AOPA National Assembly
Seattle, WA
Sept. 20-23, 2009

Georgia Society of Orthotists  and Prosthetists
Atlanta, GA
Oct. 8-10, 2009

New England Chapter AAOP
Manchester, NH
Oct. 14-16, 2009

North Carolina Chapter AAOP
Charlotte, NC
Oct. 29-31, 2009

New Jersey Chapter AAOP
Atlantic City, NJ
Nov. 11-13, 2009

 

If you answered "Yes" to this, then you might not be using the Futura software to your best advantage.

One of the first steps that any facility can take to improve their clinical documentation process would be to stop wasting precious time and money by continuing to maintain paper patient charts with handwritten clinical notes by practitioners.  By implementing a plan to transition to electronic notes, a feature already available within the Futura software, your office could experience the following:

Where would your business be if you still only made prosthetic sockets out of wood?
 
Most people would agree that wood sockets are outdated in today's world and the thought of making one is laughable.  However, at the same time, many offices are still using paper processes that were in place when the lab was out back in the wood carving shop. 
 
New fabrication components and technology have been integrated into facilities for improved function and business profitability over the years.  Isn't it time that the administrative side of doing business changes with the times as well?

Some areas within an office to consider updating continue to include working towards transitioning to a paperless environment by taking advantage of improved software and hardware technological advances.
 
Moving towards an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) instead of a paper chart for each of your patients can easily be accomplished within the Futura software.  Any type of paper document currently being filed in a patient chart could easily be converted into an electronic image.  Common items which could be scanned into the Images section of a Patient master file include patient insurance cards, patient identification, component warranty cards, correspondence, and prescriptions.
 
The Images section can also support digital photos as part of the EMR.  Consider the cost savings in printer toner alone if you have been printing out color photos to be filed in a paper chart.  Not to mention unnecessary personnel time and expense.  And, again, these images can then be accessed by any staff member for either clinical review or possibly as medical justification documentation to be submitted to an insurance carrier in support of a medical claim.
 
Just as you would expect clinical staff to remain current in their CEU credits, don't put off having them learn new skills at their desk with the computer either.  Whether the hesitation is because of intimidation or lack of time, these skills are becoming increasingly vital in today's medical world. 
 
The real benefits to be seen will include reducing personnel time to comply with the increased administrative and documentation requirements placed upon the industry over the years.  Could your facility benefit from freeing time up for staff to provide more billable services?   Think of this instead of seeing people run to the First Aid kit for a bandage for yet another paper cut.

This month, we would like to remind all of our clients that it is an option to have your company logo integrated into the Futura software to allow it to be generated on several different print documents.  Most commonly, logos have been integrated into Invoices, Insurance Invoices, Statements, and Prescriptions for clients. 
 
Logos may be added to the standard documents mentioned above, but it is also possible for our Technical Support team to add them to Merge Files.  The use of Merge Files will allow more customization options for document layouts, which can enhance the overall look of any form or correspondence generated by your staff.
 
It will be necessary for logo artwork to be submitted in a .bmp format to allow our team to assist with your request.  We also ask that any text you wish to use for a custom Merge File be forwarded to our team via email to support@futuraintl.com as we cannot create these items from a faxed document. 
 
There is no charge for our team to assist you with either of these options.   In fact, making these changes could easily reduce custom printing expenses for your facility.