Tag Archives: hospitals

Improving Patient Experience through Patient Smart Rooming

The Traditional Patient Care Journey is an inherently time and resource inefficient process. Many patients dread clinical visits due to long and uncomfortable wait times. For clinics, this improper use of staff and money results in increased costs and lost revenue. However, a centralized planning system that streamlines the patient workflow could transform the Care Journey. This is where Patient Smart Rooming can emerge as an efficient tool for streamlining the patient journey. Before diving into this innovative solution, it is important to understand the Patient Rooming process.

Pre-Visit Preparation

Before engaging with the patient, it is important for the medical assistant to understand more about them. Medical Assistants can use a pre-visit checklist to prepare for the appointment by learning more about the patient’s medical history. Assistants should review the patients’ current condition, treatment plan, and feedback from past visits. Previous test/screening results should be readily available for the physician to observe. Ensure that any age or condition-specific tests, screenings, and immunizations are up to date.

By preparing for the patient prior to the visits, medical assistants can be proactive about what they may be facing during the rooming process. They better anticipate any patient questions/concerns and prepare accordingly. This also allows them to share any glaring concerns with the patient and physician. A Pre-Visit checklist can also save time by identifying areas of concern before the patient even arrives. After completing this checklist, the assistant can approach the patient and begin the rooming process.

Patient Rooming Tasks

Efficient Patient Rooming requires the medical assistant to perform a variety of tasks. Here are the common steps involved in Patient Rooming:

Patient Introduction: Greet the patient in the waiting room and lead them to the appointment room. Ensure that you are engaging with the patient in a warm and welcoming fashion.
Inquire About Appointment Objective: In a kind and compassionate manner, inquire about the patient’s objective of the appointment. Understand why they are there and what they seek to accomplish from the visit. Identify the most high-priority health concerns.
Update Health Records: Add any new conditions or symptoms to the patient’s health record. Be sure that any recent tests or screenings have been indicated on the record.
Address Patient Questions: Encourage patients to be open about any concerns they have about their treatment or condition. Inform the physician of any questions that are relevant to the appointment.
Conduct Patient Screening: Screen the patient using standard protocol to determine any tests or procedures that they will need to undergo. Prepare the patient for any tests that the physician will be performing and if necessary provide them with the appropriate protective gear.
Briefing The Physician: After collecting all the required details from the patient, be able to summarize this information to the physician. Highlight any glaring issues from the health record or any urgent patient concerns.

The Rooming process ends when the Medical Assistant transfers the responsibility of care to the physician. An efficient exchange of care means minimizing time without compromising on the quality of care.

Characteristics of Patient Smart Rooming

Patient Smart Rooming has risen from the increasing acceptance of Value-Based Care. This shift emphasizes the importance of patient outcomes as opposed to the purely profit-based “fee-for-service” outlook. Patient Smart Rooming can increase the convenience of care and subsequently enhance patient satisfaction.

Centralized Platform: An all-inclusive software platform that has relevant data at readily available.
Pre-Visit Checklist: Acts as a guide for what Medical Assistants should cover in the rooming process.
Access to EMR/EHR: Informs the Assistants about the patient’s existing conditions or previous tests/procedures.

How Patient Smart Rooming Streamlines the Care Journey

Due to the many different steps involved, Patient Rooming is often a long and tedious process for both patients and care providers. HealthViewX’s Patient Smart Rooming software provides clinics the opportunity to digitize the entire care journey. By utilizing a centralized software, care providers can access any important patient information on one platform. This tool also allows clinics to track valuable data like wait/rooming times or availability of assistants. This allows clinics to identify inefficiencies in their practice by tracking every step of the patient journey.

Talk to us to understand more about the advancements in the healthcare industry and we will guide you to achieve our common goal “Quality Care for All” seamlessly.

Five Ways To Reduce Patient Referral Leakage In Hospitals And Health Systems

Hospitals and health systems know that referrals are critical for their business, and failing to manage referrals efficiently can result in loss of revenue. Healthcare providers are losing more than 20% of revenue to patients going out-of-network for care. Most of these hospitals and health systems do not know why and where referral leakage occurs.

It’s only within the past few years healthcare leaders see patient referral leakage as a major issue, and fixing it is their high priority – Missed appointments alone cost the US healthcare system $150 billion annually. Healthcare organizations do not have a solution in place to monitor, track, and report patient referral leakage. They use their electronic health records to monitor and track referral leakage rather than having specific solutions, but healthcare leaders are not happy about how their EHR performs in this particular area.

