Electronic communication could save you money
The move to electronic communication could save you money down the road, says Peter J. Plantes, MD, medical director of LaurusHealth, a consumer and physician Internet company based in Irving, TX.
"Initial research shows that electronic communication reduces the amount of time support staff are required to use to make referrals and [talk] on the phone with patients," he says.
A single physician may generate as many as 150 telephone transactions a day, including appointments coming in and reminders going out, says Barry Shapiro, president and chief executive officer of HealthEappointments, a Bloomfield Hills, MI, developer of Internet-based business products.
"Telephones are an enormously expensive part of a physician practice. It’s a very big cost and a very big bottleneck in every office," Shapiro says.
Scheduling is a very labor-intensive process and the current trend toward more rescheduling of appointments puts a strain on already overworked support staff and increases costs at a time when physician practice profits are shrinking, points out Dustin Crane, president of Atlanta-based Aelera Corp., developer of customer relationship management applications.
"Because the current industry is trying to wring more efficiency out of the existing human resource capacity, it’s important to have a well-organized methodology to get physicians, facilities, and patients together," Crane says.
When patients can make appointments, receive reminders of an upcoming visit, and fill out insurance forms over the Internet, the staff can spend less time on the telephone and more time taking care of other office visits, Shapiro points out.
"If patients have access to the Internet, they prefer to use the Internet. It’s faster and easier," he adds.
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