Creating
an effective patient communication strategy for your practice will
reduce costs, improve efficiencies, and have a positive impact on your
bottom line. It is the simplest and most cost effective assessment that
you can do that will produce tangible results in revenue and efficiency.
Here Are Five Key To Do’s To Get You Started:
1) Create a preferred method of contact form for your practice.
- Understanding how to contact your patients effectively will
reduce the number of attempts your staff will have to try before
reaching your patient. Feel free to email me if you would like a sample
copy.
2) Determine
what portion of your patient calls can realistically be automated?
Investigate the technologies and costs to determine if your current
process is the most effective for such tasks as:
- Appointment Reminders
- Billing Reminders
- Mass Patient Notifications
- Preventative Care Programs
3) Review your protocols.
- Studies show that the most effective patient communication
strategy is one that is customized to the needs of the practice.
Understanding your patient demographic, how to effectively reach them
requires a proper analysis of your practice needs.
4) Determine how timely your reporting methods are, and how they can be improved upon.
- Having the most current and timely patient appointment
information is critical to optimizing your providers’ day. By choosing
the right technology or patient communication method that will provide
real time reporting your staff and providers will be able to generate
increased revenue.
5) Research what technologies are available to your practice that will work with your existing scheduler.
- Over the past five years there have been dramatic improvements
in patient communication technology. It is important to review these new
patient communication tools to determine if they can play a role in
your practice environment. For a list of appointment reminder
applications visit the 2010 MGMA Buyers Guide as a quick resource.
Implementing a customized and effective patient communication
strategy is critical to the success of any enterprise level practice
today.