Samuel Kohan: Choosing & implementing the right patient scheduling system by Samuel Kohan

Patient Scheduling Systems I. Choosing a Patient Scheduling System In this guide, we will review the process of selecting the right patient scheduling software. Steps described in the following are critical for an effective patient-schedulingsoftware search, purchase, and implementation. Step One: Research the Patient Scheduling Software Market The good news is that you don’t need to be an expert to identify the right software for your office. •

Start the process by reading articles like this about patient scheduling software. Seek advice from other medical offices that have implemented patient scheduling software.

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Learn about various functions of patient scheduling software. Learn about basic and advanced software.

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Learn about advantages and disadvantages of web-based1 and on-premise2 models.

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Learn about costs and return on investment (ROI).

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Learn about vendors. Step Two: Identify Office’s Patient Scheduling Requirements

Develop a wish-list. This list will help you control the selection process, rather than the vendor selling you a product that does not meet the office requirement. Create two columns to list your requirements: (1) necessary functions; (2) good-to-have functions. 1

Web-based model is provided by software companies to medical offices over a network. The database is stored outside of medical office, and maintenance is provided by the vendor. Pros: low upfront cost compared to the cost of purchasing a hardware, software, and installation. Saves time and money on upgrades and maintenance requirements. Cons: control and reliability, for example if the internet connection fails the scheduling data may not be accessible. Security may also be an issue with any webbased software. Usually, small medical office choose web-based model. Large medical offices have their own information technology staff and resources to manage scheduling software in-house. 2 On-premise software is installed and run on computers of the medical office rather than a vendor’s computers and facility. Pros: it gives control to medical office over the entire software. It can be more reliable than web-based model, with less downtime, less system failures, and less server overloads. Cons: Upfront cost and implementation expense. Need for in-house software technical support (occasionally). Every few years, periodic upgrades may be required.

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It is recommended to take a team approach to this project. Form a “Scheduling Software Selection Team”. Ask the team to come up with a list of issues they think the software would resolve. Share these issues with receptionist, medical assistant, nurse, manager, and other staff for their input. Step Three: Finding the Right Vendor With a list of product requirements on-hand, you are ready to contact vendors. How does one find a patient scheduling software vendor? (1) Seek referral from colleagues and other medical offices that have positive experience working with a specific vendor. (2) Contact OntarioMD for a list of recommended vendors. (3) Contact health information technology review organizations offering vendor surveys. (4) All software vendors have websites and can be found online. Just type “patient scheduling software vendor” in Google search engine box and it will produce references to hundreds of vendors. (5) Alternatively, engage an experienced information technology consultant. Build a List Build a list of vendors. Add vendors to your list who offer software specifically designed for your medical specialty or primary care office. Once you have about ten vendors on your list, send them a request for proposal (RFP)3. In your RFP, set forth the requirements that were developed on the step two (above), and ask for a rough estimate. Let the vendor know that you expect a response within five business days. Top Four Vendors Once the vendors’ responses are received the software selection team should study them carefully. Each team members’ questions, concerns, and comments should be documented in relation to each vendor. The team should vote and the top four vendors will be invited for an onsite demonstration.

An “RFP” is a letter requesting for information from a service provider or a vendor.

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Onsite Demonstration All software selection team members should be present on the product demonstration date. The members should write down their impressions during the demonstration, and address their previously documented questions and concern to the vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s representative. It is recommended for the team members to rate the product as: (1) ideal, or (2) acceptable, or (3) not acceptable. After completion of onsite demonstrations, the selection team will meet to evaluate the demonstrations. Practice Tip. The software that does not offer the essential requirements of the practice must be eliminated from the list. Other consideration may be the level of difficulty to learn and operate the software. Practice Tip. Consider asking the finalist vendors for an additional onsite demonstration and ask other staff to attend the demo. Step Four: Final Prices Quote and Reference Check Ask the remaining finalists to provide the selection team with final pricing and four references. The price should include the fees for training, support during and postimplementation, software licenses, and other fees. The references should include recent customers of the vendor. Practice Tip. It is very important that you purchase the right number of software licenses4 for the software. The pricing should include fees for each license. Practice Tip. Ask the references about the vendorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s post-implementation support. There are many vendors who fail to provide adequate post-sale technical support. Practice Tip. It is always a good practice to have a lawyer review a contract or a purchase agreement before you sign it. Step Five: Complete the Purchase Once the price is right, references are good, and the software will save time, money, and increase performance, it is time to make the decision to purchase.

