In an ABA therapy clinic, scheduling is key. Efficient, error-free scheduling helps you keep clients satisfied while also maximizing revenue and cash flow. This is why many clinics are turning to software designed specifically for ABA therapy clinics.
They’ve realized that the demands of an ABA clinic – with all the moving parts involved in outpatient care – are simply too much for tools like Google Calendar and other free products to handle. And while better, even general medical practice management systems often fail to work for the very specific day-to-day demands of ABA therapy clinics.
Although it’s clear that ABA therapy scheduling software is the best way to streamline your scheduling processes, choosing the right solution for your clinic can be difficult. To help make it easier, we’ve compiled a comprehensive list of features and capabilities to look for when trying to choose the best ABA therapy scheduling software offering.
Staff and Client Matching
- Matches staff to children based on geography. This reduces travel time for your staff and wait times for your clients.
- Matches staff to family based on availability.
- Matches staff to family based on language preferences
- Matches staff to family based on the required credentials
- Matches staff to family based on gender. (A general rule is to match the child gender.)
- Matches staff to family based on insurance approved hours available to families and eligibility from various insurances, school districts funding, or even state agencies.
Time Management
- Schedules rest breaks automatically, ensuring the most popular staff is in compliance with the rest break laws in your state
- Prevents the most popular staff members are not over-scheduled, which prevents the clinic from having to pay overtime
- Ensures that appointments do not overlap, including allowing sufficient travel time from one client to another
- Tracks mileage and traveling time between appointments to ensure compliance with IRS rules for mileage and travel reimbursements
- Allows multiple staff or guest staff to be scheduled, which is important for clinics that require shadowing
Scheduling Considerations
- Sends reminders emails to all involved parties to reduce the number of canceled and incomplete appointments
- Allows for imports and exports of the ABA therapy scheduling software calendar to most smart phones and iPhones so staff have real-time access to their latest schedule
- Accounts for staff vacation so they are not scheduled when they are not available
- Accounts for holidays and blackout dates insurance and school districts have chosen to disallow payments
- Accounts for staff personal days and time off, including birthdays
Efficiency
- Provides a clear view of the calendar for both the client and staff by using colors that allows for quick and easy scanning
- Automatically generates a web-based staff calendar so staff can see last minute changes without having to be notified by other means
- Includes convenient smart phone and iPad access so hours can easily can be converted into time sheets
- Streamlines billing and collections by providing for signed timesheets
- Guards against mistakes like duplicate billing, billing without contracts hours, and incorrect certifications
While the list above is a great start, much of what you need in an ABA therapy scheduling software solution depends on your individual clinic and its workflows. When looking at your options make sure to attend product demonstrations and ask questions relevant to your clinic. Even better, inquire with about getting a free trial of the software. There is no better way to see how a solution will integrate with your clinics operations.
If you are ready to start your search for ABA therapy scheduling software, you can start with a free 30 day trial of Autism Clinic Software and see how it fits your clinic.