

The APTA wants to help you reach out, too. They’ve got the NPTM logo and graphics you can place on your website, social pages, or blog as well as NPTM-themed clothing and accessories.  Meanwhile, Move Forward is raising awareness around sports injury therapy while celebrating. Check out this letter from the President of the APTA to learn more about their specific initiatives.

How is your clinic celebrating? Are you doing anything in particular to raise awareness and educate online or within your community? Share in the comments below.

Today’s blog post comes from copywriters Charlotte Bohnett and Erica Cohen.

Image from APTA

Documentation sucks. We get it. We know it ain’t warm and fuzzy with rainbows and sunshine. It’s cumbersome and bang-your-head-against-a-wall frustrating. But as a physical therapist, it’s the name of the game.

According to the APTA, documentation is crucial because it:

1. Serves as a record of patient care, including a report of the patient’s status, physical therapy management, and outcome of physical therapy intervention. It’s also a tool for the planning and provision of services and is a communication vehicle among providers.
2. Tells others about our abilities, our unique body of knowledge, and the services we provide as PTs and PTAs.
3. Demonstrates compliance with federal, state, payer, and local regulations.
4. Provides a historical account of patient encounters clinics can use as evidence in potential legal situations.
5. Demonstrates appropriate service use and reimbursement for many third-party payers.
6. Is useful for policy or research purposes including outcomes analysis.