Demos look fine. The danger is buying on the demo script. The better test is whether the product still behaves when a patient cancels at the door, the pharmacy is short one SKU, and accounts wants yesterday’s total before lunch.
1. Map one real visit end to end
Pick a common visit type. Walk it from booking → check-in → note → prescription → dispense → invoice → reminder for follow-up. If any step needs a second system or a WhatsApp to accounts, write that down as a cost — not a “phase two.”
2. Put the calendar under stress
- Two providers, overlapping rooms
- A cancellation that frees a slot immediately
- A no-show that is recorded, not silently forgotten
- Reminders that patients actually receive
3. Follow the money
Ask who posts the charge: the clinician, reception, or an automatic rule from the appointment type. Then ask how pharmacy sales land on the same invoice. If daily reconciliation still needs a paper day sheet as the source of truth, the software is not ready.
4. Check stock before you cheer for e-prescribe
A pretty prescription screen that ignores on-hand quantity creates embarrassed conversations at the counter. Batch and expiry tracking is not a luxury module for a clinic that sells meds.
5. Roles before go-live
Reception should book and take payment without opening clinical notes. Pharmacy should dispense without browsing every chart. If “everyone is admin” is the default, you will never untangle it later.
6. Migration and exit in writing
- What formats they accept for patients, stock and open invoices
- Who reconciles the import against your originals
- How you export if you leave (CSV is the minimum)
- What happens to the account when the trial ends — delete, lock, or read-only