In This Section
Healthcare IT
Technology Tips & Tricks - Use What You Have!
by Rosemarie Nelson, Consultant, Medical Group Management Association
How often have your children asked for a new video game and you’ve responded with an admonishment to “play with the ones you already have”? This same phenomenon occurs in the medical practice. We are always looking for the technology solution we don’t have, but don’t fully make use of what we do have.
Let's take a few minutes to list off all the technology tools typically found in a medical practice.
Using Macros & Templates
We’d most likely find at least one PC with a copy of a word processing tool, such as MS WORD in every medical office. The medical secretary may be using that application to transcribe dictation. But what else aren’t we doing with that tool? There are standard openings and closings to correspondence that can become macro’s and save characters which will save the secretary time, which translates to cost savings. Most physicians have some type(s) of visit that can be documented in a template, which will again save keystrokes, time and money. In fact, one dermatologist reduced transcription costs by thirty-five percent, simply by developing a half-dozen templates with his secretary.
Electronic Reports on Internal Network
Most likely, your secretary prints a transcribed report that is filed in the paper chart. Imagine the time saved for your staff if the telephone triage nurse had access to those electronic reports. If your secretary saves the transcription to a shared file on the network server and your telephone triage nurse has a PC on that network, your staff has immediate access to office notes without pulling the patient’s chart. Studies have shown that electronic access to office notes can save a single physician practice an average of $330 per day in looking for charts. And, the real bonus is the timely handling of patient calls and the high level of satisfaction for your patients.
Practice Management System Reports
Managing your patients’ care is a critical element in their satisfaction. Using your practice management system reporting tool, you can get a head start on the lost patient visits by querying your system to identify the patients who have not been in for a year, and do not have a future appointment scheduled. In fact, you can use the report management system to identify patients with a specific diagnosis who have not been followed in a specific period of time. Routine reporting to monitor patient compliance will demonstrate a higher standard of care when negotiating payer agreements.
Payment Profile
You have invested in a practice management system, yet you are not fully utilizing the features that are likely to add to the return on your investment. Are you storing expected payments from your key payers for your top ten procedures? With a payment profile built into your system, you can manage the reimbursement analysis with monthly exception reporting, rather than rely on your payment posting staff to eyeball the EOMB’s (Explanation of Medical Benefits) for unusual payments and adjustments.
Letter Merging
Another function of practice management systems that is underutilized is the letter merge capability. The letter writer links to your statement and collections cycle. Are you using a customized letter to request MC and VISA authorizations for unpaid balances from your patients early in the billing cycle rather than as a last resort six months after the end of a statement cycle? The letter merge function is also a tool for template letters for payer follow up on claim review requests. Tools that merge patient data you have already invested in capturing save staff time and translates to payroll dollars utilized more effectively.
Electronic Remittance
Each month, clearinghouses accept electronic claims for newly added payers. Is your staff monitoring the changes and updating your maintenance files to take advantage of the payer additions? Are you monitoring how many paper claims are produced each month? Are you submitting 85% (the bench mark of better performing practices) of all claims electronically? Electronic claims submission reduces errors at the payer organizations and is an efficient process that enables the practice to submit claims on a daily basis, which can turn your cash over quicker. Electronic remittance is a time saver in every practice and that translates to a more effective use of staff resources for claims follow up and claim denial processing. One four-physician practice recovered five person days each month from the payment posting task when they implemented electronic remittance posting for the payer responsible for thirty percent of their volume mix.
Internet Resources
Is the practice using its Internet connection to its greatest benefit? Have you bookmarked favorite sites with patient education material for your nursing staff to share with your patients? These links can be provided in a handout to your patients to save time surfing and searching the web during the patient visit; or your staff can print handouts from the links for your patients onsite without having to hunt through the facility for materials that have not been stocked in the exam rooms.
Digital Pagers
Are your providers connected to the practice via digital pagers? Are your staff members using email to page the providers with complete messages that permit simple responses via their pager without requiring a call into the office? These two-way pagers are efficient time savers as well as good call documentation. In fact, several practices use this method of communication much like your children use IM (instant messaging), which keeps the practice and the provider always in touch and in the know – even when the provider is in the building.
Your children adapt to technology quickly and have learned how to push the envelope and manipulate the tools available. The example they set for us is a valuable lesson worth studying - - and at no additional cost!
You may contact Rosemarie at RosemarieNelson@alum.syracuse.edu.
PLEASE NOTE: Information is provided as a service to our visitors. Practis takes no responsibility for it's content. It is provided with the understanding that Practis is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Links and information are provided as a service to our visitors. Practis takes no responsibility for their content nor connectivity.