by Kristine Stauffer, Aug. 16, 2022
Do you listen to your doctor and arrive 15 minutes earlier than your appointment? I currently can schedule my appointment and check-in online. Once you arrive, you succumb to waiting 15 min later than your original appointment while filling out paperwork for your visit and another 15 minutes in an examination room waiting to be seen? If a doctor could decrease patient wait time by 15 minutes a day, they could increase his daily margin by an easy $5,000.
What if your provider allowed you to check-in and update your medical charts and insurance information from your mobile device? This information could create pre-authorization for your visit to your insurance carrier who instantly sends both your provider and you their quote for services. What if your chart updates came two days before your visit with a follow-up alert the day before requiring pictures of insurance cards for billing and your questions related to how you currently are feeling? Automation through AI can offer these time saving tasks to free up front office personnel from making manual mistakes, allowing the doctor to spend quality time with patients and servicing multiple touch points across your healthcare continuum effortlessly.
As a patient having worked in the healthcare industry for the past twenty years, I struggle to see doctor/patient value in waiting which reminds me of the saying “time is money”. Using visual cues and contact through iPads and monitors can be very welcoming to the younger generation of patients and could save everyone time and money. Yes, the upfront costs will be absorbent when done right, but the outcomes can reward your practice in many ways.
Imagine an office with happy patients, healthy outcomes and better bottom lines. Now is not the time to discard this, but to embrace this and continually grow into the future and provide the cutting-edge service you dreamed about. Think about it. Spend now and thank me later. Technology through human purpose and passion is the future!
