In addition to the abundance of pandemic-related challenges over the past two years, staffing shortages continue to bring a new level of difficulty for healthcare practices across the country. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the “great resignation” is slightly worsening in the healthcare sector, with a quit rate ticking up from 2.4% in March to 2.7% in April.
Medical Economics reports that many practices are specifically seeing shortages of administrative roles. One doctor told the publication, “About 60% to 70% of the people who respond and make an appointment for an interview no-show the interview.” Practices are forced to do more with fewer resources as they struggle to hire office managers, and many processes and tasks can fall by the wayside or face lengthy delays as a result.
Meanwhile, patients’ expectations are changing to include easier access to appointment booking and their medical information, digital communications, and convenient payment options. This can seem overwhelming for practices as challenges continue to take a toll on staff and affect patient experiences.
There are ways that practices can lean on technology and tools to alleviate the burden on an overtaxed administrative staff. Let’s look at three ways you can use automation to make every day a little easier.
Digital Registration Forms
Patients can avoid the traditional pen and clipboard and you can steer clear of paperwork with a contactless check-in process. By offering digital registration forms, you can save time and keep patient wait times low.
Practice Management Bridge® empowers you to email or text patients a link to registration forms they can fill out before their appointment. These HIPAA-compliant forms eliminate the need to look up insurance information in the waiting room or to rush through paperwork before the doctor sees the patient.
Online Payments
Automatically posting payments to the patient ledger is a great way to free up administrative staff for other tasks. Patients can easily navigate the platform to pay their bills and you can manage payments and streamline billing workflows.
Practice Management Bridge’s online payment automation works with your existing practice management system or electronic health record to make paying more convenient for patients and easier to manage for your practice.
Patient Financing
Recent polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 51% of adults put off medical services in the last year due to the cost. However, there’s a better approach than avoiding the care they need. A study last year by Rectangle Health and PYMNTS.com revealed that 56% of patients show strong interest in payment plans for their medical bills, with increased interest (73%) among bridge millennials (ages 33-43) and younger patients.
A new integration between Rectangle Health and Healthcare Finance Direct (HFD) allows you to offer flexible payment options to patients within Practice Management Bridge.
A proven way to increase efficiency and revenue
Hospitals and practices need solutions as managing an office becomes more complicated due to staffing shortages. Practice Management Bridge is proven to find efficiencies so that you can reduce the burden on your administrative staff.
An executive report prepared by Hobson & Company, a leading research firm focused on return-on-investment (ROI) studies, highlights the benefits that Rectangle Health customers have already enjoyed and quantifies their return on investment.
References
- (2022, June 1). Table 10. Quits levels and rates by industry and region, not seasonally adjusted. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.t10.htm
- Cryts, A. (2022, April 29). Hiring staff during the great resignation. Medical Economics. Retrieved from https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/hiring-staff-during-the-great-resignation
- Kirzinger, A., Kearney, A., Quasem, M., Stokes, M., Hamel, L., Brodie, M. (2022, March 31). KFF Health Tracking Poll – March 2022: Economic Concerns and Health Policy, The ACA, and Views of Long-term Care Facilities. Kaiser Family Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/kff-health-tracking-poll-march-2022/
