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Make wait times in your medical practice a better experience!

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Physicians Practice

How to make wait times at your medical practice a better experience!

How often have you seen patients fuming in the reception and have been able to do nothing about it? With hundreds of newly insured patients and limited staff it is getting tougher by the day for small and medium sized medical practices, to handle appointments. There is nothing worse than seeing patients, in need of medical care, waiting listlessly for it.

A third of staff time is spent on scheduling, handling no-shows and rescheduling appointments. There are ways to make appointment scheduling and patient wait times, smarter and shorter.

Make use of apps…

There are applications and software’s that can help physicians get a handle on their numerous appointments. Web based tools such as MedWaitTime help physicians to streamline everyday workflow and manage appointments. The more effectively you manage appointments, the easier it is to shorten wait times.

Is your medical practice a Wi-Fi zone?

How many of us read magazines strewn at a reception desk? Very few! Flipping through pages randomly can be frustrating after a while. A Wi-Fi enabled wait room can keep patients engaged. It may also help them to complete office tasks or keep tabs on them, while waiting in your office. This will make wait times more productive and fun.

Get paperwork out of the way!

Filling out medication lists or making patients fill myriad forms is a time drainer. And make the wait time for patients longer. Encourage patients to fill out information online a day or two prior to the visit. Have patient information and other pertinent details in hand, before meeting patients.

Make use of patient portals to share and receive vital information. Built into your EMR or integrated with it, work with patient portals to save on time.

Keep your patients in the loop!

Inform your patients about how long it will take to see them. Have the front office staff update patients periodically on what’s going on in the physician’s room. If there is delay state the reason for the delay and how long it will take to get things back in order. Knowing the reason for the wait, will let patients know their time is being valued.

Keep in touch!

A follow up mail that thanks your patients for visiting, for waiting for your medical care and how important each visit is to you, can make all that wait worthwhile. Never forget to ask for feedback and suggestions. It will increase your referrals and ensure there is a steady stream of loyal patients!

Here’s a presentation view about how you can accomplish your medical practice in full flow.

MU 2 timeline shift; what it means for your practice?

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Meaningful Use stage 2

Yet another MU 2 pushback; but is there a reason to cheer?

There seems to be a new government announcement every single week. The latest update to cause major ripples was the recent MU2 extension. As with all other healthcare updates it was received with skepticism, hope, and a whole deal of confusion.

The dust has settled now and Eligible Professionals (EP) are back to preparing for MU2. It is clear that MU2 has been extended through 2016 but there will be absolutely no shift in the start dates. But this will definitely give EPs enough time to formulate a more solid Meaningful Use plan.

Some breathing room…

2014 is going to be a trying year for physicians. Meaningful use deadlines, ICD10, and freezing on a payment model that works, there is going to be a lot on the plate. The early birds who are going to attest in 2014 will get an extra year in 2016. EHR vendors can also have enough time to better their systems and focus on the Achilles heel of most EHRs, interoperability.

More time for MU3…

The timeline shift will offer medical practices some amount of breathing space and flexibility. There will be additional time to prepare for Meaningful Use stage 3. And a wee bit more flexibility when it comes to certification.

Can the shift impact ICD 10 implementation?

Unfortunately, yes. Healthcare industry experts suggest that now there is absolutely no possibility of yet another delay to implement ICD10. October 1st 2014 is a date set in stone according to senior health insurance specialist at CMS, Denescia Green. “This is a firm date” she said, earlier this month.

Hopes dashed!

 Physicians who were hoping for a delay in ICD 10 are in for bitter disappointment. The government cannot afford another delay, so there is going to be increased pressure on physicians to transition to the new code set. One major plus would be that practices can utilize and focus their resources, on ICD 10 alone. There wouldn’t be as many deadlines jostling for attention.

Have great staff on board?

This is one question that most practice owners forget to ask themselves. Human resources, seems to be a grossly overlooked factor. With 2014 being a rollercoaster year, not focusing on hiring or training staff, can be the perfect recipe for disaster. Most medical practices are caught up with improving their technical infrastructure and exploring new business models.

But for sustainable success and change, having the right people on board, is the only solution. So, practices can rely on trained personnel and not pushbacks for meeting deadlines.

Here’s a brief presentation on Meaningful Use for medical practice.