You’ve undoubtedly heard that doing the same thing over and again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. That isn’t the correct definition. Insanity is defined as “extreme foolishness or unreasonableness; anything absolutely idiotic or unreasonable,” according to Merriam Webster, yet the argument is well taken that attempting something that hasn’t worked in the past is unlikely to succeed in the future.
If you’ve been doing the same things for a long time and want to improve, you’ll need to change your processes. The good news is that most of the time, increasing efficiency does not necessitate major adjustments. In reality, a few minor adjustments may go a long way.
1: Double-check insurance coverage, then double-check again.
After a patient makes an appointment, the first thing you should take is to verify their insurance, but doing so only once isn’t enough. Check again the day before the patient’s appointment to be sure they’re still covered. To prevent adding extra work to your team, run a batch report of your appointments at the end of the day and utilise practise management software that automates verifications. If you skip this step and have claims denied, your billing team will have to seek down updated insurance information in order to resubmit a claim.
2: Automated appointment reminders should be sent out.
No-show appointments can reduce your income by causing gaps in your calendar, but phoning each patient to remind them of forthcoming appointments is not an efficient use of your staff’s time. Instead, utilize an automated system and a mixture of text messages, emails, and phone calls (if a patient doesn’t have a mobile phone or email) to prevent no-shows and maintain your calendar filled.
3: Make your patient portal known and used.
Patient portals provide clinics with several chances to improve workflow efficiency by reducing manual chores and phone calls for you and your team. You can do the following:
Inform patients of normal lab results without having to call them.
Receive requests for medicine refills, authorise them, and send them to the pharmacy.
Instead of scheduling appointments for items that might be done simply through encrypted messaging, send and receive fast messages from patients.
Increase overall collections by offering online bill pay and invoicing.
4: Use a practise management software solution that is integrated.
Manual data transmission may be reduced by using practise management software that is completely connected with your scheduling, EHR, and medical billing. Not only will this provide your team more time to engage with patients, but it will also prevent data entry errors, which might lead to gaps in a patient’s medical record or billing issues, slowing down your capacity to collect.
Talk to GoDoctor now to learn more about how simple it is to implement these changes in your small or solo practise.
