Increasing patient volume is essential to growing your revenue, yet most health organizations devote little or no time to this crucial area. The main reason is that most healthcare professionals are stretched to their limits as it is handling existing patients. It's hard to set aside time to focus on how to attract and keep new patients when your staff is busy taking care of day-to-day tasks. Yet practices thrive by expanding their patient base.
The good news is that technology can help you increase your patient volume while streamlining existing tasks. You can think of technology solutions acting on two areas:
1.
Attracting new patients
2.
Freeing up staff time to work on attracting new patients and giving them the time needed to handle additional patients
Attracting new patients
The first area, attracting new patients, is generally low on the priority list when it should be given more attention. Healthcare organizations usually don't usually put a focus on marketing. But there are simple things you can do to attract new patients.
The easiest area to improve or develop is your website. At the very least, you should have a website that makes it easy for potential patients to contact you. It should be easy to find your practice's phone number, location, and information about specialties or expertise. Other information might include your fax number, email address(es), hours of operation, a map and directions, and the names of your physicians and a description of their areas of interest. A list of accepted payers, pricing, and financial policies will also go a long way towards making potential patients feel comfortable in coming to you.
You can either create and maintain your website with in-house staff and resources or outsource it. If you don't have the expertise within your existing staff, it's worth the cost to hire someone who is an expert at creating small-business websites (or even medical websites, if you can find a specialist).
Train your staff to respond quickly to inquiries that come via email or through a contact form on your website. Potential patients will be much more likely to make an appointment if they feel you are responsive.
Freeing up staff time
The second area, freeing up staff time, is a much less specific goal, but it is also key to successfully attracting--and keeping--new patients. By implementing one or more of the following technology solutions, you can streamline your processes and save time. Be sure to take into account, however, the investment in time and resource that will be needed to train your staff on these systems and to transition over from your legacy systems. This will be time well-invested, but you must factor it into your planning or you will end up in a serious resource crunch.
These solutions can add efficiency and accuracy to your practice and cut costs:
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Move to e-prescribing from handwritten prescriptions
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Move from paper charts to electronic medical records (EMR)
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Implement an automated billing system
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Implement an automated scheduling, reminder, and test results system
Technology components
1.
Wireless networking equipment. Setting up a wireless network--or extending your existing wired network to support wireless--can give staff more time by making it easier to access information anywhere in the office. See HP wireless networking products.
2.
Devices to access the wireless network. Tablet PCs, notebooks, and handheld PCs all provide mobile access at point-of-care and other key places. See Tablet PCs, notebooks or handheld PCs.
3.
Servers and storage. With increased automation, you need the infrastructure to support more electronic data and the systems it runs on. It's especially important to have storage and backup that ensures sensitive patient data is not lost in the event of disaster. See HP servers, storage systems or virtual backup service information.
To increase patient volume, start with these steps.
1.
Ensure your website and marketing materials meet the needs of potential patients.
2.
Implement an automated scheduling and reminder system that can free up your staff's phone time to handle new patient calls.
3.
Train your staff to answer all emails with the same promptness they give phone calls.
4.
Free up staff time by implementing a wireless network and electronic medical record (EMR) system. While the initial time needed to train staff on the move to an electronic record system may be substantial, the payoff will be worth it once the system is in place and working. With a wireless network and devices such as the Tablet PC and handhelds, staff will be able to instantly access and add to patient information anywhere, especially at point-of-care.
5.
Automate other tasks wherever possible to free up staff time.
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