It’s essential to have a well-run healthcare practice to provide the best possible care for your patients. With so much time spent on administrative tasks, there’s a high likelihood that a crucial area of your practice suffers — patient care.
The good news is there are steps to improve the quality of care you can provide while streamlining your workflow. From hiring virtual medical receptionists from agencies like My Mountain Mover to adopting the best Electronic Health Record (EHR) practices, there’s definitely something your healthcare practice can benefit from.
But first and foremost, you must identify which areas of your workflow need improvement. Once you’ve identified those areas, you can start to implement the suggestions below.
Pick A Provider Platform
In order to streamline your healthcare practice workflow, it’s essential to pick a provider platform. A provider platform is a software application that helps you manage your practice. They can provide a single entry point for patient and employee information while integrating with third-party applications and other platforms.
The type of provider platform that best suits your needs will depend on what services you offer and how many patients or employees you see each day. Whatever you decide, just make sure it complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards. This law sets strict standards for the way patient health information is protected. If you’re not compliant, you could face hefty fines. The good thing is that with technology, complying with the laws is made easier.
Standardize Your Forms
Before you can streamline your workflow, you must have a solid foundation to build upon. This means creating standard forms that will be used across the board in your healthcare practice. These forms can include new patient intake information, discharge instructions, documentation of patient encounters with physicians and/or providers, or even the release of information from patient files to other entities such as insurance companies.
Additionally, when collecting sensitive medical patient data, it is important to use a HIPAA form. The reason for this is to disclose the patient’s protected health information (PHI) to certain individuals or entities for specific purposes, such as for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. By using a HIPAA compliant form, healthcare providers can protect their patients’ privacy and comply with the law’s requirements. It also helps ensure that patient information is only shared with those who have a legitimate need for it, and that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the information from unauthorized disclosure or use.
Once you create these documents, you may print them out and store them in an easy-to-access place where all staff members can access them easily.
By having these forms ready, you can avoid wasting time searching for the right one or recreating the wheel each time someone new comes in. Plus, it’ll be easier to train new staff on your procedures if everything is already laid out for them.
Start Automating Letters, Billing, Scheduling, And Others
If you want to streamline your healthcare practice workflow, start automating as many processes as possible. This includes tasks like sending letters, billing, scheduling, and more.
To begin, you may need to study how to automate emails, schedule client appointments, and use a spreadsheet to manage billing. Once you’ve covered those basics, you may also check out other helpful tools and resources that healthcare practices use today to help save time and boost productivity. These include scheduling tools, practice management software, insurance claim coding, email hacks, and reimbursement resources. Your email platform of choice should also be encrypted and HIPAA-compliant. On this note, Gmail has the potential to fit those requirements but it also has a few major downsides that you should keep in mind.
In the long run, automating these tasks will save you time and energy, allowing you to focus on providing quality patient care.
Improve Communication with Staff
In any work environment, communication is key to success. Thus, clear and concise communication with your staff is essential when it comes to streamlining your healthcare practice workflow. Doing so can ensure everyone is on the same page and working towards the same goal. Additionally, regular check-ins will allow you to identify any potential bottlenecks in the workflow so they can be addressed quickly.
Use an Electronic Medical Records System (EMR)
Not to be confused with EHR, an Electronic Medical Records System (EMR) is a digital version of the paper chart that contains a patient’s medical history. They come with many benefits, including improved patient care, increased efficiency, and reduced costs. The system will integrate lab data, physicians’ notes, and radiology images.
With better access to their health information, patients can see when they need preventive screenings or vaccinations to stay healthy. They also reduce errors in filling out forms or remembering complex details about a chronic condition. Physicians benefit from better access to charts and lab results for faster diagnosis.
Connecting your EMR system with your patient portal and website may be equally important to ensure that your patients have a streamlined experience when interacting with your healthcare practice. This way, patients can easily access their medical records and schedule appointments online.
Last Words
Once you’ve implemented these changes, it’s important to review your workflow regularly to ensure that things are running smoothly. Also, if there are any areas where improvements can be made, now can be a good time to make those adjustments.