Healthcare systems need ways to build and maintain long term growth and make relationships stronger when under pressure from high expectations, growing burnout, and shrinking margins. Many things cause strain on both the provider and patient experiences such as insurance authorizations, imaging scheduling, diagnostic testing, and time-consuming processes for orders that are inefficient. Optimizing RCM processes can improve provider and patient experiences.
Automation Removes the Inefficiencies that Frustrating Patients and Providers
The inefficiencies that frustrate providers and patients are removed by optimized processes. Prior insurance authorization requirements delay care and increase call waiting times. Outdated technologies such as fax communications make coordinated care more inefficient. Automating orders and authorizations can remove the hurdles and make the process run more smoothly for both the provider and patient when coordinating care.
Automated Authorizations and Digital Orders Make Scheduling Easier
Automated authorizations and digital orders make the scheduling process easier. Automating the order and authorization process before patient scheduling waste less time and resources and by avoiding last minute reschedules. Providers can start the authorization and order process from just one interface and can see at any time where a patient is in their scheduling process and if any clinical documentation is required to obtain authorization. Automation allows the appointment to get to the right location regardless of whether it’s done by a patient or the schedulers. Automation helps medical providers get authorization at a lower cost and faster. This is especially important since prior authorization requirements have increased along with denials due to pre-certification/authorization issues.
Automated Processes Have Many Benefits
Even though automation has been around for a while, healthcare was slow at catching on. Providers are often hesitant to implement new digital, processes, and workflows and think they will do more harm than help. Once they start to see the value in the tools for themselves and their patients, they quickly adapt, and spread the word to other practices. As viruses and concerns rise and the population ages, the healthcare system will have more patients than their staff can accommodate. Eliminating some of the manual and redundant tasks done by staff and having automation take control, will allow the staff to focus on the tasks on hand that only human can do.
Optimized Processes Increase Patient Satisfaction
Physicians that use automation for placing orders, scheduling, and authorizations, have seen a significant increase in patient satisfaction. Through automation tools, appointments can be scheduled in a way that allows the patient to leave from their visit with an itinerary and know what to expect and what their next steps will be. The increase in patient scheduling is convenient for both patients and physicians. Patients do not need to wait on hold on the phone for someone to schedule their appointment and physicians can have more time to focus on serving the patients who need in person assistance.
The Revenue Cycle and Patient Access are Improved
By automating workflows, you should see an improvement in referrals from patients and other physicians. Using automated order, prior authorization, and scheduling processes strengthen relationships with referring providers and make it easier for patients to have an easy access to the care that they need.