10 Power Diary Features to Improve Your Workflow During COVID-19
COVID-19 has been an unprecedented disruptor, affecting the lives of people around the world. For private practice owners, the epidemic has affected almost every aspect of running a business.
Technology to support healthcare professionals during COVID has helped reduce administrative loads and, in many cases, has allowed clinical staff to continue to help their clients even during times of lockdown.
With that in mind, here’s a rundown of the top 10 Power Diary features that make practice management easier during COVID:
1. Manage Appointments
COVID has meant that practice owners have to be more flexible to accommodate clients that have to cancel or reschedule due to illness or quarantine.
How it helps
With a few clicks, you can access and update an appointment, note the reason for the change, and automatically update the clinician’s calendar.
Learn more
Learn more about creating, editing and deleting an appointment.
2. Store and Process Credit Cards Online
Because Power Diary’s clinic management software integrates with Stripe, you can securely store and process client credit cards. This significantly reduces the time it takes to process payments, and helps prevent multiple clients waiting in confined reception spaces. If your practice also uses the Client Portal, you can set this up so that clients are required to pay at the time of booking.
How it helps
For Telehealth appointments in particular, this feature makes billing straightforward and quick, even if neither you nor the client is in the office.
Learn more
Setting up a Stripe account and integrating it with your practice management software only takes a few minutes.
Learn more about integrating Stripe with your Power Diary account. There are instructions on how to do this here.
3. Use the Client Portal to allow Clients to Book and Pay for Appointments
All Power Diary accounts include a free Client Portal. Based on your preferences, the Client Portal can enable clients to book, view, pay for or cancel appointments 24/7. This significantly reduces the administrative resources required to manage your practice.
How it helps
Booking and paying for appointments online reduces pressure on administrative staff, especially if they’re working from home or if appointments are conducted over Telehealth.
Learn more
There’s more information on how to set up and use your Client Portal here.
Learn how to enable “Require Payment” in the Client Portal.
4. Set Up Multiple Locations
You can add multiple locations to your Power Diary clinic management system for free. There’s no limit to the number of locations you can add, and you can change the default location for an individual calendar using the roster.
How it helps
Power Diary makes it simple to change the location of an appointment if, for example, a location closes temporarily or a particular practitioner in a given location is unavailable.
Learn more
Find out how to set up and use multiple locations for your practice.
5. Cancellation Reasons
This Power Diary functionality allows you to record appointment Cancellation Reasons to improve the business analytics and report on them. This way, you’ll know exactly why appointments are cancelled and can identify trends.
How it helps
Cancellation reasons can be configured to include COVID diagnosis and/or quarantine.
Learn more
Get started using the cancellation reasons feature.
6. Set Up and Edit Rosters
Roster functionality is used to determine what times in each calendar are shown as available (white or custom) or unavailable (greyed out). This helps users identify availability in the calendar quickly. Your roster is also used to determine where and when you and your team are available for appointments that clients can book on your Client Portal.
How it helps
If you have team members who are off sick, in quarantine or self-isolating, you need to change rostering. Blocking calendars in Power Diary is quick and easy, and allows you to see which clients need to be contacted to change appointments.
Learn more
For more on how to set up and edit standard weekly rosters, use the roster override feature, and set up rosters for multiple locations, this article can help guide you.
7. Manage Vaccination Status
As a clinician, you may need to know if clients are fully vaccinated and how best to record this in Power Diary.
How it helps
Your practice may have local and regional public health regulations that need to be fulfilled regarding COVID vaccination status, which is why Power Diary features include three different ways to record this information.
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The three important functionalities for managing vaccination status are:
Client Classifications, classify clients as fully vaccinated and otherwise by first creating the Classifications you’d like to use in your clinic.
COVID-19 Screening form, gather information from clients and document that they’ve been screened and are safe to arrive for face-to-face appointments.
Appointment alerts, when creating an appointment, a red alert can appear in the top-right of Power Diary that will let you know the vaccination status of the client.
Learn more about the features here.
8. COVID Screening and Telehealth Consent Form Templates
Power Diary has a number of online form templates that allow you to get information directly from your clients and eliminate paperwork.
How it helps
If you’re using Telehealth video calls to see clients, you can collect all the information you need before the session using a consent form template that can be imported and saved in your account, and then sent to clients as and when it’s required.
Learn more
To import an Online Form template, navigate to Tools > Form Designer, and Import from Library.
9. Tailored Communication with Clients
Power Diary features a suite of tools to streamline communications between your practice and your clients.
How it helpsSMS and Email Reminders
You can update your SMS and email reminder templates to include any additional information relating to COVID by navigating to Setup > Configuration > Reminders, then click on the pencil icon next to the template you’d like to edit.
Additional SMS and Email Reminders
Configure your account to enable multiple SMS or email appointment reminders to be sent to provide clients with additional COVID related information ahead of an appointment. You can create new reminder templates by going to Tools > Communication > Templates. And you can quickly configure the timing of your Reminders on an account-wide level by going to Setup > Configuration > Reminders.
Sending Bulk SMS or Email Messages
You can send bulk SMS and email messages to clients to advise of changes to your practice operations, communicate COVID precautions or convey any other important information.
Learn more
Find out how to:
Send emails or SMS to clients;
Forward SMS replies from clients;
Generate a letter;
Manage clients’ replies.
10. Telehealth Video
This is the big one, which is why we’re rounding off our top 10 with this critical Power Diary feature. Telehealth functionality is baked into Power Diary; it’s free, secure, encrypted, peer-to-peer and compliant with health privacy regulations.
How it helps
Lockdown regulations, self-isolation and other factors may make it impossible to see clients face-to-face, but with Telehealth, you can continue to schedule appointments with clients, even if it’s not in-person.
Learn more
There’s an extensive Telehealth section in the Power Diary Knowledge Base that covers everything you need to know, including:
Getting started with Telehealth;
Telehealth security, privacy and compliance;
Telehealth supported devices and browsers;
Enabling your camera and microphone for Telehealth;
Telehealth frequently asked questions;
Flagging Telehealth appointments;
Troubleshooting Telehealth;
Adding new Telehealth services and item numbers;
An example of a Telehealth consent form.
COVID presents a set of unique challenges for healthcare professionals, but that doesn’t mean your practice has to suffer.
Whether you are faced with clients, practitioners or administrative team members who are off sick, in quarantine or isolating, Power Diary features mean that the wheels of your practice can keep turning.