Changing Practice Software in Ireland: A Migration Checklist

Changing practice software is a decision about how your clinic will work tomorrow. Start with the jobs your current system makes difficult, then ask each supplier to demonstrate those jobs. A label such as “AI-native” is not evidence that a system fits your practice.

Write down the work that needs to improve

Choose examples from the diary, patient records, correspondence and billing. Record what staff do today, which systems they use and where they enter the same information twice. Keep clinical decisions separate from the administrative steps you want software to support.

For each requirement, ask whether it is available now, requires clinic setup, is in a pilot or is not supported. Keep the answer beside the demonstration notes. Do not treat a future feature as part of your go-live plan.

Compare suppliers on the same workflow

Use invented patient details for the initial demonstration. Give each supplier the same scenario: book an appointment, attach a document, prepare an invoice and show how a staff member checks the next action. Ask what happens when a recipient is wrong or a payment remains unconfirmed.

• Which staff roles can view, change or export the information?
• Which actions require confirmation?
• Which external connections must the clinic arrange?
• What happens if a connection fails?
• Can the clinic export its records when it leaves?

Agree the migration scope before setting a date

Ask your current supplier what it can export and in which formats. Compare that with what the proposed system can import. Include attachments, identifiers, appointment history and financial records in the discussion rather than assuming every field will transfer.

Record exclusions and any information that will remain in the old system. Rehearse the move, check representative records and agree who signs off the result. Arrange staff training and a continuity plan before the clinic accepts cutover. The Brigid switching page describes our approach to scoping, rehearsal and clinic acceptance.

Compare the whole cost and measure your own result

Ask for the subscription, setup, migration, support and third-party charges in writing. Include the staff time needed for training and checking records. Use your own baseline to assess the result: record how a selected task is completed before and after the change, using a consistent definition and period.

This guide does not claim a typical saving, return on investment or migration duration. Those depend on the clinic, agreed scope and actual use. A supplier’s example should identify whether it is a real, permissioned customer result or a hypothetical illustration.

Where Brigid fits

Brigid brings the diary, records, templates and billing into a shared administrative workspace. Note assistance is a separate clinic-enabled workflow: the clinician checks, edits and signs its output. HealthLink is not an available Brigid connection. Automated insurer eligibility checks, claim or pre-authorisation submission and reconciliation (VHI, Laya, Irish Life, Level Health, PCRS/GMS) are not in the launch release; staff use each insurer's normal channels.

Review current connections and limitations and published pricing, then explore the sample practice with invented records. Bring your unresolved requirements to a workflow walkthrough.

Editorial correction, 3 October 2026: unsupported product, compliance and outcome claims in the earlier version have been replaced with a workflow-evaluation checklist. No customer outcome is asserted.

Ask Brigid is looking for a small number of founding consultant practices. Request early access and we will reply with current availability and the next step.