When a patient chooses to come to your practice, they are evaluating it, not only on the service provided by the doctor but also by the efficiency of the admin process and the overall experience. There are a number of options available to you to manage the practice in such a way that there’s a substantial amount of profit, as well as happy patients. So, how does one find this balance? We share the ultimate cheat sheet to ensure you cover all the bases.

Choosing the right tools

Choosing the right technology tools to manage your practice is a good way to improve efficiency. Assess your current set of tools by measuring the amount of time it takes to complete each task. This will give you some objective feedback on the areas where you could make changes. In a previous article, we shared some examples of the tools that could help you optimise your time when running your practice as a small business. Once you’ve assessed your current tools and identified the areas you want to improve, you can start shopping around and comparing what’s available on the market. For example, if one of your needs is the flexibility to access your practice admin from anywhere, you may consider a cloud-based system. Our myMPS platform can be accessed on any device, be it a smartphone, tablet or computer.

If you are looking to make your claim capturing process quicker, the Dr. App makes use of prepopulated claim templates. With only a few taps on your tablet or mobile screen, you can send billing instructions either directly to the medical aid, or to your admin staff to follow-up on. Your admin staff will not require much management from you when much of your processes are simplified with the use of the right tools.

How to use these tools once implemented

Whichever technology tool you choose, it is important that the tool facilitates the admin process at every stage, from when the patient arrives to when the patient leaves. Covering each step is what will help you create a thriving practice.

• An electronic or online calendar: Some online calendars include an automated patient benefit check. This allows you to check patient benefits before the patient comes in for the consultation. What’s great about this is that it reduces the amount of time that would have been spent on the phone calling the medical aid to check patient benefits.
• Virtual waiting rooms: On the myMPS platform, all patients can be checked into the virtual waiting room. The power of a virtual waiting room is harnessed when the doctor is able to see the queue of patients that are already booked into the virtual waiting room. The doctor would access this via her own app and would allow her to manage her time accordingly.
• Claiming: Does the tool that you’re using make it quick and easy for you to capture claims through prepopulated claim templates? Are your claims being billed at the correct rates, such that the maximum allowable fee is being requested from the medical aid? Does the tool have the correct diagnosis, procedure, consumable and medicine codes automatically updated?
• Reconciliations: By having your claims automatically reconciled, you will save hours of precious time.
• Reporting: Your chosen tool should help you see at a glance, how your practice is performing with comprehensive practice performance reports. The reports should include end-of-day and month-end reports to name a few.

Conclusion

This simple cheat sheet can assist you in striking a balance between finding the right tools and keeping up with industry trends. This can make the admin process almost effortless. The doctor can focus on giving the patient the best service and admin staff can make sure that the doctor has all that is necessary to make this possible.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]