Today we have a Q&A with Beth Barberree, owner of Massage at the Club, located inside the World Health Club in Edgemont, Calgary. Beth has been a practising massage therapist since 1995, and is an active member of the MTAA. (Massage Therapy Association of Alberta, Canada)
Beth’s full bio is available from her website, and you can click here to learn more about her. The Massage Marketing 101 team would like to thank Beth for taking the time to speak with us.
Q: Beth, can you tell us a little about yourself and your industry activity? How long have you been in practice?
A: I’ve been in practice for fifteen years, five in Edmonton and for the past ten years I have been at the same clinic here in Calgary. “Massage at the Club” is a Massage Therapy clinic located in a local fitness and racket sport club. We focus on corrective and therapeutic treatments.
Q: You have been using Massage manEdger for going on two years now, is having a website important to your practice?
A: Yes, absolutely a website is important to me.
Q: Your Massage manEdger website offers online appointment booking. Do many of your clients book online?
A: Yes, over 90% of my clients book online.
Q: Do your older clients find online booking a challenge?
A: At least half of the older clients use it. We’ve never really had problems with our clientele using the appointment booking. However, only 5% is over 60, and if they truly have a problem they just call in or book their next appointment with us before they leave.
Q: How does that (having online booking) benefit you & your clients?
A: Having online booking means less work for me, and that means I don’t need to hire extra staff. Another convenience was asking your Client Care department to add an online payment option for my clients to pay online through Paypal.
Q: You have been through the process of choosing & implementing a website practice management system for your practice.. what advice would you give to someone just starting that process?
A: Be sure to look at everything that is out there and try all the systems you are considering. I tried at least three different systems before I found Massage manEdger, which turned out to be the best fit for me. When you’re considering a system, also try to make contact with their client care people. I’m not very tech savvy, so to me it doesn’t matter if it looks like the greatest thing at the start. Doing what I do, I could work without electricity! If you’re like me, then you need to know that support is there when you need it. That’s really important.
Q: Aside from the website and online booking features, are you benefiting from the practice management features of Massage manEdger ? How?
A: Being able to do all my client record keeping for treatment and payment transaction information is a big help. It helps to be able to keep their records and billing history in one place using the product . I use other full accounting software for taxation purposes.
Q: Do you feel Massage manEdger practice management software has eliminated the need for paper records?
A: Almost exclusively. Aside from consent forms that need to be signed and stored and a paper history form to fill out when they come in (which is then transferred into their digital record) we have no paper charting (per visit) at all.
Q: What functions do you enjoy the most about the system? (Real life benefits, support?)
A: Time saving, so I can just work and work and work. I’ve got eight therapists, so having extra time to manage them and juggle their schedules is a life saver. With people working half days here, full days there, being able to figure out where I need coverage is an additional perk. I can maximize my coverage and keep an optimal schedule much faster than I could with paper.
Q: Thank you again for your time, Beth. It was great speaking with you, and we appreciate your taking the time to share the benefit of your knowledge and experience with our readers.
A: Your welcome. I enjoyed it.
