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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – Your front office staff is the face of your practice. Even before your patients see a doctor, it’s the front office they need to closely interact with for everything from scheduling annual visits and sick appointment to updating insurance and more. Although your patients may not see the dozens of phone calls your staff answers, the referrals they process, the prescription refill requests they send to pharmacies, and other responsibilities, your front office staff takes care of a lot of duties on a daily basis. Unfortunately, an overworked employee isn’t good for customer service. One small incident could escalate and send an exhausted and stressed out employee over the top. But what if you could take work off your staff hands and automate some of their tasks? Not only would it allow your staff to more efficient, but it would also ensure a smoother operation for your entire practice. Read on to learn medical office management tips that will enhance patient satisfaction, reduce human error, save you money, and help you run a better practice.
1. Reduce Patient Paperwork
Many medical offices will use multiple forms in their registration packets. While some forms are not optional and need to be filled out at the office, others are not. You can ease the intake process by sending the forms to the patient prior to their visit or use online forms to help streamline the entire onboarding process. By not having several forms to fill out at the office, your patients are more likely to have a positive first visit. Even better, your office will have the data you need before the patient arrives for their first appointment.
2. Streamline the Forms
As mentioned, paper forms take way too long for the patient to fill out and are a burden to process. And how many times has your office had to send replacement forms to the patient because the first one wasn’t received? Too many times to count, most likely. Take a look at the forms you are having your patients fill out. You may be using them simply because they are ones you’ve been using for years. By reassessing the forms, you may be able to streamline them, which will take some burden off the patient and lighten the load of your staff.
3. Prioritize Existing Patients
It is almost ten times more expensive to get new patients than it is to keep existing ones. So don’t forget to cater to your current patients. Reach out specifically to those groups who need to schedule future appointments and who are most likely to generate additional revenue. You could even start a direct mail marketing campaign through LetterHUB with targeted newsletters and postcards to remind patients who are due for annual physical exams, are considered high-risk, or have chronic conditions. At the same time, a direct mail campaign is a great way to reconnect with dormant patients by urging them to schedule well visits and preventative check-ups.
4. Automate Repetitive Tasks
Simplify prescription refills by creating a form letting patients renew their prescriptions for a select number of months, or even an entire year. Starting an automated refill request system will save your staff thousands of hours each year. You can even set up custom integrations to send the information to various departments, and creating follow-up tasks for staff members to add to their To Do list.
5. Simplify Prior Authorizations
Prior authorizations can be a huge headache. To simplify this, set up a digital approvals system for patients to submit a form online. From there it can be reviewed for approval, which will allow you to take immediate action. Additionally, you can minimize prior reauthorizations by having patients take surveys gauging how well they are adhering to their present medications.
6. Outsource Invoicing
Save time, effort and money with patient medical statements and invoices by outsourcing your mailing to LetterHUB. As a professional printing, processing, and mailing company we help medical organizations of all sizes across the country handle billing, collections, invoices and much more. We can send 1000 invoices in 30 seconds! And offer a variety of other resources in our product suite to help make your practice more intuitive, convenient and productive.
If you have any questions about getting started with LetterHUB, feel free to reach out to us at any time. Call (609) 961-1130 or visit our website at www.letterhub.com Our technical support team will assist you with anything you need.