Tag: patient access
Despite the majority of elective procedures being up and running again, patients are still keeping their distance. Nearly half of Americans say they or a family member have delayed care since the beginning of the pandemic, while visits to the emergency room and calls to 911 have dropped significantly. Patients are avoiding care, but it’s not for the reason you’d expect. Beyond obvious worries about catching and spreading the virus, a second concern is becoming apparent: patients are fearful of the potential cost of medical care. With so many furloughed, laid off or losing their insurance coverage, medical care has become unaffordable for millions of Americans. It’s especially tough for those who fall into the coverage gap, where their income is too high to grant access to Medicaid coverage, but too low to be caught by the ACA safety net. If patients continue to delay care, it’s only a matter of time before their symptoms worsen, leading to more complex and expensive treatment or even risking their lives. For the hospitals and health systems with revenue levels at a record low, encouraging patients to return for routine care is a matter for their own financial survival too. The answer lies in making sure patients feel safe and comfortable both when they come in for care, and when they look at their financial responsibilities. 5 ways to ease the return to routine care 1. Reassure patients about safety measures before and during their visit Patients are understandably anxious about what their visit is going to be like. Will they have their temperature taken? What should they do if they have symptoms of the virus? Will seating areas be spaced out and sanitized? Pre-visit communications and proactive information on arrival will help them feel comfortable and eliminate the shock factor of seeing more stringent infection control measures. 2. Minimize unnecessary contact by shifting patient intake online From online scheduling and pre-registration to telehealth and contactless payment, there are many ways to keep face-to-face interactions to a minimum. Not only will this help reduce the spread of the virus, it’ll make the whole patient experience more convenient for patients. Exploring a virtual and automated patient intake experience can also free up staff to work on other tasks, thus also protecting the organization’s bottom line through efficiency savings. 3. Encourage patients back to care with automated outreach campaigns With so much uncertainty at the moment, patients may be unsure if it’s even appropriate to come in for routine care. Use automated outreach to prompt them to book appointments and schedule follow up care. A digital scheduling platform can help you set up text-based outreach campaigns, to reassure patients that it’s safe (and essential!) to come in for any overdue care – without placing any undue burden on your call center. 4. Provide price transparency before and at the point of service With healthcare experts pointing to financial worries as a major barrier to care, anything providers can do to improve the patient financial experience is an advantage. Price transparency is the first step. When patients have clear and accessible payment estimates upfront, they can plan accordingly and/or seek financial assistance as quickly as possible, reducing the risk of non-payment. 5. Screen for charity care eligibility with faster automated checks Once those payment estimates have been generated, the next step is to confirm whether the patient is eligible for financial support, in the event that they’re unable to cover their bill. Checking eligibility for charity assistance is a time-suck for patient collections teams, but with access to the right datasets, it’s a perfect candidate for automation. These steps become even more urgent as providers face the prospect of a ‘twindemic’ – or a surge in COVID-19 cases colliding with flu season. By avoiding delays to care, patients can avoid the need for more serious and expensive treatment further down the line, when hospitals are likely to be under even greater pressures. Contact us to find out more about how our data-driven, automated patient intake solutions can help make your patients feel as safe and comfortable as possible, both physically and financially.
The age of consumerism has been a catalyst in the shift towards patient-centered care, driving hospitals and health systems across the board to evaluate and improve their current methods of patient access. For one multi-specialty medical group, fast and easy access to care meant providing strategic tools for patients to use beyond the four walls of the organization and outside of the traditional hours of the practice. In order to provide a more flexible and convenient method to access care, CareMount Medical, the largest independent multi-specialty group in New York State, turned to Experian Health to enable online self-scheduling. With it in place, patients now have the ability to schedule an appointment online, across any specialty, any time of day or night. Providers’ scheduling protocols are automated within the solution to accurately match patients with the right provider and appointment based on care need. Those same protocols are also used to prevent overbooking, allowing providers to maintain close and comfortable control over their calendars. Improved call center efficiencies. Automated scheduling relieves call center staff of the associated administrative work, allowing more time for nurses and other credentialed staff to answer health questions and concerns over the phone. Increased patient acquisition and retention. In addition to attracting new patients, the solution has proven valuable for patient retention. Since implementation, the organization has seen on average 30 online appointment bookings per provider per month. Higher patient satisfaction. Patients are no longer required to call to schedule an appointment during office hours. This level of convenience gives patients more control over their day and has contributed to rising patient satisfaction scores for the organization as a whole. Continued Improvements. Real-time analytics and dashboards provide direct line-of-sight into scheduling activity, helping leaders at CareMount Medical to both identify areas for improvement and fine-tune the process to further improve online bookings. \"Experian Health’s guided search and scheduling solution adds immediate benefits for our patients, supporting our commitment to provide our patients with cutting-edge technology in the convenience of their home.\" — Scott D. Hayworth, MD, FACOG, President & CEO, CareMount Medical Learn more about CareMount Medical\'s journey and how your organization can also improve patient access with patient scheduling from Experian Health.
