In any business, it’s far easier and cost-effective to retain the clientele you have, than to expend resources to grow it. Healthcare is no exception. To stay profitable, you need to consistently improve your patient experience and ensure that they leave your offices satisfied. There are many things you can do to provide a positive patient experience and improve your patient-provider relationship, including how you communicate with them. Other factors include their experience at the front office and the overall billing process. You may provide excellent care, but if the billing process for them is slow and frustrating, it could sour their whole experience. Medical bills can be stressful, so the less complicated the process for the patient, the better.
Luckily, technology can streamline some of the more tedious aspects of visiting the doctor’s office. By better connecting with the patient and showing them that you value their privacy and their time, you’ll strengthen your relationship with them.
Secure File-Sharing
For patients especially concerned about their health status and are anxious about receiving lab results, they may request them as soon as they’re available. Sharing private medical information electronically is tricky. While a patient has the right to receive documents relating to their health under HIPAA, that same law dictates that you need to take certain precautions when storing and sharing such information.
Strong encryption is a must when sharing medical data, so simply emailing documents won’t cut it. More care needs to be taken. Requiring the patient to physically pick them up is safer, but inconvenient for them in a digital world and could work against your efforts. Postage is costly and slower.
So when your patient requests certain medical documents, the fastest and safest way is through an encrypted file-sharing portal. Rather than transferring a file via third-party email servers, you can instead send them a link that will establish a secured connection between their computer and your file server. They’ll be able to directly download their files from you, in a compliant manner.
Automate to Uncomplicate the Billing Process
For some, the billing process is more dreadful than their actual diagnosis. Medical billing is a complicated process with lots of required steps where things can get delayed or go wrong, frustrating patients to no end. Be prepared with a better process for getting patient information input and to the right people so you can get cleaner claims, faster. Document management can streamline your processes with workflow automation. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating a workflow to simplify the billing process for both you and your patients.
Automatically file payment information and get the process going to get a claim right away
The sooner you get a patient’s billing information into the system, the sooner it can begin processing. For new patients, it should happen on their first visit, preferably before they go into the examination room. Automated routing of documents is possible with standard forms you have patients fill out.
Once you get their information, you can scan it into the system which can auto-populate metadata profiles with the text, using optical character recognition (OCR). They can be directed to a folder that automatically puts them on an automated workflow for billing.
Customize your workflows for all scenarios
You can create a workflow with branching paths for different scenarios. The system can recognize different factors, including the profile data attached to the document. For example, patients with and without insurance can be sorted into different workflows.
Workflows allow documents to get to the right people for review, editing, and approval. It can make copies of patient information, store it in the right location for compliance, move the information along with auto-generated forms to the coding officer, etc. Using workflows allows you to do away with chasing signatures and wondering where a document currently is.
Evaluate your workflow to see what works and what doesn’t
Having visibility into your workflows is valuable to see where exactly the billing process gets slowed down. Seeing realtime reports on where claims get bogged or get rejected by your staff, helps reduce the number of claims rejected due to missing information by insurance companies.
All of this is in an effort to make billing more simplified and expedient for the patient. You’ll find when you deliver quality care and a quality patient experience, you’ll easily retain your clientele.
Rubex by eFileCabinet is capable of secure, file-sharing, OCR, automated document routing, and automated workflows. To see Rubex in action, click here to set up a free, personalized demo.
