Tag: digital front door
Financial recovery after COVID-19 is likely to be a slow burn for most healthcare organizations, according to a recent survey. Nearly 90% of healthcare executives expect revenue to drop below pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020, with one in five anticipating a hit greater than 30%. While the return of elective procedures will be a lifeline for many hospitals and health systems, the road to financial recovery remains fraught with obstacles: Five months of canceled and postponed procedures need to be rescheduledWorried patients must be reassured of hygiene measures, so they feel safe to attend appointmentsPatient intake and payment processes must be modified, in order to minimize face-to-face contactAs the rate of infection continues to grow, providers must find new ways to also grow their revenue and protect against a further dent in profits. The healthcare industry is unlikely to see the recovery curve hoped for across the wider economy, but digital technology, automation and advanced data analytics could help provider finances to bounce back more quickly. 4 ways technology can accelerate your post-pandemic financial recovery 1. Easy and convenient patient scheduling unlocks your digital front door Patients want to reschedule appointments that were postponed or canceled over the last few months. To manage the backlog and minimize pressure on staff, consider using a digital patient scheduling platform, so patients can book their appointments online. A self-scheduling system that incorporates real-time scheduling and calendar reminders will help to create a positive consumer experience, while offering analytics and behind-the-scenes integration to keep your call center operations running smoothly. 2. Secure and convenient mobile technology can enhance your telehealth services Telehealth is the top choice for many hospitals looking to boost revenue growth and counter the impact of COVID-19, with two-thirds of executives expecting to use telehealth at least five times more than before the coronavirus hit. Many new digital tools and strategies designed to improve the patient journey as a whole can support telehealth delivery, and help to meet growing consumer demand for virtual care. For those beginning their telehealth journey, our COVID-19 Resource Center, which offers free access to telehealth payer policy alerts, may be the place to start. 3. A digital patient intake experience can lessen fears of exposure Although many providers are starting to open up for routine in-person appointments again, patients may wonder if it’s safe. Proactive communication about the measures in place to protect staff and patients will be essential. Another way to minimize concern is to allow as many patient intake tasks as possible to be completed online. Automating patient access through the patient portal can give patients quicker and more convenient ways to complete pre-registration, while contactless payment methods are a safe way to settle bills without setting foot in the provider’s office. 4. Optimize collections to bolster financial recoveryAutomation can also play a huge role in helping providers tighten up their revenue cycle, find new ways to enhance accounts receivable collections and avoid bad debt. Tools such as Coverage Discovery and Patient Financial Clearance enable providers to find missing or forgotten coverage, and help the patient manage any remaining balances in a sensitive and personalized way. Palo Pinto General Hospital uses automated coverage checks to find out whether a patient is eligible for charitable assistance within three seconds, so self-pay accounts can be directed to the most appropriate payment plan before the patient even comes in for treatment. With fewer accounts being written off, Palo Pinto has seen a noticeable improvement to their bottom line. The pandemic has been a wake-up call for an industry that has been traditionally slow to adopt new technologies. Ahead of a second wave of COVID-19, providers must move now to take advantage of automation and digital strategies to speed up financial recovery. Contact us to find out how we can help your organization use technology to improve the patient experience, increase efficiencies and kickstart your revenue cycle.
The novel coronavirus pandemic crisis of 2020 has plunged the healthcare system, and frankly the whole economy, into a dark place. It will take time, and likely a lot of time, to overcome what may end up being several months of a national shut down. Eventually people will re-emerge from isolation, business will resume a new normal, and healthcare providers will turn their attention to the revenue generating services that they temporarily halted, as well as the patients who delayed care for a myriad of conditions. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published “phase one” re-opening recommendations that recognized in some areas the possibility of non-COVID-19 care is already being considered. There will be an overflow of pent-up demand and provider organizations need to position themselves now to be ready. One consideration, with many health systems now feeling the squeeze and not being able to re-deploy staff to serve in the crisis, is to use some of those resources and prepare for the next phase. Here are few strategies to get ahead of the curve, if you will, as it flattens: Reschedule appointments – Literally hundreds of appointments– for some providers, thousands – that had been cancelled or delayed will require rescheduling. Deploying an omni-channel scheduling platform now can relieve the pressure of that future volume in several ways: Online scheduling can guide patients to the right care with rules automation, allowing patients to accurately self-book and reducing call center volume.Enable patient scheduling via automated outreach messages sent via text message or IVR. (For example, you can target all those who need to reschedule, reaching them via text campaigns and reducing call center workload).Reduce training time with a call center scheduling solution. Agents (such as temps hired to handle the influx of appointments) can be trained in a matter of hours to schedule and book appointments accurately.Harden your telehealth offering – This crisis has shown the necessity for virtual visit technology during a pandemic; however, its value won’t disappear as the crisis fades. Telehealth is destined to become a staple of healthcare delivery. Restrictions have been lifted and the technology has proven practical, convenient and efficient, paving the way for broad acceptance. But what are the digital complements that can be paired with telehealth to harden the solution and make the offering a robust tool into the future? While many providers are now able to offer this type of virtual care, scheduling across a variety of specialties has become a challenge. A tool that guides patients and call center agents to the right provider across all services, including telehealth, is going to be critical in the months ahead to maintaining scheduling efficiency and delivering an optimal patient experience.Establish your digital front door – Patients aren’t going to want only clinical telehealth options; the whole spectrum of patient-provider interaction is shifting. Scheduling, registration, payments - all these are going to see increased demand for digital self-service. This gets patients out of the waiting room and removes the need to swipe or insert a credit card or use a POS kiosk. Patients, who are consumers, want to use their mobile devices and they will form lasting opinions of those services enabling – or restricting – their ability to do that.Collections optimization – Right now the focus is on caring for patients, as it should be; however, in order to continue operating, providers must collect for the services rendered. Putting in systems that automate collections processes and reduce the human resources necessary to bring in revenue will to be key to capitalizing on the rush of non-COVID-19 care that will soon be required. These are just a few of the ways that healthcare providers can deploy digital technology to prepare and turn this looming challenge into opportunity. The reality is that managing patient engagement and collections through this next phase is critical to the U.S. healthcare ecosystem’s recovery. Organizations that emerge stronger will be those that prepare now and are ready when the time comes. Find out more about patient engagement solutions that can help you respond now and prepare for the future.