Imagine if every time you wanted to sign up to buy groceries online, book a vacation, or apply for a job, you had to fill out a paper registration form. For 21st century consumers who are accustomed to sleek digital and self-service experiences in industries such as retail, travel and banking, such an antiquated and cumbersome process seems unthinkable. Unfortunately, when it comes to healthcare services, we don’t have to use our imagination. Too often, we’re still required to fill out time-consuming, repetitive and tedious forms before accessing services. For providers who want to stay competitive, the long waits and wasted time that arise from paper-based registration system do nothing to win consumer loyalty. And on top of the disappointing patient experience, manual intake processes often lead to delays and errors that can disrupt the billing cycle, costing time and money further down the line. In fact, up to half of denied claims occur because of issues around the point of registration, such as identification errors, sub-standard data analytics and inefficient workflows. And at a time when patients and staff are trying to minimize face-to-face contact due to COVID-19, manual registration seems like an unnecessary extra touch point. Is it time to say goodbye to paper-based paper registration? Reimagining the patient intake experience for the digital age During registration, patients can be asked to provide personal details, submit their medical history, and confirm payer information. They may also need to schedule appointments, organize billing, or sign up for care management programs. It’s often a patient’s first glimpse of how a provider is going to look after them, so making the registration experience as stress-free as possible is a great way to build customer loyalty from the start. As the competition for consumer business heats up, providers should look for ways to give patients the virtual and mobile-friendly experience they desire, with as little time as possible spent in waiting rooms filling in forms. By letting patients tick off their registration to-do list online or via a mobile device – before even coming into hospital – providers can improve patient satisfaction, while using automated workflows to drive down costly errors and increase revenue. Here are two examples of how healthcare providers have embraced self-service registration and automated pre-registration workflows to benefit both their consumers and bottom line: 1. Schneck Medical Center used automated pre-registration to double their productivity For the patient access team at Schneck Medical Center, getting the correct patient information in a timely manner during registration was a challenge. By introducing eCare NEXT®, they were able to automate pre-registration workflows so the majority of manual, repetitive patient tasks could be completed automatically, freeing up staff to focus on patients who needed specific attention before being cleared. With Registration QA added to the mix, they could track and correct errors and spot opportunities to improve performance in real-time, for a better patient experience and more efficient operations. Skylar Earley, Director of Patient Access and Communication, said that by using Experian Health’s patient intake solutions, “we were able to make some fairly minor workflow changes, but double our pre-registration productivity on a daily basis and then repurpose some labor to different areas in patient access.” 2. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH) used automated registration to reduce claim denials Seeing that a large portion of claim denials were originating during patient registration, MLKCH introduced an automated registration workflow to eliminate unnecessary manual tasks and increase the accuracy of the data being collected. For Patient Access Manager Lori Westman, the results have been impressive: “We get fewer denials because we’re getting true verification data, and our patient volumes continue to increase. So the fact that we can take off at least two to three minutes on half of our registrations is speeding up the work for the team, and the turnaround time is much better for the patients.” By reducing paper-based tasks and introducing automated pre-registration options, these providers were able to make life easier for patients while slimming down their workflows. Is it time for your organization to do the same? Download our free eBook to find out more about how automated patient intake workflows could help you create a seamless, more efficient patient registration experience.
