An outdated practice management system is holding back efficiency
"Our PMS was chosen five years ago when we had two clinicians. We've grown but the system hasn't kept up. It can't do half of what we need and we've just built workarounds."
Takes two minutes. A free, no-obligation chat with Solva.
- A clinic operating a PMS that requires 12 workaround steps to complete a patient registration is training staff in inefficiency rather than care delivery
- A PMS requirements brief that documents current workflows, pain points, and non-negotiable integrations takes approximately four hours to compile and significantly reduces the risk of selecting an equally inadequate replacement
- The payback period for a PMS upgrade is typically six to nine months when staff time savings, error reduction, and improved billing accuracy are included, making inaction the more expensive option in most cases
- Staff efficiency is lower than a modern system would support
- Error rates are higher in manual or workaround-dependent workflows
- Growth is constrained by system limitations rather than clinical capacity
- Management cannot access the data needed to make informed operational decisions
- Patient experience is affected by system-driven delays in booking and communication
- The PMS does not support the current clinical and administrative workflows
- Reporting and management information capabilities are inadequate
- Workarounds consume staff time and introduce error risk
- Staff onboarding takes longer because the system is non-intuitive
- Integration with billing and clinical systems is limited or absent
How to fix it
Audit the current PMS against your current and anticipated operational requirements Document the workarounds in use and calculate the staff time they consume Evaluate two or three alternative systems with a structured requirements brief before committing
Frequently asked questions
Why does this problem persist?
The PMS was selected based on early-stage needs and has not been reviewed since Workarounds have been built that mask but do not solve underlying system limitations The cost of staying on an inadequate system is never compared to the cost of switching
What is the cost of leaving it unaddressed?
Twelve additional admin hours per week per admin role at £20 per hour costs £10,560 per role per year in workaround time alone.
This is exactly what I do with UK private practices. Answer the few questions above and I'll come back personally with where to start. Paul.