Episode 104: Making Your Practice a Holistic Office
Healthcare practices are ready for innovative solutions with modern technology paving the way forward. Host Dr. Lara Salyer delves into how holistic practices can benefit from smarter, technology-driven solutions with Kristen Ford, CEO and co-founder of Holistic Office. Kristen, with her solid background in finance, accounting, and operations, brings critical insights to the table for any independent medical practice looking to evolve.
Their conversation centers around “My Holistic Office,” an app designed by Kristen to meet the specific needs of holistic healthcare practitioners.
Drawing from her extensive experience, Ford developed this Electronic Medical Record system to help practices manage their operations seamlessly, while staying true to their holistic roots. From inventory management to scheduling, each feature is designed to simplify the day-to-day operations.
Kristen and Dr. Lara tackle the practicalities of integrating new technology into existing practices by pointing out the straightforward setup and personalized onboarding support that My Holistic Office offers. The system’s integration with Zoom for telehealth sessions, Rupa Health for lab integration, and the newly added payment processing are highlighted as key benefits. Looking ahead, Kristen expressed enthusiasm for incorporating artificial intelligence to further ease practice management as Dr. Lara shares her hopes for features that could improve patient communication and help manage expectations.
About Kristen Ford:
Kristen Ford has over 25 years experience in finance, accounting and operations. Her work with independent practices gives her a unique perspective to running a practice and how important the tools each practice uses are to not only the bottom line, but the experience of the people working in and running it. She is a problem solver who enjoys working with all types of practices and people. In her spare time you will find her traveling to her next bucket list locale, perusing the local farmers markets with her husband of 25 years, expanding her cooking skills and walking her spirited Border Collie, Daisy.
In This Episode We're Talking About:
- We want our users to know they are listened to and that we design our features from their feedback.
- All of our licenses come with personal onboarding, training, and customer support.
- We believe the healing modalities we support are important for healing the world and if we can help a practitioner run a practice with ease and support, we’ve accomplished our mission.
Quotes:
- “I could have built an app for accounting professionals, for finance professionals, for operations professionals, but I really chose the folks who I feel are making the biggest difference in the world. And I mean that sincerely because it’s been a big difference for me personally and for my family working with holistic healthcare providers. And I just wanted to support them because I know what it’s like to run a small business.” (04:50 | Kristen Ford)
- “What I try to do with Holistic Office is to, first of all, make it really easy to use. I feel like if you didn’t have to be searching around to do basic things like find a patient, I’m not doing my job, you know. And so I really am trying to bring as many of the facets of running a practice under one umbrella that are easy to use.” (07:54 | Kristen Ford)
- “With some of the older EHRs, it is a big deal to take old technology and completely bring it up to today’s standards.” (15:49 | Kristen Ford)
- “Our app’s dashboard is designed to be kind of an all-in-one glance at what’s going on in your world today. So any tasks that are outstanding are right there. Your schedule for today is right there. And then very easy to see boxes where it’s like, here’s patients, here’s my products, here’s the forms, here’s reports, so that you can very easily start working on your day. There’s no searching.” (20:38 | Kristen Ford)
- “I think incorporating AI is definitely at the top of the list because it can do so many things.” (26:36 | Kristen Ford)
- “Medicine has changed in my mind because it’s not just conventional or allopathic. You can heal from so many different places. And I think that’s where we’re all trying to show patients that there are many ways to peel that orange, right? And you don’t need to get your healing inside an exam room and the one-on-one visit.” (33:07 | Lara Salyer)
- “When people want you, they will pay for your services, they will be there, they will make time for it, and they will prioritize that healing. And that’s not to shame the other patients that are busy and have other things they’re doing, but that’s okay, too. You know, you do what you can. And providing that ecosystem of support is what it’s all about.” (37:08 | Lara Salyer)
Links for this Episode:
Connect with Kristen Ford, Co-Founder of Holistic Office:
Connect with Dr. Lara Salyer:
Website: https://drlarasalyer.com
Catalyst Kit: https://rightbrainrescue.com/p/catalyst_kit
Instagram: @drlarasalyer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer
Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer
TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor
Thank You For Listening!
If you enjoyed this podcast, please leave a review! Your positive review helps other physicians find this podcast and increase the visibility.
About The Catalyst Host, Dr. Lara Salyer:
I worked as a family physician for 15 years until burnout changed the trajectory of my career. I realized I wanted to start a holistic functional medicine practice in my rural hometown and made it happen. In addition to practicing functional medicine, I now mentor practitioners who are looking to change their paths in healthcare by using what I refer to as the “Catalyst Roadmap”. I share each step of this framework with listeners so that they may apply it to their careers, relationships, personal goals, and projects.
Episode Search
Mark your calendars! The Catalyst launches episodes weekly. You can expect to find a new, insightful conversation with a catalyst every Friday!