Patients in this day and age expect the healthcare providers to provide them with a smooth scheduling process. This experience is crucial in setting the tone of the entire patient journey and can paint a picture of what to expect from your medical practice before they visit. A nice and smooth scheduling experience is how you can bring efficiency to your workflow and aim for higher. For better patient outcomes, this is a necessary step to take.
Even after scheduling being this important in the patient journey, it is still something most of the healthcare practices dream of perfecting to date. Studies say that the average time of a patient going through the scheduling process is gradually increasing. It takes 38 days for a patient to be done with the scheduling process. And on top of this, several missed appointments are costing the American healthcare system an estimated $150 billion annually.
There is only one way to get out of this mess and provide your patients with the experience they deserve. With technologically advanced and smart tech-powered patient scheduling software, all these problems can be solved in just a few hours. In this blog we will go through all the measures that we can take to ensure a smooth sailing scheduling experience.
Tips to Improve the Patient Scheduling Experience
Contactless Patient Enrolment
Patient experience does not start after the patient has entered the healthcare practice; it begins from the moment the patient starts considering your healthcare practice as a suitable choice. The issue arises when the patients cannot catch hold of anyone at your practice to clarify their queries and schedule the appointment; it truly sets a tone which says that you do not care enough about your patients.
With contactless patient enrolment, you can sit back while the patient registers themselves through a provider’s website or a patient portal. This can help you improve the efficiency of your scheduling process and minimise the inaccuracies which can later cause billing problems.
Option to Self-Schedule Appointments
In today’s world a patient expects the same treatment or experience they get from retail websites. The ease and the convenience are major plus points that your healthcare practice must have. Studies say that 59% of patients want their healthcare experience to relate with their retail experience in terms of convenience.
This is where we need self-scheduling as an option. These tools, which can be easily accessed from the patient portals, let the patient check when their healthcare provider is available and align the dates with their calendars to book an appointment. The need to call the office and play phone tag with healthcare professionals is completely eliminated.
Convenience would be increased in this scenario, as the patient can plan their visit according to their own schedule. It will also reduce the number of missed appointments, as the patients would be in charge.
Check-in and Billing Processes Online
By giving your patients, the ability to check in in advance and pay for the treatment up front, your practice can ensure a smoother cash flow. With the check-in and billing process being done online, you can avoid any payment delays and strengthen your finances at the same time.
It also eliminates the need for heavy documentation at the front desk and reduces the administrative burden on your clinical staff so that they have time to properly focus on their patients. The flexibility that comes with this is mostly appreciated by the patients.
Auto-reminders Ahead of Patient Appointments
Sending reminders of patient appointments can be an added task when it is being done manually. There are hundreds of patients under one healthcare practice, and it can be really hectic for the administrative staff to take care of these reminders on top of everything else that they have to do.
With auto-reminders, the staff can focus on managing the revenue cycle efficiently while these automated reminders keep going out on their own. It can also enhance patient experience, as they will receive timely reminders and will not face any delays whatsoever.
Reporting and Analytics
Inefficiency in the scheduling process can create a lot of issues in the revenue cycle, as it can lead to missed or cancelled appointments, but looking for a pattern manually can be a bit much to do.
With reporting and analytics, you can get detailed reports and an analysis of your revenue management cycle and see for yourself what pattern is causing an issue with your cash flow. You can locate the main source of your problems and then fix it with the help of the report. You can have a seamless workflow because of this.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, scheduling might seem like a very small part of the process, but it's also one of the most integral tasks. Even a small step towards automation and a good medical billing software can lead to a massive reduction in the administrative burden and help your clinical staff do a better job without stressing themselves out.
With software programmes like Medicraft, you can enhance your patient engagement and satisfaction while maintaining the financial stability of your healthcare practice. From simplifying the process of scheduling to claim management, everything can be done smoothly and without any interruptions.
Patients today have higher expectations from healthcare practices, so put your focus on delivering what they want and then just watch your practice thrive.