Picture your practice in its most optimal state. Patients arrive with their paperwork complete, insurance information verified, and checked in. Providers have reviewed patient information and have plenty of time to address these issues. Your staff can readily access documents and review scheduled appointments. There is no last-minute scramble to find important documents or collect payments.
Sound like a fantasy? With the right front-office technology, you can make it a reality for your practice operations. Here are the four technology solutions that will help you make it happen.
1. Digital Check-in
While the traditional way of checking in via a paper sign-in sheet may seem simple, it creates a lot of headaches for the front office staff and patients. The staff must keep track of who has signed in and who hasn’t and who has up-to-date insurance and contact information. Those tasks must be juggled alongside other daily administrative tasks.
Digital check-in streamlines these processes for front office staff and patients. Patients enjoy the ease of checking in from a device and updating any needed information with a few clicks. This technology ensures all patient information is maintained in one central, accessible source. It also gives patients a chance to experience your patient portal and sign up for regular communications.
With digital check-in, you can also monitor how many patients are in your waiting room to better comply with social distancing guidelines. If desired, you can also send a quick message to patients after checking-in, asking them to wait in their vehicles until called by front office staff. You can also add screening questions to your check-in experience and remind visitors of temperature checks.
2. Digitize and Automate Your Intake Forms
Still using paper intake forms? Improve the patient experience by moving to digital forms and automated workflows. These forms can be housed in the patient portal and made available to patients before appointments. Digital intake forms are especially critical in today’s age of telemedicine. Not only do they save time up-front, but they also give healthcare professionals the vital opportunity to review patient information ahead of time.
To improve completion rate, integrate digital intake forms with prompts, and nudges into your strategy. You can even send reminders to complete online paperwork prior to the appointment via email or text message.
Use post-appointment surveys to measure the patient experience and take in feedback for improvements. Send them out soon after the visit (within 24 hours) for the best response. These surveys can be housed in your online patient portal. A simple text message or email will prompt patients to provide their reviews. Staff can then follow up with any patients who may need to discuss their concerns or comments directly.
3. Self-Scheduling and Appointment Reminders
Nearly a third of physicians report spending 20 hours or more a week on administrative tasks. Scheduling appointments, updating schedules, dealing with no-shows, and cancellations eat up practice resources. With online scheduling, patients can review available appointments, reference their calendars, and choose the one that best fits their needs. Likewise, patients can cancel appointments and reschedule if needed.
To reduce no-shows, use your software to automatically send appointment confirmations and reminders. Doing so will help you minimize clinical downtime, better allocate resources, and improve revenue.
4. Convenient Online Payment Options
Patients are the third-largest payer group in the United States, behind only Medicare and Medicaid. As patient financial responsibility increases, practices must provide easy means of taking in payments from patients. Patients are generally accustomed to making payments online for rent, mortgages, utilities, credit card statements, etc. Online bill payment technologies help increase collection rates and speed of payments. This service integrates well into patient portals. Include reminders and prompts to encourage timely payments.
No matter your practice size or specialty, RXNT has the innovative solutions you need to optimize operations. For a closer look at how we can help, get in touch with our team for a quick demo.
Additional sources:
Tips for text messaging with your patients
4 benefits of online scheduling
21 Wonderful Benefits of Online Appointment Scheduling for Small Business
Electronic reminders to patients within an interactive patient health record
How to Reduce No-Show Appointments and Improve Small Practice Revenue