How to Keep a Medical Practice Running Efficiently

How to Keep a Medical Practice Running Efficiently

The day-to-day running of a medical practice involves myriad aspects that need to be managed efficiently and medical outsourcing can help.

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Running a medical practice productively requires coordination and streamlining of processes and resources. Unless the front office and the back office work smoothly and in a coordinated manner, physicians would find it difficult to focus on their core task of providing care. That’s why many providers are looking to medical outsourcing to streamline the day-to-day running of their practice.

There are many factors and variables that impact the efficiency of a medical practice.

Badly managed, they can prove killers. These efficiency killers can even strike experienced practices as they grow and take in more patients. Well-coordinated processes and streamlined functioning is essential for maintaining the efficiency and sustainability of the practice. Sometimes, out-of-the-box solutions are required, but almost always, common sense is vital. Let’s take a look into some of the challenges that healthcare practices need to overcome to not only succeed, but even to exist: Realistic Scheduling Appointments Realistic appointment scheduling is where efficiency starts. An article published in Physicians Practice discussed how an Ohio-based primary care practice managed its appointment scheduling effectively: 

The physicians get together and plan how to manage the next day’s appointments.

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Depending on the medical history, age and health condition of each of the patients who have appointments on the next day, the physicians decide the time they would set apart for each appointment.

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The duration of an appointment would vary based on the condition of the patient. This allows them to give more time to some patients so that a full visit can be realistically completed for them.

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The key is to ensure the actual visit the next day does not exceed the set time. This would affect consultations of other patients and ultimately result in practice inefficiency and patient dissatisfaction.

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Daily Meetings Involving Medical and Non-medical Staff Experts believe that lack of preparation can affect performance of day-to-day functions, increase workload for your staff, create redundancies, and ultimately cause confusion. This could result in lab results and other important tests being missed and staff getting overworked. Before long, your practice is caught in the maelstrom of inefficiency which would have a bearing on the quality of care you provide and eventually your reputation.

Holding meetings the previous day, not only among physicians but also involving other staff, to discuss the next day’s appointments and schedule is a good system to follow. This would prevent communication issues between physicians, nurses and non-medical staff or between the front office and back office.

Streamlining Insurance Verification A more important task that needs to be streamlined by the front office is insurance verifications and authorizations, functions which have a direct bearing on the income of your practice. The process involves outlining the benefits of the patient and the medical services for which coverage is provided by their insurance provider. Efficient handling of this pre-authorization process can prevent payments from being delayed or nonpayment which would have you reworking and resubmitting claims. These are all resource intensive tasks. Having a clearly defined system in place to verify insurance provider and coverage is essential and requires hiring trained and experienced personnel for the purpose. Professional insurance authorization services are an ideal option.

Smoothening Office Workflow Smooth office workflow is imperative. One of the ways to do that is to have clearly defined steps right from the time the patient calls or visits to fix the appointment.

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Each staff member’s responsibilities need to be clearly established.

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The work must be divided equally so that patient visits are more efficient – the lines of responsibility must be clearly demarcated so that one person does not end up doing someone else’s task and compromising on the efficiency of his/her own responsibility.

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Experts recommend lines of responsibility being defined based on the background, training and education of the staff. Physicians must carry out tasks requiring medical qualifications and not chores such as answering phones or scheduling appointments, which must be left to other staff.

What must be done when, and by who, must be clear to all the staff. This would help handle patient visits more efficiently. The responsibilities must be written down and explained to the staff by charting out a patient visit.

Adapting to EHR It is important that physicians adapt to new technology, particularly the controversial electronic health record (EHR). Some report increased efficiency with EHR use, while others actually feel its complexity slows them down. However, EHR electronic health records are here to stay and it is best for practices to get acclimatized to them as soon as possible, since they are highly beneficial in the long run.

Here too, communicating with staff can help with a smoother use of the EHR. The IT staff of your practice can help conceive a customized and more user-friendly EHR system. The other staff and the physicians must be provided sound training in using the system. This could reduce the time it takes to get acclimatized with it.

Cutting Staffing Costs without Compromising Quality Cutting costs is another challenge for practices, but one that is absolutely essential for sustenance. One area that consumes a significant amount of financial resources is

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staffing. Qualified professionals are absolutely necessary for the efficient running of a medical practice. Many physicians find it more cost-effective to outsource medical billing and coding and EHR data entry tasks than hire staff to perform these functions in-house.

Virtual Medical Office Staffing One very important staff member is the medical assistant (MA). An efficient MA can actually help the practice perform more efficiently by ensuring time efficiency for the physician. So while you have to spend on hiring a well qualified and experienced MA, the latter actually enables to attain greater efficiency and profitability. A good MA therefore requires more organizational skills than clinical skills, to be aware of everything happening in the clinic and guide the doctor. Virtual medical office staffing solutions can help deal with staffing cost concerns. An efficient virtual solution can actually take charge of various tasks in a medical office without you actually having to hire staff.

When it comes to selecting a healthcare outsourcing provider, remember that experience counts. An established service provider will be able to provide professional support as well as solutions that ensure compliance in the all-important areas such as HIPAA. Before you sign up with an outsourcing provider, ensure that: 

The company is an established one.

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The service provider can meet the pressing needs of your practice and your expectations.

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The services come at competitive rates.

Communicating with the prospective provider is essential as it can give you a clearer picture of the services offered and ensure greater transparency. Medical outsourcing solutions focused on the medical office can go a long way in ensuring your efficiency and provide you with more time to focus on your core task of patient care.

www.outsourcestrategies.com

800-670-2809