Designate an Internal Point of Contact
Choose one person at your practice to be the primary liaison with the StrataPT onboarding team. This person should be someone who:- Understands how your practice operates day-to-day
- Can make or escalate decisions about workflow preferences and system configuration
- Is available to respond to questions from the onboarding team promptly
- Has admin-level access to your current EMR and practice management tools
Communicate the Switch to Your Staff
Your team should hear about the transition from you, not discover it during a training invite. How you communicate the switch sets the tone for the entire onboarding experience.What to communicate
- That a switch is happening and why. Be direct about the reasons. If billing errors are costing money, say so. If the current system can’t support growth, explain that. Staff are more accepting of change when they understand the business rationale.
- When it’s happening. Share the general timeline, even if exact dates aren’t confirmed yet. “We’ll be onboarding over the next several weeks and going live in [timeframe]” is enough to set expectations.
- What it means for each role. Clinicians care about documentation. Front desk cares about scheduling and intake. Billers care about claims and payment workflows. Frame the change in terms of what each group will experience.
- That training will be provided. Reassure your team that nobody is expected to figure out the new system on their own. StrataPT provides structured, role-specific training during onboarding.
- That there will be an adjustment period. Be honest that the first few weeks will feel slower. This is normal and temporary. Setting this expectation upfront prevents frustration during go-live.
What not to do
- Don’t promise the new system will fix every problem on day one. It won’t. The adjustment period is real.
- Don’t skip the announcement and let staff find out through a training calendar invite. That creates anxiety and resistance.
- Don’t position it as optional or uncertain. If the decision is made, communicate it as final.
Gather Credentials and Access
The onboarding team needs access to your current systems to begin data migration. Start gathering these items now so they’re ready when onboarding kicks off.Current EMR Credentials
The StrataPT onboarding team logs directly into your current system to extract patient, payer, and referrer data. You’ll provide these credentials through the Onboarding Dashboard. What’s needed:- Admin-level login credentials to your current EMR
- Unattended, uninterrupted access for the onboarding team during the extraction window
- If your current EMR requires vendor coordination for admin access or data retrieval, begin that process now
Other System Access
Depending on your practice, the onboarding team may also need:- Access to your current scheduling system, if separate from your EMR
- Access to your current billing or practice management system, if separate
- Any payer portal credentials needed to configure billing in StrataEMR
Prepare Your Data
While the onboarding team handles the technical migration, there are steps you can take to ensure the data that transfers is clean and accurate.Verify Your Active Patient List
Only active patients are imported during migration. Review your current system and confirm that patient statuses are accurate:- Patients who are no longer being treated should be marked inactive or discharged in your current system before migration.
- Patients who are active but haven’t been seen recently should be reviewed. Are they actually ongoing, or were they never formally discharged?
Update Stale Insurance Information
Insurance data transfers as-is from your current system. If you know patients have had coverage changes that aren’t reflected in your records, update them now or flag them for correction after migration.Inventory Your Active Authorizations
Authorizations do not migrate automatically. Your team will need to enter active authorizations into StrataEMR during or shortly after onboarding. Before onboarding begins:- Compile a list of patients with active authorizations
- Note the payer, authorization number, authorized visits, and remaining visit count for each
- Identify which patients are scheduled in the first two weeks after your expected go-live date (these authorizations should be entered first)
Decide How to Handle Historical Documents
Clinical documentation, Plan of Care documents, and stored documents do not migrate. Before onboarding, decide how your practice will handle access to historical records:- Maintain access to your previous system for a transition period (most common)
- Upload critical documents manually to patient charts in StrataEMR
- Bulk scan and upload for high-volume practices
Schedule Training Availability
StrataPT provides role-specific training during onboarding. Your team needs to be available, which means blocking time on the schedule.What to plan for
- Training sessions are organized by role. Clinicians, front desk/admin, billers, and practice owners each receive training focused on their daily workflows. Not everyone needs to attend every session.
- Sessions require active participation. These aren’t passive webinars. Staff will work through real workflows in the system. Plan for focused, uninterrupted time.
- Multiple sessions may be needed. Training typically spans several sessions over the onboarding period, not a single all-day event.
- Online training courses are available 24/7. StrataPT University provides each member of your team a guided, online learning experience that they can take at their own pace.
What to do now
- Identify who will attend which training sessions by role.
- Block time on the practice schedule to reduce patient volume during training days, if needed. Some practices reduce appointment density during training weeks to give staff breathing room.
- Designate backup coverage for front desk and clinical roles during training sessions so the practice can still operate.
- Communicate training expectations to staff: when sessions are scheduled, what’s expected, and that attendance is not optional.
Confirm Technical Requirements
Verify that your practice’s hardware and network meet the requirements for running StrataEMR before onboarding begins. Discovering a browser compatibility issue or a slow internet connection during go-live week creates unnecessary stress. Your onboarding lead can help troubleshoot technical issues during onboarding, but it’s better to identify and resolve them early.Pre-Onboarding Checklist
Use this checklist to track your preparation progress before the kickoff call. People- Internal point of contact designated
- Staff informed about the switch (what, when, why)
- Training availability confirmed and scheduled
- Backup coverage planned for training days
- Current EMR admin credentials located and verified
- Additional system access gathered (scheduling, billing, payer portals)
- Credentials delivered through the Onboarding Dashboard
- Active patient list reviewed and cleaned up
- Stale insurance information updated where known
- Active authorizations inventoried with visit counts
- Historical document handling approach decided
- Hardware and browser requirements verified at all locations
- Internet connectivity confirmed adequate
- Any known technical issues flagged to onboarding lead
What’s Next
Once these items are in place, you’re ready for your onboarding kickoff. Your onboarding lead will walk you through the next steps during that call.Next steps:
- What to Expect — Review the full journey from contract through go-live if you haven’t already.
- Your Onboarding Dashboard — Get oriented with what you’ll see when you first log in.