Many patients today are forced to call the doctor to schedule an appointment. These phone calls are often inconvenient: patients are required to call during a provider’s business hours, a single call can sometimes take up to 20 minutes, or the patient may end up playing phone tag until an appointment is finally booked. The entire process bodes for a poor patient experience, but also hinders access to care as staff are only able to manage a number of phone calls per day. Like many healthcare organizations today, The Iowa Clinic wanted to improve access to care for its patients, removing the many barriers that come with having to call to schedule an appointment. Requiring a solution that could both improve patient satisfaction and operational efficiencies, the clinic, which schedules more than 600,000 appointments per year across multiple specialties, turned to online self-scheduling. With online self-scheduling, patients of The Iowa Clinic have the ability to self-schedule directly into provider’s calendars in real time from a computer or mobile device. During the booking process, patients are asked a series of brief questions and their answers are used to guide them to the right provider and appointment based on their specific care need. Appointments can be booked any time of day or night. Since implementing online self-scheduling, The Iowa Clinic has not only improved access for patients, but has enhanced operations throughout the call center, seen growth in patient acquisition and has achieved higher than average show rates. Results include: At least 15% of all appointments booked came from online during the first eight monthsThe centralized call center has seen a 30% reduction in the number of scheduling callsAt least 8 new patient appointments are booked online per provider per month Patient show rates are at 97% for appointments scheduled online Learn more about online self-scheduling and how it can help to improve patient access for your organization. “Patient Schedule allows us to improve the experience by offering a simple, convenient way to schedule an appointment online.”- C. Edward Brown, CEO, The Iowa Clinic
With COVID-19 leading to postponed and cancelled medical appointments, more consumers are turning to “contactless care”. Recent figures suggest telehealth adoption has shot up from just 11% in 2019 to 46% over the course of the pandemic, and some providers are seeing up to 175 times the number of telehealth patients than pre-COVID. As they grapple with the surge in patient volumes alongside regulatory change, many are playing catch-up. For patients, rushed implementation means the telehealth experience can fall short of expectations. Compared to the easy one-click services available with online retail and finance platforms, telehealth can feel clunky and frustrating. Technical issues, not knowing how to prepare for appointments, and a lack of awareness of available services can all taint the consumer experience. Providers looking to launch (or re-launch) a patient-friendly telehealth service ahead of a possible second wave should aim to check off these four considerations before rolling it out. 1. Prioritize easy online scheduling for virtual care Allowing patients to book telehealth appointments when it suits them will help to reduce no-shows and minimize delays. A telehealth platform that integrates with physician calendars and other patient management and record management systems will keep things running smoothly at the operational level, while creating a convenient and secure way for patients to schedule care. For example, when Benefis Health System implemented Patient Schedule, more than 50% of patients chose to book their appointments out of normal working hours. Sam Martin, digital developer and web specialist at Benefis, says: “If you’re not allowing your patients to schedule online, you’re behind the times. You can only benefit from it. We’re seeing the number of online bookings continue to grow every month, confirming that this solution is working for patients.” 2. Include quick and reliable coverage checks With the pandemic and resulting unemployment putting both provider and patient cashflow under strain, any available commercial or government coverage must be identified quickly. Providers should run automated coverage checks to find any missing coverage and select the right financial pathway for each patient as soon as possible. Not only will this create a more compassionate patient financial experience, it’ll allow the collections team to focus their attention on the right accounts and minimize the risk of write-offs. Automated Coverage Discovery screens for eligibility through Medicare, Medicaid or commercial plans, without any collections agency getting involved. With this tool, Essentia Health were able to find coverage for 16,990 accounts that were assumed to be self-pay or uninsured. Kathryn Wrazidlo, Patient Access Director, says: “This has helped patients because we’re actually billing their insurance versus billing them for self-pay. It’s helping staff because they’re billing the insurance company much quicker. There’s less rework.” 3. Get telehealth claims right first time Given that the pandemic may cost hospitals an estimated $200 billion between March and June 2020, there’s no room for the added financial burden of claim denials. But as telemedicine expands, so does its regulatory framework. Providers must keep track of changing payer updates and coding rules so that claims are submitted right first time. An automated, data-driven claims management tool can help providers analyze claims with greater confidence and spot any errors well in advance of submission. Telehealth alerts can be included as customized edits, to confirm whether the patient’s current plan includes virtual care. To help providers manage this process, Experian Health is offering free access to telehealth payer policy alerts through our COVID-19 resource center. 4. Protect patient data As with any part of the digital patient experience, a multi-layered approach to protecting sensitive information is a must. Ideally, this will include two-factor patient identity authentication, device recognition and out-of-wallet checks whenever a log-in attempt looks suspicious. Automating this process with a tool such as Precise ID allows providers to integrate multiple data points to check that a patient is who they say they are, in a way that’s HIPAA-compliant. This makes it harder for thieves to access patient data, without burdening the patient with extra checks as they manage their information. Retaining patient volume and rebuilding revenue through “contactless” care won’t be possible unless the entire telehealth journey is as seamless as possible. From scheduling to payment, Experian Health can help you create a virtual patient experience that’s convenient, secure and reliable. To learn more about how to build a better digital patient journey, download our free eBook.
