A guarantee that patient care will never be compromised is the first determining factor in deciding on the number of staff that you will need to employ. Patient requests for appointments, prescription refills or test results must be handled in a timely manner or slowly but surely your number of return patients will diminish. If your phone system is not operating properly or your front office is not able to triage calls, your patients will let you know it, first by their loudly voiced opinion and finally by their absence.
It is no surprise that everyone hates automated messages under any circumstance, and patients seem to be the most frustrated group of consumers when it comes to the ability to be able to speak to a live person when they are sick, or in pain. Unfortunately, patient volume and time demands on physicians and staff have made automation a necessary evil, but any time your call volume can be handled live, you should make every effort to do just that. If you absolutely need to automate your system, you will need a program that has the fewest number of prompts and allows the patient to leave a detailed message after a certain number of rings. The patient should be reminded to spell their last name, clearly state their phone number and the reason for their call. Your system should be designed so that messages have an annoying flash to assure that all calls are returned prior to the end of business each day.
In the case of a medical emergency, patients should be prompted to dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. A dedicated phone extension for prescription refills also aids in phone triage. Let your patients know that they can expect a call or e-script to their pharmacy within 48 hours. When they become familiar with this routine, they are more likely to refill their medications before they take their last few pills. In the best case scenario, your practice will have a licensed medical assistant or RN to man the prescription line. Problems with medications can be immediately referred to the physician and you are less likely to have a medication error if your script line is handled by a medical professional.
Many practices now have a short series of prompts that can alleviate call volume. Appointment calls should be your number one priority, but you will want to include a prompt for fax number, directions to the office, parking information and the like. This will allow your front office more time for face to face patient care and take care of calls where a live person communication is not necessary.
Some of the more sophisticated larger practices have a dedicated call center to handle only incoming phone calls for appointments. Usually, two telephone operators will be able to effectively handle a six-person practice. New patient calls for appointments can also be sent to the verification department where more time can be spent with the patient without interruption. This will also free the front desk to handle check in and out and their other associated tasks without answering a constantly ringing phone.
Filing, copying, scanning and faxes can often be handled by part time employees. The guidance offices at your local high schools and colleges will be only too happy to post your job needs and steer good students your way, often for minimum wage. You may also want to contact university nursing programs and offer to participate in their internship programs. Often these internships last six months or longer and you may find a valuable future employee by utilizing these programs.
Billing - If your billing is done in house, you will want to dedicate at least one full time employee to work on your accounts receivable. This employee will be responsible for running a weekly report for outstanding receivables for both the commercial insurers and patient accounts. Commercial accounts receivables can be shown either by insurance name or via an aging report. Listing outstanding receivables by insurance provider is preferable since it allows the billing employee to check a number of claims with one call or visit to the particular web-site. Some systems can accommodate both name and aging in the same report.
It is reasonable to expect that all outstanding claims have received attention within thirty days. The billing manager should analyze a completed accounts receivable report, with special attention paid to any difficulties posed by individual insurance providers. The manager may choose to personally handle the more difficult reimbursements problems and may utilize the help of the insurance provider representatives to make payment a smoother process. A quarterly analysis for the aging trial balance will highlight the efficiency of the accounts receivable employee and assure that the oldest outstanding claims have been paid.
Tomorrow: Medicare and Patient Statements
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