By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Chiropractic software, I haven’t discussed billing or practice management suites in some time. Still no news on any practice management software running on Linux (unless using VMware). Wow, back in November of 2007 I had a practice management software post with questions about products on the chiropractic market at that time. Also briefly in November of 2007 there was a software and attorney mail post regarding the same topic, management and billing software for the chiropractic office, and my interest in getting software running on operating systems like Ubuntu.

Many chiropractors I’ve spoken to have switched to touchscreen chart note and billing systems. Without promoting any particular brands of software I made a list of some things that would be beneficial for chiropractic clinics.

A complete system, with chiropractic specific EMR information, that’s customizable but ready to use without much customization (out-of-the-box so to speak). Should definitely be touchscreen but system should run across network of computers and function whether using touchscreen monitor or standard monitor mouse and keyboard.

Bonus if software functions on portable tablet PCs as well as in adjusting room workstations. I’ve dealt with too many practice management systems that only run well on the main computer the installation is on. That’s a major negative in my book.

Practice management software should be integrated with EMR and designed specifically for chiropractors, not just physical therapy type chiropractic offices, but real-world high-volume chiropractic practices using techniques such as Gonstead, diversified adjusting, or those that use modalities and acupuncture.

Software should be able to produce high-quality and accurate SOAP chart notes. Charting shouldn’t slow down the doctor or staff. A user-friendly and customizable SOAP system is essential, since practices vary from one to another. It should be easy for a chiropractor (and or staff) to manage the entire clinic using one efficient and effective software package.

From when a patient walks into the office, until they leave, there should be detailed beginning to end patient flow information available. Also to be customized, since chiropractic offices use different practices and procedures, when it comes to collecting payment, having people sign in, and moving to and from adjusting areas.

Electronic claims filing is an obvious essential, as are past due tracking of claims. Analytics on insurance carrier performance would be a bonus. Analytics with charts and graphs on nearly everything you can think of related to practice, such as cash income versus payments made on American Express cards, should be viewable in a graph like fashion.

What else? Who’s producing the best practice management any electronic billing claims management software out there? I know the chiropractic software companies will say their product is best, but I’d prefer to hear from chiropractors in the field (especially those chiropractors seeing large volumes of clients regularly).

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

A chiropractor in Little Ferry New Jersey sent me a brochure regarding some chiropractic management software. I’ve posted a few times that have been seeking out software that’s going to work for the types of chiropractic offices I’m familiar with.

This particular software was made by a company called Eclipse and the screenshots in the brochure made the package look like it was designed for Windows 95. I don’t know if the software is any good, but they certainly could’ve used some better formatting to not make the application look so archaic.

I ended up talking to quite a few chiropractors this past weekend about the software they’re using in their offices. With some packages ranging around $15,000, and none that have completely satisfy the needs of the over 20 chiropractors I spoke to, we decided to get together and talk to some folks about having a package designed based on the types of practices we have. I got volunteered to head up the project so I’m going to look into some open source possibilities and see what opportunities there are to develop a platform that will perform on Linux operating systems and Windows. I don’t know many chiropractor offices running ubuntu but we’ve gotta start somewhere.

I also received another invitation from a personal injury attorney to attend a conference of the Torrance Marriott. The event was complementary and included dinner and it’s actually a great way for attorneys to market their services to chiropractors. I receive more e-mails and phone calls from attorneys then I do from any other group. Almost all are seeking out chiropractors to see their clients and they’re performing local searches and discovering information about Planet Chiropractic.

If anyone has attorney offices in the United States they’d like to recommend you’re welcome to add their information in the comments or e-mail me so I can add their information to a database of law firms that handle personal injury cases.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

I received another fax today regarding some chiropractic software for managing the office. I think I saw a similar fax the other day and I was amazed how expensive some of these software packages are priced.

This was chiropractic software for a paperless office and it was being advertised for around 250 bucks a month, for 60 months. That comes out to $15,000 and this is for the most basic package. A friend of mine, who works for Sun Microsystems, was taking a look at some of these chiropractic packages and basically said they were crippled software, meaning most have the ability to offer full function, but the features are locked down for no other reason than to make more money from the purchasers.

I’m still looking for a lead on some quality chiropractic software that can be used to manage the office. One of the major problems is I want to run everything in the office on Linux and I am seeing no development in that area when it comes to healthcare applications. While I am on the topic of software, I highly recommend Clam Antivirus if you’re running a Windows machine and require antivirus software. Clam is opensource and free. Thankfully, the moonshine that’s used to run my home office servers is open source as well. I’d be running Ubuntu in the front office if I could get the Wine configuration working properly for our current chiropractic office software.

I may as well mention how much I still love WordPress and this article I just found regarding Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 came to fruition as there’s currently not a single install of Internet Explorer that gets used on any of my computers, either at home or at the office.

By this time next year I’m expecting to see greater use of Linux based software in my office and home.

By Michael Dorausch, D.C.

Many chiropractic offices, and other small businesses, continue to rely on Windows operating systems (mostly XP), for their office and business computing needs.

If you are running Windows, chances are you’re running some sort of virus protection and/or anti-spy software. I wanted to introduce you to a FREE open-source antivirus software known as ClamWin.

ClamWin Free Antivirus is a non-profit free software project and the best part about the software is that it works, and it doesn’t hog a bunch of system resources while doing so. I began using ClamWin on a desktop that I run both Windows XP and Ubuntu Feisty Fawn on about a year ago. When booted to Ubuntu I use no virus protection, but when running Windows, I would not go online without it.

The software features a scanning scheduler, does automated downloads of a regularly updated virus database, has right-click menu integration with Microsoft Windows Explorer, can be added to Microsoft Outlook to remove virus-infected e-mail attachments automatically, and has a bunch of other features.

If you’re not familiar with open source, just because the software is free, it does not mean it’s not of high quality. I’ve been happier with this antivirus software than any of the paid programs I’ve used in the past. There are a number of preferences that can be customized for the end user (see screenshot).

There are general settings, e-mail alerts, filters you can set up, settings for Internet updates, scheduled virus scans, reports, and advanced settings, allowing you to customize the software to your needs. The project is supported by a very active open-source community and there’s a lot of information available on the antivirus software’s web site.

You can visit the web site homepage to download ClamWin antivirus software or get it from SourceForge, the best resource I know of for open source software. ClamWin comes with an easy installer, so you can get started protecting your computer from viruses and spyware right away.

This chiropractor is thankful the open-source community puts out high quality software projects such as ClamWin.