Consumers today expect fast and convenient access to almost everything, healthcare included. While still only offered by a fraction of healthcare providers out there, online scheduling is catching on throughout the market – especially as more providers turn to telehealth solutions during COVID-19. Still, despite the uptick in online self-scheduling, there are patients who prefer to call to schedule an appointment and call centers may be overwhelmed as a large number of patients rush to reschedule appointments that were cancelled or postponed due to COVID-19. To best prepare, providers will want to ensure the best possible patient experience for those calling to schedule an appointment. This can be done by enabling online scheduling throughout the call center. Here are five ways to make patient scheduling easy through your call center: Save timeWith a manual scheduling process, patients often have to sit on the phone – sometimes for upwards of twenty minutes – while also being put on hold or having to wait to be called back to confirm an appointment. It’s not only an awful patient experience but imagine what all that time adds up with the number of scheduling calls providers receive every single day? By reducing call times you’re making the process more efficient for more routine scheduling calls while also opening up call center agents to focus on those patients who need more attention. Automate the rulesThe key to reducing time spent scheduling an appointment is automating the scheduling protocols and business rules of the providers in the scheduling platform. Call center agents traditionally have to manually navigate expansive spreadsheets or three-ring binders of business rules with the scheduling criteria for each provider. Experian automates all those rules in our system and translates them to easy Q&A prompts for the scheduler while on the phone with a patient. In short, rules automation equals quicker scheduling (while maintaining accuracy). Improve trainingBecause the rules are automated, the training process for call center agents is made much more efficient. Where agents would have had to learn the various nuances of scheduling complex specialty care for a variety of providers, they now just need to learn how to use the scheduling platform. The scheduling protocols are automated and help dialogues will pop-up to explain and guide agents through the scheduling process for every provider and care type. Where it may have taken 60 to 90 days to master scheduling for a new specialty, schedulers can now be experts for that specialty in as little as one hour. IntegrationIn order to get the most out of any scheduling solution it needs to integrate into the provider’s practice management system. Leveraging APIs or HL7 bi-directional connectivity, all bookings occur in real-time. This prevents any double-bookings and also removes any calendar maintenance by staff to block and recheck time for providers. With the integration, bookings from the call center transact the same as if a staff member was logged in at the providers office and scheduling on the spot. Automated outreachProviders can use automated outreach to augment their call center capabilities. With it they can send text message and IVR campaigns to patients with the ability for patients to schedule an appointment in real-time on the phone. Check out Patient Schedule to learn more or download our free guide about how scheduling can be made easier for your patients through all of your access channels.
