Whether you are starting your own musculoskeletal therapy business or moving your existing practice from paper notes and calendar bookings to a digital system, the number of different platforms available to you can feel overwhelming.
How do you evaluate these platforms available to you seeing as they all offer something slightly different? In this handy guide we help you think about what you want and need from your digital therapy partner.
This comes in at number one as without it your business and your reputation are at risk. With the average annual cost of security breaches to small businesses in the UK being over £2700 it is essential that you chose a software provider who meets the regulatory requirements of a therapy business.
It can feel like a complex topic and we will write a blog covering everything you need to know. But in the meantime, use this checklist to benchmark each platform’s security features:
If your provider has these four certifications you can be more confident that the sensitive personal data that you are sharing will be in safe hands.
Coming in at a close second is cost. Cost is often the primary benchmark for therapists when choosing new software. Many of us are tempted to select the cheapest software provider in order to reduce our own business costs and to increase our profit margins. This is an understandable strategy to take, and with a number of free exercise prescription platforms on offer it is certainly something you can do.
If you are a sole trader who sees only a couple of private clients per week, this may well be the best choice for you, otherwise you could be at risk of paying more for software than the income you receive. But if you have a larger practice there are many benefits from investing in a platform such as Rehab Guru. For instance, Rehab Guru enables you to:
All of these features (and many more) enable you to stand out by giving your practice the professional and trustworthy look and feel that clients both value and seek in a busy marketplace.
Platforms such as Rehab Guru give you the ability to really transform the way that you run your therapy business and to keep you aligned with the innovation and high quality that we see from the fitness and wellness industry. Why not give that level of customer experience to your clients?
The third consideration is the support that your provider gives you both with onboarding and if something goes wrong. Now, we know you aren’t all technology experts and that you would rather spend your time being excellent therapists, this is why when you are selecting a software provider for your business that you need to have confidence that support is not far away and that it is not going to cost you extra should you need that support.
One way to evaluate this is to look through review sites like Trustpilot which have honest and independent reviews on technology providers. Their overall score is not just based on the number of stars that the reviewers have given, it also takes into consideration; number of reviews, age of reviews etc.
For instance, you can see from Rehab Guru’s reviews that the speed and efficiency of their tech support is something that is mentioned repeatedly as being excellent. If you can't find any information regarding tech support it is worth reaching out to existing customers to find out how their experience has been.
When choosing a new platform, it is important to consider your vision for your business. You might not need an online booking system when you are finding your first ten clients, but in no time at all it is likely that you will. One way to identify your needs is to take your vision for your practice in the future and map out the features that you need from your software to enable you to run that practice efficiently and reliably. You can then separate those needs into:
Once you have taken the time to compile this list you can benchmark each software platform against your requirements and make your choice with confidence knowing that you have chosen the right platform for you. Always remember that what is right for one clinic, might not be right for you.
If you would like to know more about Rehab Guru and the benefits we can offer you as your trusted partner, sign up for your free trial here.
A former Exercise Rehabilitation Instructor (ERI) in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He went on to compete for Great Britain in Modern Pentathlon. He is now an RAF Training Officer. As the CTO he leads the engineering team at Rehab Guru.
