Tom Caffrey of Premier Software, which provides practice management support for users of Time Matters and Billing Matters software, presented a session at the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys' 2009 annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on how practice management software can benefit an elder law practice. Caffrey has worked with many elder law attorneys and has seen firsthand what works and what doesn't.
Caffrey said practice management software can help firms save time by automating workflow into a single integrated system. But he noted that the firms that do well with the software are those that take the time to work at it. Motivating yourself and your staff to get excited about the software is half the battle.
To make the best use of practice management software, the first job is to define your procedures so that the software can support every step of the process. Caffrey recommends scheduling regular time with staff to define procedures and work on integrating them into the practice management system. Showing your staff how the software will help them is a good way to get them involved. On the tech side, a strong network is needed for the software to run smoothly.
One key to improving efficiency at any firm is to eliminate duplication of effort. Caffrey said practice management software can allow you to enter information, such as client addresses, only once and have it appear in your e-mail contacts as well as in documents you are producing. The software can be linked to Microsoft Word or other word processing programs to enable you to easily merge information into documents. You can also add related fields to all of your contacts, such as spouse, children, and physician.
Caffrey then explained how practice management software can automate processes after client information and document templates have been entered. For example, if you add a new appointment to your calendar, a confirmation letter could automatically pop up. If you change a field, this could automatically trigger an event to your calendar or an item on your "to do" list. Caffrey emphasized that the key to doing all this successfully is making sure you have fully defined your procedures.
Another benefit of practice management software, according to Caffrey, is its ability to create reports that allow you to monitor case progress and manage relationships with referral sources, among other things. He said it is easy to create a report that provides a snapshot of where each case is in order to ensure no case is neglected. Reports can also show where your referrals are coming from.
Practice management software also can help with firm newsletters by making it easy to print labels or create an e-mail list, and it can automate seminars and workshops by creating special registration forms or automatic letters to attendees.
Summing up, Caffrey stressed that setting up practice management software is a process, not an event. He suggested that firms that have already installed this kind of software review their processes every year to make sure they are working smoothly.
Materials for this and other NAELA sessions are available on a flash drive for $176. To order, contact Ann Watkins at (703) 942-5711, Ext. 226. To order audio of sessions. click here.
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