Choosing practice software
How do I switch practice management software without losing data?
Switching safely comes down to five things: get a full export from your current system before you commit, agree in writing what will and will not migrate, run both systems in parallel for a short period, reconcile a sample of patients and invoices, and switch over at a quiet point in the month.
Written by the HeroMed team · Last reviewed 7 September 2026
A migration checklist that works
- Export first. Get a complete export out of the old system — patients, notes, documents, invoices, outstanding balances — and confirm it opens and is readable before you sign anything.
- Agree scope in writing. Which fields migrate, which do not, who does the mapping, and what the fallback is.
- Migrate a test batch. Fifty patients, then check them field by field against the old system.
- Run parallel briefly. Two to four weeks with the old system readable, so nothing is stranded.
- Reconcile the money. Outstanding invoices and unreconciled claims are where migrations actually hurt — reconcile them explicitly.
- Switch at a quiet point. Not month-end, not the week before leave.
Red flags in a vendor conversation
- Vagueness about what will not migrate
- A charge to export your own data
- No test batch offered
- Pressure to switch off the old system on day one