As the name suggests, Envision MedSpa is EHR software designed for medical spas. Chart and form templates for tattoo removal are built-in, to cater to med spas that offer laser removal of hair and/or tattoos. On top of EHR workflow management, they pride themselves in their patient engagement features, like a custom company-branded app and loyalty/refer-a-friend programs (all optional).
Many of Envision MedSpa’s UI features don’t mesh well with our goals. The ‘Patient Information’ window contains very dense information sorted by tabs. Many of these tabs cannot be removed from the UI, despite our lack of use for them. This trend holds true across much of Envision MedSpa’s software, such as the billing section and the prescription ordering tab. Though our volunteers could work around this unused clutter, why should they?
Envision MedSpa impressed us with their form-filling features, in which automated emails with “please fill out this intake form” notifications can be sent as soon as a patient is entered into the system. Fields from these forms can be used to auto-fill patient records, saving time and labor. Forms are accessed via temporary links sent by automated email, and the link expiration time is customizable. Their whole process of reminders and form-filling sounds great for our needs, and the customizability is excellent. Automated appointment reminders via text message are available, though at additional cost. Envision’s form template editing tool seems intuitive and straightforward. The editor is comparable in functionality to what we saw from Jane; the differences are mostly aesthetic.
Charting with Envision MedSpa seems viable, but not ideal. The workflow satisfies our needs but is not very customizable. When taking notes, the ‘Laser’ tab would be the home base for our volunteers. Virtually all of their device settings, comments, etc., will be entered and accessed via this one tab. Creating a new treatment will be easy, but the difficulty comes when trying to track progress, see past treatments on the same tattoo, or upload photos associated with specific treatments. These functions aren’t impossible with Envision MedSpa, but they are convoluted. Seeing past treatments on the same tattoo will require navigating through several menus; the number of keystrokes required to access some information is simply too high. The conversation of, “Let’s discuss how much progress we’ve made with this tattoo over multiple appointments,” should prioritize engaging with the patient, not the software.
Photos can be uploaded, but they are not directly associated with a specific chart or treatment. Customizable categories and notes would be our method of grouping photos, and would require date/time/description text entry for each uploaded photo. To create a new photo category, a provider must navigate through several menu layers. No individual workaround or process is too much of a hassle, but it’s easy to imagine a provider feeling overwhelmed by so many minor (and unnecessary) inconveniences.
It will be difficult to neatly record multiple treatments on a patient’s chart in a single appointment. We discussed potential strategies with an Envision representative, via scheduling each treatment as its own appointment in the calendar. While this is technically viable, it constrains our ability to quickly set up and chart treatments on-the-fly. Efficient execution would require that a provider has a treatment plan set up before a patient’s appointment, with each treatment shown on the calendar/schedule. Any deviation from this plan, especially adding treatments to it, would be a cumbersome and tedious experience for the provider. The software constrains us to a workflow that seems unrealistic for us; it’s far more likely that a provider won’t know exactly how many treatments they’ll do until they’re face-to-face with the patient. It’s worth noting that this workflow should be fine in other healthcare settings. But it’s a challenge that is unique to our needs.
On the whole, the appealing features weren’t enough to outweigh the difficulties we anticipate with Envision MedSpa EHR software. The UI is not customizable and will be cluttered with unused features. Photo upload is incapable of associating photos with treatment sessions. Charting seems like it will be cumbersome and frustrate our volunteers.