Discover the similarities, differences, and must-have features of these essential pieces of medspa business software

As a medspa manager, you have a lot of things to worry about. You want to make sure that your clients receive incredible care free from any scheduling or billing headaches. You also need to keep their personal information secure and private whenever you need to use it.

Practice management software and electronic medical records platforms can help you achieve these goals. But do you need both? Which features are important? Is an all-in-one platform a better fit? Answering these questions will help you choose a platform that gives clients a stellar experience while giving you room to grow.

Whether you’re building your medspa’s infrastructure from scratch or looking to upgrade an aging system, you’re in the right place. We’ll help you compare the major differences between practice management software and electronic medical records platforms so you can determine which solution is best for your medspa.

Practice management software and electronic medical records: A comparison

While medspas often market themselves as a beauty business, they have much more in common with healthcare facilities, which impacts how the tools they use.

Practice management software helps medspas manage the day-to-day operations of the business. It handles scheduling and point of sale processes, keeping clients and employees on top of upcoming appointments or ensuring seamless payments for services and products while reconciling that information with your financial records. Practice management software can also include reporting and communication tools to help medspa managers optimize their business and keep clients informed.

While medical spa practice management software tends to focus on the business side of operations, electronic medical records house the digital information for the medspa’s clients. These tools allow medspas to manage and track clinical information, like treatment records, medical histories, allergies, and other critical details a specialist would need to provide quality care.

Essential features

No two medspas are the same. Location, clientele, aesthetic or medical focus, and even specific goals will all factor into what tool is the best fit for a medspa. That said, there are several features that should be considered must-haves:

• Robust security and compliance features: Medspas are held to the same data security and privacy standards that hospitals and insurance agencies are — which means any tool you use must adhere to the laws and requirements set forth by HIPAA. Look for solutions that are upfront about their HIPAA compliance and offer detailed breakdowns of how the platform secures and encrypts patient data. 

• Intuitive interface: You won’t be able to streamline and optimize medspa operations if your staff is constantly fighting with your software. Solutions with logical workflows will speed up check-ins, support effective services and documentation of treatments, and improve overall client satisfaction. 

• Built-in customer support: Sometimes you need technical support or help figuring out how to use a specific feature. Built-in chat functionality helps you avoid long wait times, getting you back to your client work even faster.

• Integration: If you plan on using separate practice management software and EMR systems, make sure they’re compatible. Proper integration will ensure scheduling, payment, and client records are all communicating properly with each other.

Practice management software-specific features:

• Easy client booking: According to AmSpa’s 2024 Medical Spa State of the Industry Report, the average medspa sees a 73% repeat client rate. Making it easy to book — and re-book — appointments through an online, mobile-friendly form is crucial for locking down sustainable, long-term revenue.

• Client portal: Clients should also be able to log into their account to view their service history or make adjustments to any upcoming appointments at their convenience.

• Payment processing: Integrated payment gateways take the hassle out of finding a separate payment processor and help you avoid any discrepancies in your finances. And if your practice management software includes the ability to reconcile payments with your financial reports without relying on third-party solutions, even better. 

• Marketing and communication suite: Having built-in messaging tools makes it far easier to stay on top of your marketing efforts, allowing you to automate appointment reminders and alert high-value clients about the latest products and services available at your medspa.

Electronic medical record-specific features:

• Quick access to information: Avoid laggy load times and keep client-critical information at your specialists’ fingertips with a snappy and intuitive medspa EMR interface.

• In-depth notetaking systems: Clients rely on consistency of care when they visit their favorite medspa, especially if they’re on a long-term treatment plan. The best EMR software for medical spas will include detailed notetaking systems to help your business provide that consistency. Any specialist can access detailed information about the client's medical history and preferences so they can tailor care from session to session, regardless of who provides it.

Separate software or an all-in-one solution: Pros and cons

As medspas look for new ways to scale operations, they’re investigating opportunities to streamline their practice management and EMR systems. This has led to an increased demand for easy-to-use, fully integrated solutions that combine both functions into a single tool. Each approach has benefits and drawbacks. 

Frequently asked questions

Which solution is right for my practice?

Deciding which solution to use will ultimately depend on your medspa’s needs and the infrastructure you currently have available. You may already have a medspa EMR system that you’re unable to replace, so adding on practice management software would be the best fit. On the other hand, your business may be ready to migrate to an all-in-one solution, so you would need to find a solution that will allow you to import client data while maintaining HIPAA compliance. 

How can my choice of software affect the client experience and business growth?

Think about how your clients interact with the different touchpoints of your medspa — how they book appointments, how seamless check-in and check-out processes are, whether providers have access to client data during the appointment, and so on. Each of these steps can introduce friction in the form of longer wait times, inefficient scheduling, or diminished client outcomes. You can reduce (or outright eliminate) these issues by implementing effective software solutions that allow for self-booking, track client history, create long-term treatment plans, and surface crucial information when needed. 

Improving the client experience through these tools will drive growth, but other tools may be included that work to increase add-on sales, streamline specialist schedules, and otherwise bolster revenue. For example, the best medical spa practice management software will suggest relevant product or service add-ons at the point of sale to increase revenue in ways that directly help the client. Included self-booking software can fill scheduling gaps to maximize each specialist’s time, while marketing and messaging tools help to keep your medspa top of mind to drive repeat business.

What are the consequences of not using HIPAA-compliant solutions?

Failure to safeguard protected health information (PHI) can lead to significant fines and legal penalties. Willful neglect without correcting issues can see penalties rise as high as $1.5 million annually, but even unknowingly causing a data breach can result in fines up to $50,000 per violation. Even aside from these fees, getting caught in a HIPAA violation can cause reputational damage to your medspa, leading to a potential loss of business and subsequent revenue. When shopping for new software, HIPAA compliance and robust data encryption protocols should be at the top of your list of necessary features. 

Whatever you choose, your medspa software solution (or solutions) should be able to manage your business while keeping client data secure. With this information in hand, you’ll be able to pick out the perfect fit to keep your medspa business running smoothly while keeping an eye on the future.