Aesthetics Pro is cloud-based EMR software that was developed and optimized for medical spas. Note-taking occurs on a tablet (iPad or Windows). The company offers a variety of services to help manage and grow an aesthetics-oriented business. Unfortunately, many of these features will go unused by a free tattoo removal clinic.
We were impressed by Aesthetics Pro’s approach to UI customization. They minimize clutter by starting with a ‘blank slate’ platform, which is populated with only the necessary services and features. Once a practice has its EMR preferences dialed in, there are no unused buttons or menus in sight. The benefits of being able to tailor an EMR interface to our specific needs cannot be overstated, and this holds true for any specialization. On the other hand, the UI design seems dated, and aesthetically reminds us of the Windows XP built-in registry editing tool. There’s nothing wrong with it per se, but confusing menu navigation might lead to challenges for new users. Intuitively navigating the software, or onboarding in general, may be more time consuming.
The form template creator seems good. It implements a drag-and-drop modular system called E-Record Creator that should simplify creating/editing forms, should the need arise. It’s almost unfortunate that we won’t need to create or modify forms often, if even more than once, because this tool looks powerful and easy to learn. However, the form-filling process with Aesthetics Pro requires a password-protected patient portal. This is par for the EMR industry but not our preference. The medical spa-targeted design and features include a lot of fluff that we wouldn’t use, like an internal messaging service for patients to send direct messages to providers, among other features that also appear to be par for the med-spa-oriented folks in the EMR industry.
We didn’t get to see much charting demonstrated, but what little we saw looked good. Their tablet optimization should make note-taking very straightforward and easy to learn. The photo upload feature seems adequate but a bit awkward in execution if trying to show progress across several photos. Uploading and attaching a photo to treatment notes is extremely smooth, thanks to Aesthetics Pro’s optimization and integration with tablets. Tablet cameras snap the picture, and the upload interface is user-friendly. The process offers a caveat, however: tablets store photos within the device, which necessitates daily scrubbing of all tablet image/media storage. It’s worth noting that most EMRs with tablet-based photo upload capability have the same protocols – this is by no means unique. Uploaded photos can be selected for side-by-side comparison with other photos from different notes. This feature satisfies our needs, but lacks elegance and the keystroke process seems ungainly, not like something that could happen quickly in response to a question from the patient during a follow-up treatment session.
Overall, Aesthetics Pro impressed us with their customizability and form editor. Many of its features seem like they could work for us. But we didn’t really get to see what charting looks like. “We could make it work, albeit a bit uncomfortably,” was a recurring theme in our response. We’re wary of the fact that a series of minor discomforts in workflow can add up to major frustrations. Getting things done our way shouldn’t require a myriad of little workarounds to navigate the system.