Patients today expect digital capabilities from their provider and will increasingly choose those who offer digital capabilities. Knowing this, many providers have been working to shift more of the patient journey online, through telehealth and virtual care. Not all care needs to be delivered face to face, and technological advances allow patients to access more services from the comfort of their own homes, at a time that suits them. This trend has been visible for a few years now, as consumers sought out more smartphone-friendly digital healthcare experiences. But change in the healthcare industry often comes at a lumbering pace, so when the coronavirus pandemic hit and accelerated the transition to remote care, many organizations found themselves on the back foot. Now, it’s a case of catch-up, keep up or get left behind. As demand for telehealth services grows, so too does the regulatory framework around it. A big part of staying competitive will be the ability to keep track of new telehealth regulations and changing payer rules. Those that don’t will find their collections straining under the added pressure of missed reimbursement opportunities. How can providers stay on top of the changes and maximize reimbursement? Keeping track of telehealth reimbursement regulations Since early March 2020, the federal government has moved to make telehealth more accessible to patients with Medicare coverage. Limitations on the types of clinicians that can provide telehealth services under Medicare have been waived, while Medicare beneficiaries in rural areas and those with audio-only phones can now access care remotely. New telehealth services will be added to the reimbursable list under a quicker process, which is a huge benefit to both patients and providers, but will mean the rules around reimbursement could change more frequently. Speaking in March, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said: “These changes allow seniors to communicate with their doctors without having to travel to a healthcare facility so that they can limit risk of exposure and spread of this virus. Clinicians on the frontlines will now have greater flexibility to safely treat our beneficiaries.” Flexibility is always welcome – but what do looser rules mean for reimbursement workflows? Three challenges stand out: Payer variation. Telehealth and telemedicine data can be presented differently by different payers, causing a headache for providers during eligibility verification.Coding variation. Each type of telehealth visit is coded and billed differently. Regardless of where appointments are carried out, clinicians must still follow the same billing workflow, so keeping track of the differences is essential.Geographical variation. Providers now have to track billing and coding changes for telehealth services from different payers across multiple states. What can providers do to bill telehealth services as accurately as possible? Billing for telehealth services more frequently calls for a solution that’s flexible enough to keep pace with changing payer rules, and sufficiently scalable to provide real-time reimbursement information when it’s needed. Automation can help achieve both of these goals. Two use cases for automation: Quicker Medicare checks: Run quick and accurate checks to confirm patients are eligible for Medicare coverage for the services in question. A tool such as Coverage Discovery can comb for available coverage, even as patients are switching plans or payer rules are changing. In addition, eligibility verification automations can sweep for coverage information on telehealth services, using reliable and secure third-party data and analytics to check for updates. Cleaner claims submissions: Tighten up billing workflows so that claims can be submitted as soon as possible. Claims management software can run automatic checks so that every claim is submitted clean and error-free. Any missing or incorrect codes can be flagged up, eliminating costly and time-consuming rework. Telehealth alerts can be included as customized edits to confirm whether virtual care is a benefit included in the patient’s current plan. While these actions can help protect your bottom line during the immediate crisis, they’ll also help you build a solid foundation as your telehealth offering inevitably continues to grow. Whether you’re looking to verify coverage, check eligibility or protect patient identities as they log in and use telehealth services, reliable data is key. Schedule a free consultation to discover how Experian Health can help you leverage accurate and real-time data insights to optimize your billing workflow and maximize telehealth reimbursements.
From airlines to cafés to car manufacturers, businesses across America are scrambling to respond to the challenge of COVID-19. In healthcare, services are being put on pause to protect staff and patients on the pandemic’s front line, leaving health systems to contend with gaps in reimbursements and exhausted cash flows. The problem lies in the sheer number of human touchpoints involved in the typical patient experience: scheduling, paperwork, waiting rooms, treatment, payment…all that in-person interaction just isn’t realistic in the current climate. Digital and mobile technology could be the answer. While digital communication platforms have been growing steadily over the last decade, they’re now a life raft for many providers as COVID-19 forces much of the patient journey online. Megan Zweig, director of research and marketing at Rock Health, says investments in virtual care have already exceeded $3 billion this year: \"Without COVID, the story would have continued from last year as this was a healthy, growing space with a lot of momentum behind it. That momentum has turned into incredible urgency and demand for communication, testing, monitoring, care – all of those things done at a distance.