Today, most hospitals and health systems leverage technology to prevent revenue leakage due to inefficient referral process. Tracking patient referral leakage through a referral solution gives them a complete view of their end-to-end referral process. Technology helps providers enhance care delivery, improve patient outcomes and use of data, and support collaborative workflows.

Here are five ways to reduce patient leakage:

Understand their referral patterns so far:

Organizations should analyze past data to understand their referral patterns. By tracking the right metrics they will not only gain valuable business acumen but also understand how the hospital is performing. Hospitals today use EHR to get this data but it is not streamlined enough to crunch all the data in a logical and meaningful way.

Improve care-coordination:

Effective and efficient communication is crucial in healthcare. Patients need to receive the right level of care from their care providers. It is important to communicate effectively with all who are actively involved in patient care.

Proceed with a data-driven approach:

A data-driven approach will have a sustainable competitive advantage over those who haven’t. The right way to make decisions is by looking at the data. Understand where the leakage is happening and if it is addressable. Health systems/ Hospitals need to use a data-driven approach to guide patient referrals to the best care option available within the network. Such an approach will help meet both the patients’ and hospital needs.

Use prognostic modeling to know the implications of future referral patterns:

Organizations need to understand how fixing referral patterns today may change future referral patterns by using predictive modeling. It’s essential to analyze how these alterations will impact patient flow, care delivery and coordination with referring providers and payers.

Include it as strategic precedence and discuss at the executive level:

Patient leakage more often gets lost among other priorities at the executive level. Organizations need to make patient referral leakage a strategic priority. Top management should drive change and ensure necessary steps are taken to address this challenge.

Tracking and understanding referral patterns will help the large hospitals streamline and manage high- overall performance referral networks, decrease patient leakage and notably impact care quality.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management Solution smoothens the referral process and solves most operational challenges for Large Enterprise Hospitals. Do you want to know more about HealthViewX HIPAA-compliant Patient Referral Management Solution? Schedule a demo now!

How to reduce referral leakage in large hospitals?

For many large enterprise hospitals, referral leakage may amount to millions of dollars in lost revenue. Patient referrals are an important revenue generator for hospitals and losing patients to other providers can cost these hospitals upto 20 percent of their revenue. Dissatisfaction with the current referral process is widespread and every patient seeking care elsewhere is now, and potentially in the future a lost revenue opportunity for the hospitals.

Signs of an underperforming referral management system that results in referral leakage:

Inability to get complete information to process referrals at one go:

Communicating complete patient information at the time of specialty referral is crucial for high-quality consultation and coordinated patient care. The inability to get complete information leads to patient dissatisfaction, delay in processing referrals and referral leakage.

Difficulty in finding the right provider within the network:

One of the major causes of patient referral leakage is difficulty in finding the right specialist within the network. Nearly half of the physicians surveyed said they have trouble determining who is in-network. Physicians could avoid referring out-of-network if they had information about all in-network providers.

More time spent in processing each referral:

On average referral coordinators take 15-20 minutes or sometimes more to process each referral on the receiving end just for checking missing patient information. The staff time spent coordinating referrals and their visits is tedious and time-consuming.

High patient no-show rates and referral leakage:

Patient no-show rates or missed appointments cost the U.S. health systems more than $150 billion a year. Lack of quality care and coordination among care stakeholders leads to higher no-show rates or referral leakage, due to which patient experience takes a big hit.

Manual communication and tracking systems:

Manual processes like insurance preauthorization, checking for missed patient information, etc are time-consuming Such time-consuming and cumbersome manual processes may lead to patient dissatisfaction.

Lack of referral analytics for informed decision making:

Lack of data of the referrals flowing in and out of the network affects decision making. Referral analytics gives comprehensive data on the number of patients with various referral status.

The ability to significantly improve the effectiveness of the referral process lies in the referral process standardization and technological capabilities.

Here’s how to reduce referral leakage

Standardization of processes:

Inconsistency in the patient referral process between the referring provider and the receiving provider is common. Right from obtaining prior authorization, finding the right specialist for the patient, collecting the required information for the referral, coordinating for patient appointments, etc. large hospitals are often challenged throughout the process. Hospitals need to streamline their referral workflow to achieve efficiency and have standard workflows and processes to streamline the end-to-end referral process. Achieving this efficiency in the referral process requires well-defined workflows.

Technology solution and capabilities:

Despite having an approach to monitoring and managing patient referrals, existing systems are often unable to simplify referral workflows to effectively manage the end-to-end referral process. Right from tracking authorization status, scheduling appointments, calculating referral conversion rates, staff productivity, etc. all are challenging in the current referral process. A referral solution that is efficient, technologically advanced, and has the capability to automate the end-to-end referral process is the need today. Connecting the information to objectives, understanding the workflow to obtain the information, and most importantly getting the data analytics for informed decision making will be more valuable.

