This post was contributed by our friends at WebPT to help you jump start your marketing efforts during National Physical Therapy Month.

Typically when discussing electronic medical record (EMR) systems, people bring up the benefits of digital documentation: it’s easier, faster, and more organized, plus it looks better than the traditional pen-and-paper method. But that’s only the beginning of the great EMR discussion. The right EMR solution provides so much more than a just means of documenting effectively and efficiently. It can also help you market your practice. Here’s how:

Referral Reporting

According to the APTA’s Marketing to Health Care Professionals guide, 94% of consumers go directly to their primary care provider for pain or mobility concerns. Those providers—hopefully—then refer those patients to rehab therapists, which means referrals play a key role in your acquisition of new patients. Thus, in addition to marketing your practice to potential patients directly, you must also market to other medical professionals. And when it comes to any form of marketing, you should track your efforts.

Good EMR solutions take into account the importance of this, and that’s why they offer referral reporting. This feature allows you to attach the name of a particular physician to each patient he or she sends your way. Later, you can create a report identifying your best referral sources as well as those that probably need a little more networking attention.

Branding

Some EMRs also allow you to place your clinic’s logo on all of your digital documents, including physician notes. This not only gives you an extra bit of professional polish, but also puts your brand in front of referral sources on a consistent basis. Subtle, I know, but effective, because as any marketing pro will tell you, when it comes to branding, repetition is key. Continue reading →