Could Slow POS Systems Be Costing You?

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• Could Slow POS Systems Be Costing You
• Does your health care practice also sell
  products, such as medical devices, eyeglasses,
  contact lenses, or other goods?
• If you do, it could be a good way to generate
  additional revenue and serve your patients. But
  some of your systems might be hurting your
  ability to provide such services.
• More specifically, your point-of-sale (POS)
  system might not be doing all that it could do.
  If thats the case, though, there are ways to
  address it.
• What are POS systems?
• Before exploring their potential issues, it might
  help to describe what POS systems are and what
  they do.
• Also known as a point-of-purchase, a
  point-of-sale is a physical or digital location
  where a purchase occurs. These locations could
  include
• Checkout lines at stores and restaurants.
• Online checkout areas.
• Retail counters or stands.
• Although point-of-sale systems also involve
  retail transactions, theyre a little different
  from more traditional interactions. Instead of a
  cash register, POS systems use computer software
  (programs) and hardware (computers and related
  devices) to make things happen.

As helpful as they are, point-of-sale systems
sometimes might not operate in ways your medical
practice wants them to work. They might be too
slow.
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• Were accustomed to doing things quickly. In
  fact, that might be why we use computer-based POS
  systems instead of other retail solutions in the
  first place. But sometimes, they might not
  operate as quickly as wed like.
• Slow transactions
• During sales transactions, your medical POS
  software might be causing the images on your
  monitors to freeze, and you might not be able to
  navigate from one web page to another.
• Or, you might be able to travel among different
  pages, but it looks like your system might not be
  processing a recent sale.
• Slow inventory notations
• Furthermore, your POS system might not appear to
  be registering recent sales.
• This might be reflected in your inventory lists.
  The lists of products you stock might appear
  unchanged, even if you recently took orders that
  should be depleting these stocks.
• Slow histories
• Similarly, you might not have any history of any
  recent transactions or activities in your system.
• Your software might not be updating your records,
  even though you have completed recent
  interactions.

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Addressing these issues could help you find a
system that works quickly to assist you. How
could you make POS systems faster? Examining
your health care offices software and hardware
systems is a good way to improve the performance
of its POS systems. First of all, are your other
office software systems compatible with the
software and hardware needed for POS operations?
This may sound like a basic question, but its a
crucial one. If your other software systems
arent compatible, its probably a good idea to
switch to one that is. Switching might sound
daunting and does require work, but its work
that will pay off in the end. Consider talking
with colleagues in your field and ask them about
the systems they use. While their situations
probably wont be the same as yours, their input
could help you find software that works for your
office and your staff. Are there factors to
consider when evaluating POS systems? After
talking with colleagues and gathering some
possible POS systems options, youll need to
evaluate their merits. The good thing is that
many software systems arent one-size-fits-all
situations. You can customize them to suit your
offices needs. So, you can consider the options
youll need and find tools that will address
them. To do this, you could look at the software
your office uses and likes for other tasks. This
software might have POS features that youre not
currently using. If youre satisfied with the
other tasks the system already completes for your
practice, you might want to incorporate your
existing softwares sales- related options. But
if your other systems dont offer POS features,
you could still look for systems that offer them.
Just make sure they coordinate with your other
operations. Do the POS systems youre looking at
work with your electronic health record (EHR)
systems? EHRs store so much of your patients
information. If you and your staff find your
current EHR software makes it easy and
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efficient to access data, keep this software and
find POS software thats compatible with it. On
a related note, you might be using effective
software systems that help handle insurance
claims, issue and collect bills, and track the
money your medical practice makes and spends. You
wouldnt want to jeopardize a system that
provides such valuable work generating and
monitoring revenue for your busy and thriving
office. Instead, find a point-of-sale solution
that aids your practices money-making abilities
rather than hindering them. During the software
selection process, if you find a POS system that
you think could work for your office, ask if you
could use a trial or demo (demonstration) copy of
the selected system. By trying out and working
with the software beforehand in situations
similar to ones you may encounter, you might
receive a better sense of whether its truly a
good fit or not. You could also talk with
professionals experienced in such matters. For
example, if you contact Eye Care Leaders, well
help you find digital solutions that could help
you make the sale, build your practice, and serve
your patients and clients.