Referral Management Solution – A worthwhile investment

A focused referral management process has the potential to maximize utilization, standardize processes, and enable streamlined workflows. Hospitals need to invest in solutions that will reduce referral leakage and increase patient volumes.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution has features that best suit a hospitals’ Referral Management System. A 30-minute demo with our team will help you understand how effective our solution can track and manage the referral life cycle.

Why do hospitals need a patient referral management solution?

Today, hospitals face numerous challenges in their day-to-day operations. One of the biggest challenges is managing their high-volume inbound and outbound patient referrals. Right from receiving patient referrals through multiple channels like email, fax, phone, etc., this method is often information-intensive and document-driven, requiring greater control and visibility of the entire process.

Patients have difficulty navigating through the referral process, and this experience directly impacts the quality of care. Poor referral management negatively impacts hospitals, and hence clinical staff needs to be careful in processing every referral. An inefficient referral process leads to patient dissatisfaction, patient leakage, loss of revenue, missed appointments/no-show rates, overall operational inefficiencies, etc.

Successful clinical practice depends on effective collaboration and communication among the parties involved in patient care. A solution such as patient referral management for large hospitals has the power to enhance communication beyond the four walls of a healthcare facility. It extends communication to all parties involved in patient care, including the patient. Such solutions can have enormous sway on enhancing the patient experience while driving overall operational efficiency.

Top reasons why hospitals need a patient referral management solution

1. Doesn’t let you miss any referral

Hospitals send and receive high-volume patient referrals through multiple-channels like emails, fax, website form fills, direct messaging, etc. It becomes difficult to track every referral, and there are high chances of missing out on them. An end-to-end patient referral solution will bring all referrals in one single queue and eliminates referral leakage. Referrals from physicians are a key source of revenue for hospitals and they would not want to miss out on them.

2. Engages patients throughout the referral process

Hospitals need to involve patients’ in the referral process. Engaging patients will not only increase process visibility for patients’ but also gives them a clear expectation and visibility into their care transition. Involving patients in the referral process directly impacts the standard of care patients’ receive from the hospital. Overall, engaging patients’ will help reduce referral leakages, improve patient satisfaction, and increase revenue.

3. Referral patterns and metrics/analytics

Referral solutions help hospitals understand their referral patterns and appointment conversion rates. Customized reports and analytics on referrals will help hospitals gain better insight into their business, using analytics such as the metrics dashboard, referral volume, referral patterns leakage rate, wait times, etc. help them with informed decision making.

4. Involves and engages key players for better results

To drive results and for better outcomes, it is crucial to include all the key players’ involved in patient care. Patient referral management solution helps people in different designation achieve their goals at the same time helps provide quality care for their patients. Persona-based reports help each of them in informed decision making.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution helps practices in managing their referral network and increasing their revenue. Are you referral inbound & outbound-heavy practice looking to track all your referrals very effectively? To know about HealthViewX Patient Referral Management System in detail schedule a demo with our team.

How to become a preferred health system for patients and referring physicians?

Healthcare technologies like telehealth, remote patient monitoring, referral management, etc., have simplified the process for health systems to deliver care for their patients. These advancements are uniquely qualified to help health systems attract patients to their facility and build their brand.

So how do you become the preferred health system? What are the strategies behind becoming a preferred health system for your patients, and also for physicians referring patients to your health system?

Care coordination is the responsibility of any system of care and has the potential to transform healthcare delivery, improve the overall effectiveness, and efficiency of any health system. Thus, the key to becoming the preferred health system for patients is to have well-executed care coordination.

For effective care coordination, it is important to connect your entire physician community with specialists and make sure they work in unison to ensure your patients’ health needs are met and the required care is delivered.

If care coordination is done in the right manner, it can improve health outcomes and patient experience along with the growth of the healthcare system. This way, patients, providers, and payers can get benefited. Though there are different definitions for care coordination, in the end all of them point to the same goal which is to become patients’ preferred care provider.

Here are a few tips to become patients’ preferred health system

1. Connecting an entire network of physicians and specialists:

It is important to connect your entire set of physicians and specialists to provide quality care for each and every patient. HealthViewX end-to-end patient referral management connects your entire care network and helps you achieve this with ease.

2. Improve care coordination:

The major priority of all healthcare providers is to achieve care coordination and improve patient care but unfortunately, it still remains a challenge in the industry. The right coordinator may differ from patient to patient. Critical patient information should be readily available for all involved inpatient care. Improved care coordination results in better patient outcomes and patient satisfaction.