Software license refers to users. Each employee who uses the software will need a license to use the software.

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II. Outline of considerations to be taken into account when investing in a patient scheduling system 1. Most software requires an ongoing support agreement, so that if something goes wrong (not necessarily with the software), you can get your system up and running again quickly. 2. Long-term return on Investment. A high-end scheduling solution is a powerful revenue-building tool that can: (1) reduce costly no-shows; (2) enhance referral tracking and practice marketing; (3) fill open time slots with automated wait lists and recall functions; (4) enhance patient intake data for claims and other front desk best practices; (5) reduce patient wait times, both by tracking the problem and making the front desk more efficient; (6) enhance the productivity of people and the utilization rate of expensive resources; (7) manage a practice with better visibility through real-time reports you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get out of your billing system; (8) quality of workplace for staff who enjoy greater efficiency and suffer less from the negative effects of human error. 3. Most healthcare providers see scheduling as a problem to be solved, rather than an opportunity to capitalize on. 4. If purchasing patient scheduling system and your practice has an electronic health record system (EHR), it is important that these systems are compatible. Otherwise, incompatible systems force staff to constantly log-in and then logout from one system into another. Incompatible systems may substantially increase time consumption and result in operational inefficiency and lower profit margins. Summary of features available in most systems & associated benefits: 1. Color coding schedule 2. Visit status 3. Reason for visit 4. Option to send letters 5. Waiting list options 6. Daily and weekly reports

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7. Print patient information 8. Detailed patient intake. You want to have enough custom fields to handle any scenario. 9. Easy scheduling. Making and (just as important) editing appointments quickly is essential. 10. Recurring appointments. Scheduling a series of appointments at once is critical to many disciplines. 11. Advanced scheduling. Capability to define and automate the scheduling of complex procedures and protocols common to radiology, oncology and clinical trials. 12. Front desk management. Tools that mark patients as arrived/seen/canceled/noshow, require thorough patient intake and more, all keeping in mind that the front desk person is frequently pulled in a number of different directions at once and needs help to keep track of each job responsibility. 13. Automated wait list. When a patient cancels or a time slot opens up for any other reason, system should automatically display a list of patients who have requested an appointment and are available at that time. 14. Automated appointment reminder messages. The system should be able to generate text/phone/email reminders automatically each day. Questions physicians should ask when selecting a scheduling system: 1. How long has the vendor been in business? (Note: established vendors are less likely to go out of business. When a technology company goes out of business, usually no services or upgrades would be available and the practice may be forced to invest in new software.) 2. Question: How do you license your product? 3. Question: What are your support fees? What do you cover? 4. Question: What are your service guarantees? 5. Question: Are your products certified by an independent certifying organization? 6. Question: Will I need to purchase third party products to make your product perform as demonstrated?

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7. Question: Do you offer a free trial to let us get the feel of the system before we buy? 8. Question: Can we access the schedules of all of the doctors on our system from a single screen? 9. Question: Does the software provide a common database shared by all of our office locations? (single login allowing access to common database of all office locations) 10. Question: Is the scheduling software easily compatible with electronic health records? 11. Question: Does the software provide automated pop-up memos to alert staff of any number of patient issues that need attention? 12. Question: How easy is it to manage patient demographics? 13. Question: How pleasant is to view and manage the software screen? (For instance, a simplified software screen with logical color coding can make medical appointments easy to view and manage.) 14. Question: What is the scheduling capability of the software? (Scheduling for resource, treatment room, specialized equipment scheduling and etc.) 15. Question: Would it be easy to learn and simple to train scheduling software system? (The capability of practiceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staff to easily and quickly learn the system is crucial.) 16. Question: Does the vendor provide initial and continuing training? At what cost and for how long? (A written commitment by the vendor to continue providing reasonable and meaningful staff support and training would be very beneficial in the long run. How much they would charge to provide subsequent staff training(s) particularly for new hires.) 17. Question: What can you do to help me bring in new patients and fill open time slots? 18. Question: Can we schedule all medical providers and locations without being restricted to the number of columns in the scheduling system? 19. Question: Can physicians access the schedule without having to go to the office? (A web-based software would allow full capabilities and features to change and update the schedule as you would at the front desk no matter where you are located. 20. Question: Does the software create a series of regularly-scheduled or repeating appointments all at one time, based on medical need?

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21. Question: How would the software eliminate or reduce patient wait time and patient over booking? 22. Question: What can you do to increase practice revenue, reduce losses and accelerate my A/R? 23. Question: May we speak with 5 of your customers about your products and services?

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