Discover how to search for software that ensures you stay compliant enhancing the client experience

Medspas exist between two worlds. Clients expect a luxurious experience similar to high-end salons and spas, and medspa managers need to weigh this desire against the stringent certification and data privacy regulations required of medical practitioners. 

On one end of the spectrum is a typical point-of-sale system. While classic POS systems meet the needs of spas, salons, and other self-care businesses, they often don’t meet the patient security standards of HIPAA-covered entities like medspas. 

On the other hand, hospitals and traditional medical providers employ electronic medical records (EMR) software to help manage patient data and keep it secure. As the medical spa industry has exploded over the last 15 years, many traditional EMR software providers are working to reposition their products as medical spa EMR software, with promises of custom functionality and workflows to make medspa operations more efficient. Your medspa needs to maintain diligent and compliant patient records, but you also have different needs than a traditional medical practice. What are the benefits and trade-offs of medical spa EMR software? We’ll explore more below. 

What is the role of medical spa EMR software?

Medspas need to store client contact information, known medical history, and the complete history of treatments clients have received from their providers. Medspas have undergone increased legislative scrutiny in recent years, so maximizing your security and data privacy standards is paramount.

That’s where many medspas begin the search for medical spa EMR software. These platforms are marketed as a customized version of general EMR systems built to meet the compliance and process needs of medspas while providing a host of additional benefits. However, because these solutions stem from traditional healthcare, they also have some drawbacks for medspas,  who have to be more thoughtful about their client experience, marketing, and branding.

The many benefits of medical spa EMR software

Centralized storage of client records creates a single source of truth

It takes an entire team to care for a single client. From intake, to consultation, to dispensing care, a client may interact with a half-dozen different employees — and they all need to be on the same page.

Centralized, cloud-based medspa EMR software provides the foundation for keeping day-to-day patient interaction running smoothly. With a single source of truth, practitioners can be sure they’re working with the most accurate and up-to-date information. Authorized users can instantly view and change this information, leave client notes and special requests, track treatment history, and more from anywhere they can access their EMR software. And with broader availability of pertinent client information, personnel can reduce the chance of introducing mistakes in their work.

Out-of-the-box HIPAA compliance and security features keep data safe

Medspas may offer a more deluxe, relaxing approach to aesthetic services, but they’re still subject to the same privacy and security requirements as hospitals and primary care providers. This includes the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a series of compliance regulations mandated at the federal level to ensure patient data is private and secure. 

HIPAA compliance is one of the must-have features of any medspa software solution. The best medspa EMR software offers high-quality encryption for all data in transit and at rest as well as multi-factor authentication to minimize the risk of a data breach. 

Additionally, EMR software will include security guardrails, such as user access management features and automated data processes. These tools will enable your medspa to manage access to sensitive data, track changes with detailed logs, and archive or destroy unneeded data to reduce risk to a minimum.

Streamline communication to maximize efficiency

In addition to increasing treatment accuracy, maximizing compliance, and reducing administrative errors, medical spa EMR software fosters enhanced communication among your entire team of professionals. EMR software provides the tools to allow asynchronous communication on each patient’s chart, ensuring teams work together to provide the best standard of care, even when their schedules don’t align.

Because every authorized employee can access the same data, they can make informed decisions about the client’s care plan based on their expertise. Information such as client allergies, desired outcomes, and product preferences can inform the steps that specialists take when performing procedures or upselling additional services or products. And detailed notes follow clients throughout their history with your medspa, ensuring specialized care is applied no matter who the client is working with. 

Trade-offs of EMR Software

A solid medspa EMR software platform checks all of the medical boxes for a medspa. However, they’re often missing key functionality that medspas need to operate outside the world of insurance billing — namely, they lack features that enhance the client experience. 

Unlike patients at a traditional medical practice, medspa clients are pursuing high-cost elective treatments that they pay for out-of-pocket. Since they’re purchasing luxury services and products, they expect an elevated client experience with a strong focus on convenience. They expect medspas to anticipate their needs and be their trusted aesthetic advisors.

Building that trust means that medspa clients need a lot more engagement from their medspas. EMR software is often weak when it comes to the features that clients care most about: convenient self-booking, special treatment for regulars (like memberships, packages, and specials on products), and smooth checkouts that help them slink out incognito after a procedure.

Choose Boulevard for the ultimate client experience

Security, communication, compliance, and centralized storage — these features are critical for medspa owners to keep top of mind when shopping for medical spa EMR software. However, you should also look for a platform that can marry these crucial features with a top-notch client experience platform. The optimal software will improve the client journey while also checking all the required boxes for HIPAA compliance and data security. 

That’s where Boulevard comes in. Our booking and payment suite is built for medspas, giving you complete control over patient intake forms, inventory management, specialist scheduling, and even marketing — all while ensuring client information remains private and secure. Boulevard has helped clients reduce payroll processing times from hours to minutes, minimize no-shows, book more services, and scale their businesses. It’s the perfect choice for your EMR solution, enabling you to unlock your medspa’s full potential. Contact us today for a free demo.