3. Effective communication channels and methods:

Software solutions that support upsurge communication and engagement among providers are still lacking. Manual processes (phone call, email, fax, etc.) can lead to fatigue and operational inefficiency. An end-to-end automated solution would help eliminate this challenge. One can improve the quality and continuity of care provided to patients by focusing on improving the transfer of patient information.

4. Gaining the trust of out-of-network providers/physicians:

PCPs prefer hospitals that are easy to work with. It is essential to build and maintain a strong referral base from out-of-network providers/physicians. Hospitals need to work to become a referral partner of choice for physicians and so creating a strong referral base with the referring physicians will pave the way to steady patient inflow. Hospitals should work to encourage out-of-network physicians to become more actively involved in patient care. Lack of communication can lead to poor patient health outcomes.

5. Closing the referral loop:

Planned integration of patient care between providers will help attain better service. As health systems grow more complicated, it is essential to close the referral loop for patient record and safety. The goal of referral loop closure is to track and support patients when they obtain services outside the practice. Closing the referral loop is one of the ways to become a preferred provider.

Health systems need to adopt new healthcare technologies that have the potential to improve patient care and satisfaction. One such technology that health services need to implement is patient referral management. The present referral management is complex, and coordinating care is hard for the health systems. Navigating the healthcare system or care set-ups can be tiring for patients too. Poor coordination can result in reduced quality of care, higher readmission rates, increased no-show rates, referral leakage, and higher cost of care. Better care coordination may result in more satisfied patients.

End-to-end referral tracking and follow-up is a must for effective patient care. Patient Referral Management is one such solution that can solve major challenges faced by health systems in their referral process.

Schedule a demo with HealthViewX Referral Management Solution experts today!

Patient Leakage – A major problem to hospitals and health systems

Patient leakage is a rampant problem that healthcare providers are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. Hospitals/health systems rely on patients being referred by out-of-network physicians.

Poorly handled or mismanaged patient referrals are a significant problem for many health systems that can lead to patient leakage and in-turn revenue loss. Patients being referred out of network is one of the main causes of patient leakage. Health systems are said to lose up to 20% of revenue due to patient leakage.

Patient Leakage – How does this happen?

In some cases patient leakage is inevitable. For example, if a person has to be referred to any particular specialty care or treatment that is unavailable within the network then the referring provider has no choice other than referring the patient out-of-network.

Conversely, there are several other reasons where in-house providers refer patients out of their network

1. Provider Reputation

At times the provider may refer the patient out-of-network depending on the specialist availability, reputation, experience, specialist rating, and patient satisfaction. It can also be due to unavailability of that specialist within the network. Providers are responsible for their patients’ health, so they would ensure they give the best possible treatment or reference for their patients. This is the main example of how patient leakage happens.

2. Unawareness:

New providers who have joined the health system may not be aware of all the specialists available within the care network. There are high chances that providers may refer patients out of network if they are unaware of specialists within the network.

3. The patient chooses the specialist he/she wants:

The provider has to accommodate patient needs and ensure the patient is satisfied with the care provided. Patients’ may choose the provider based on their convenience or preferences like distance, personal preference, specialist rating, etc. Finally, the decision of choosing the specialist completely depends on the patient’s decisions. This is one of the reasons why patient leakage happens.

4. Provider-Patient Relationship:

This is also a prime reason for patient leakage. It is important that the providers build a strong relationship with their patients through quality and value-based care models and if this lacks chances are high that patient may leave the care network.

5. Distance:

Distance and location play a major role in patients opting/choosing their providers. If competing facilities are much closer than the location you refer, patients would prefer the location of their convenience.

Do Health systems understand the amount of revenue loss?

Health systems/ large hospitals do not realize the actual amount of missed revenue due to patient leakage and missed patient appointments. Health systems have lost millions of revenue due to patient leakage and they do not properly track patient leakage. Even though health systems leaders track these leakages it is difficult for them to have a clear understanding of how to reduce this leakage or where and why it occurs in some cases.

A lot of health systems use the EHR system to manage and track their patient referrals and EHR’s can’t show why and where the patient’s left the network. However, efficiency in tracking and managing patient referrals still remains challenging.

HealthViewX HIPAA compliant referral management solution streamlines your end-to-end referral process and manages patient referrals better, improves patient satisfaction, reduces patient referral leakage and gives you clear insights of referral analytics for informed decisions. The best way to avoid patient leakage is to elevate patient experience and ensure you track each and every referral that comes in and goes out of network.

Schedule a demo with us and our patient referral management experts will guide you through our HIPAA compliant patient referral solution.