\" This trajectory will likely continue beyond the immediate crisis, as providers prepare for a possible second wave later in the year and patients become accustomed to remote and mobile options. Providers that take advantage of these digital solutions now will be better positioned to optimize the patient journey in a post-COVID world. What could the digital patient journey look like beyond COVID-19? A digital healthcare experience can offer patients more convenience and flexibility while protecting revenue for providers, in the following ways: Scheduling appointments when it suits The first bump in the road for many patients is scheduling their appointment. With many in lockdown juggling home-schooling and home-working, it’s not always convenient to call during office hours. A patient scheduling platform lets the patient book their appointment whenever suits, using the channel they prefer. Before the pandemic, Benefis Health System found 50% of patients chose to book after hours, including for urgent care. We can expect this to increase as even more patients are nudged online. As the threat of COVID subsides, a massive influx of patients will also want to reschedule postponed visits. Automated patient scheduling will reduce the pressure on call centers and offer a more efficient consumer experience. Reducing registration gridlock with automation Patient access is often rife with avoidable stress – queues, unnecessary forms and manual data entry, resulting in costly errors and repeated work. Instead, providers can streamline the process by allowing pre-registration tasks to be completed online, and automating patient access with a mobile intake experience. Completing as many tasks as possible outside of the provider’s office will help minimize face-to-face contact, keeping everyone safe. Opening up access to telehealth There’s no getting around the fact that most care needs to be delivered in person. Telemedicine offers an effective way for patients to seek care from the safety of their own home. Video calls can be used for general consultations, remote monitoring of patients with respiratory conditions, and even supporting patients with chronic conditions to adhere to care plans. As the government allocates $20 million to support access to telemedicine in response to COVID-19, up to 54% of patient encounters are expected to take place remotely in the near future. Many of these patients will choose to stick with telemedicine, even when in-person options return. [Remember to check out our free COVID-19 Resource Center, where you can get free access to telehealth payer policy alerts to help avoid payment denials and delays.] Making contactless payment the easy option Contactless payment through apps such as Apple Pay and Venmo are gaining popularity as consumers try to avoid exchanging cash and cards. But can it be used in hospitals? In short, yes. Not only does Experian Health’s Patient Financial Advisor offer patients a way to make secure – and socially distanced – payments, it allows providers to give a breakdown of estimated costs using real-time information. Patients get updates on their mobile or through their patient portal. These digital alternatives not only offer a more convenient patient experience, they can also allow providers to collect payments faster and in full. Contact us to find out how digital health solutions can help your organization adapt to the new normal, and provide a better patient experience now and beyond COVID-19.
The term “digital front door” is one of the biggest buzz words in healthcare, and thanks to COVID-19, we can expect to see it even more. Already, according to an Accenture survey, 77 percent of patients believe the ability to book, cancel, or change an appointment online is important. Now, with social distancing and stay at home orders in place, offering digital tools for engagement is more important than ever. But what exactly makes a strong “digital front door” and what does it take to create one? What precisely does a digital strategy need in order to better engage and retain patients? There are a lot of thoughts about what the digital front door looks like, from pricing transparency to ratings and reviews, reputation management, patient registration, and more. We know patients today are seeking greater transparency from their entire healthcare experience. Yet each of the qualities above reflect more of a digital billboard than an actual front door. After all, the front door needs to be a pathway to see a physician or access care; it must actually “open.” A true digital front door will do the following: Enable omni-channel access. Improving access begins with offering more channels for patients to find the care they need – a necessity today in the midst of COVID-19. Digital scheduling drives patient access, plain and simple, whether it be through call centers, automated outreach, or online self-scheduling. Omni-channel access not only opens the door for patients experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, giving them a fast and easy way to connect with a provider, but will be key for the post-COVID world when patients begin to reschedule those appointments that have been cancelled or deferred. Engage patients. Patients want convenience when it comes to accessing care. Now, more than ever, patients look online for information and expect to find what they need easily and quickly. Making service information available online, such as COVID testing, is an obvious first step. Allowing consumers to simply and efficiently book the care they need online will lead to increased engagement, as well. Improve productivity. More than half of all patients prefer to schedule outside of business hours. Digital scheduling can enable that, increasing appointments while improving provider workflow, freeing up staff to focus on other activities. This will prove critical as providers brace for an influx of patients seeking to reschedule appointments that have since been cancelled or deferred due to COVID-19. Additionally, automated reminders help improve patient show rates while data-driven practices help refine scheduling logistics. Increase revenue. Providing better, more efficient access, increases the number of patients coming into a practice – which means more revenue. And today, as a result of heroic efforts to serve communities impacted by COVID-19, providers are more strapped for revenue than ever before. With access to digital and mobile solutions, providers can attack revenue loss from two sides –attracting new patients and retaining current ones. Drive higher patient satisfaction. Faster, easier access to healthcare equals better satisfaction with the process of accessing healthcare, with the provider organization, and with the provider. And, if you really want a crowd pleaser that can also generate revenue, automated business rules and scheduling protocols are a must have.It’s the combination of convenience and effectiveness that keeps them coming back for future care needs – coming back, of course, through the digital front door. Learn more about how Patient Scheduling can help to unlock your organization’s digital front door.
