Technology is changing the world at great speed. Many industries are restructuring to leverage the benefits that come with the age of information. With the emergence of chatbots, AI and telehealth, the future of the therapy landscape is changing. The more healthcare leaders can adopt the use of high quality technology that can improve outcomes, then the more likely we’re going to reach our highest goals together.
There are many options when looking to adopt new technology within allied health therapy clinics. Whether you’re looking for a practice management software, or a telehealth session host, or a platform like Theratrak to prescribe home programs, adopting new technology can help your clinic in many ways.
The benefits can help improve the quality of your therapy delivered to participants, improve relationships between team members, and can improve your clinic’s bottom line.
It’s well known that change within healthcare does take time, but once you’ve decided to embrace change, what are the benefits of adopting new technology within clinics?
Read more about the five key benefits of using technology within allied health clinical practice.
5 Benefits of Adopting New Technology In Clinics
Resource Efficiency: Streamlining Workflows for Therapists
Fun, Games & Learning: Making Therapy More Exciting
Remote Care: Breaking Time & Location Barriers
Instant Feedback: Real Time Communication for Outcomes
Long-Term Goals Unlocked: Track Over Time with Analytics
1. Resource Efficiency: Streamlining Workflows for Therapists
In allied health, there’s a running joke that the paperwork and admin requirements never end! We know we’re going to have to document case notes, write reports, create home programs then write up more feedback and plans for participants.
Nobody wants to put time into administrative tasks when there are more important tasks to be tackling. Clinics can free up time by automating repetitive administrative tasks, choosing technology that supports workflows. There are different types of tech platforms that can help to ease this admin burden, improve the consistency of outcomes with the tasks, as well as give tips for what to include in each section. And there are valuable digital tools that can make the notes recording process easier, faster or simpler.
Resource efficiency like saving clinic time and money is a key benefit of adopting new technology into practice.
To help clinics figure out how much time the Theratrak digital tool can save them, we’ve created a Clinic Quiz. With just four questions, we can estimate how much admin time a clinic can save with Theratrak.
2. Fun, Games & Learning: Making Therapy More Exciting
Technology can streamline processes and make therapy more fun. Interactive tools, games, as well as custom apps and reminders can make therapy more enjoyable and engaging for participants.
Since its inception, Theratrak has been codesigned with both healthcare professionals and participants. After big plans and a big build up, in 2022 we gamified the Theratrak Participant App to make it fun for participants to complete their home programs outside of sessions.
When we gamified Theratrak, we introduced our first Theramate Kelly the Koala! Kelly is a friendly character who appears within the Participant App. Kelly cheers participants on throughout their therapy journey and encourages them to reach their therapy goals.
To encourage participants to complete their therapy and have fun while doing it, Kelly the Koala shares encouraging messages and custom reminders for participants completing their home programs.
Using gamification within Theratrak is just one example of how integrating new tech at your clinic can remove admin strain and increase fun in therapy.
3. Remote Care: Breaking Time & Location Barriers
Telehealth and asynchronous communication shows us that the future of therapy can have real tangible benefits through the use of digital tools.
Meeting face-to-face is always better when possible, but for those families who live away from a populated town it can be hard to see a therapist face-to-face for regular appointments. Digital therapy tools like Theratrak enable participants to access therapy tools, records, notes and encouragement from their therapists outside of sessions. It doesn’t matter where the family is located, if they have access to the internet, they can access their therapy program via the Theratrak Participant App.
Theratrak has worked with many rural therapy providers and one of their hardest challenges is delivering the level of care that their participants need within the timeframe of a therapy session. But with technology supporting therapy delivery, participants can get more access to a different type of therapy.
Australia has created impactful healthtech companies such as telehealth and practice management software. Theratrak has integrated with some of these software to save on double up of case notes.
Learn more about how Theratrak has impacted regional therapists in our Therapist Thoughts interview series.
4. Instant Feedback: Real Time Communication for Outcomes
Technology creates opportunity for greater connections and allows for greater communication both within teams and with participants.
Imagine a day of therapy where you can connect with your team and participants instantaneously, provide feedback, and share resources all in real time.
Right now, clinics can use practice management software to manage therapy session bookings as well as hosting the sessions online. Communication tools for teams allow therapists to share the latest updates as it happens.
Clinics can also use digital tools like Theratrak where participants at home can share their therapy progress privately with their therapists through the journal feature. Therapists can encourage participants to keep on track with their therapy goals by setting up custom notifications for participants for them to complete their home therapy program at a time that suits them.
These many options for telehealth and asynchronous care empowers participants to keep on track with their goals.
5. Long-Term Goals Unlocked: Track Over Time with Analytics
If you’re looking to track the progress of something, nothing beats technology.
Whether you’re wanting to track therapy sessions or track what’s been done outside of therapy sessions, there are digital tools to help.
If we don’t pay attention to the numbers that matter in therapy and within clinics, these numbers won’t improve. An expert business executive Peter Drucker said, “what gets measured, gets managed”. When we measure what happens in therapy sessions and we measure what practice gets done at home, we’re more likely to help keep our participants on track towards therapy outcomes. And if we track clinic internal numbers, we’re more likely to improve them too.
At Theratrak, we aim to make it fun for participants to track their progress within home therapy programs outside of 1:1 therapy sessions, and we aim to make a therapists role easier by providing tech that can track ongoing home programs.
But first, ask: Can you identify the key problem you want technology to solve within your clinic?
It’s important to know what you’re testing before you start using a new piece of technology at your clinic. Know what problem you want to solve and why you want to implement the technology into your business. Then take the time to ensure that key people understand the new tech’s purpose and new processes.
We’ll be sharing more about how to solve problems and test technology in upcoming blog posts. Sign up to our mailing list to stay up to date with Theratrak news.
Many Benefits of Technology & Enhancing Therapy Outcomes
While all these technology advancements can take some pressure off the amazing humans, therapists and clinic owners to support people with their healthcare. It’s a big and important role. Being a therapist is about enhancing our quality of care, building strong relations, and making therapy a great experience for therapists and participants alike.
With the right technology partners, clinics can have huge benefits from technology including helping the clinics run more efficiently, have more fun, offer more remote care, share instant feedback, and better track long-term goals.
Find out what allied health professionals say about adopting Theratrak within their clinics.
Check out how Theratrak can ease seamlessly into your practice today. Request a demo with the Theratrak team to see how we can support your clinic to reach even more of your participants.
