Running a successful medical practice is an extremely difficult and labor-intensive process involving many moving parts and complex workflows. Thus, anything that can streamline the process is extremely valuable. Improving efficiencies and simplifying workflows are necessary for improving the performance of the practice.
Office management tools have existed for decades, but they are simply not powerful enough to manage the complexities of running a medical practice. This is why providers have been increasingly turning to dedicated practice management software to meet their needs.
However, not every practice management software is created equal. Some will be missing features and functionality that are necessary for the practice to thrive. Read on for the 5 most important features for a practice management system to have.
Insurance Verification
Insurance verification can eat up a lot of time for practice staff. Making phone calls and being put on hold is wasted time as it prevents staff from actively contributing to patient care. Luckily, practice management systems can include insurance verification capability. This allows staff to instantly look up and verify the insurance status of each patient during the check-in process. It also makes getting an appointment quicker for patients so it’s a win-win.
Automated Billing
Fewer denials and faster payments are the dreams of every provider. It would be fair to say that no medical professional currently running their own practice is satisfied with the state of their revenue cycle management.
One of the easiest ways of improving the flow of revenue is by investing in a practice management system with automated billing capability. Most applications will integrate billing and collections with revenue cycle management tools. Practice staff can use the software for electronic claims submissions with built-in EDI capability.
Security
The protection and security of personal health information is becoming an increasingly important aspect of healthcare. Identity theft is a very real crime and can destroy lives and so it is important for providers to store all this information in as secure a way as possible. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced for this very purpose.
The threat of hackers targeting practices to break into health information databases is only growing. Medicine remains one of the top targets of ransomware attacks, not to mention the threat of attacks from foreign nations such as Russia. To avoid falling victim to any such attacks, it is important that providers begin investing in digital security, including practice management systems with robust security features. Your practice management system might well be the most important area to begin shoring up your defenses, as it stores a very large amount of sensitive patient information.
Appointment Scheduling
Sticking to traditional methods of appointment scheduling will only hold practices back from being able to reach their full potential. Practice management systems include modern, online appointment scheduling methods, often including a patient portal in the package.
These systems make it much easier to set up recurring patients as well, such as patients that might need monthly follow ups, for example. It is also easier and faster to reschedule when patients are unable to make a scheduled appointment. Practice management systems also come with the flexibility of being able to schedule telehealth appointments for patients that do not need to be physically present in the practice.
Patient Information Management
Practice management systems also make it simpler to obtain an overview of your entire patient population with patient information management tools. This gives you access to important details, such as medical history, diagnosis, and treatment. Scanned images of older paper records can also be added.
Automated Clam Re-Submission
There is nothing more time-consuming than manually resubmitting insurance claims. That’s why it can be a huge hassle for practices, who want to make their office runs as efficient and effective possible so they have enough money in the bank at all times.
Validation of Procedures for a Diagnosis
Practice management software can be an essential tool for physicians to ensure that they are ordering the necessary tests and procedures with their patients’ insurance. If there is a specific diagnosis required in order for them claim coverage from companies, then this information will also need clarification when obtaining treatment so as not have any issues after submitting claims or filing lawsuits if something goes wrong during surgery etc., but practice-wide use of such technology has been shown reduce costs because it helps prevent human error by automating certain tasks which humans typically do better than machines at anyway.
Verification of Insurance Eligibility
Insurance companies are often tricky about covering procedures, and it can be difficult for patients to know if they have insurance.
Insurance Card Scanning
This time-saving feature allows front desk staff to capture all the important information from a patient’s insurance card quickly and easily. This saves them using copy machines, which are typically slower than typing on computers with smart keyboards or tablets—both of which have been proven more effective in recent years because they can keep up without human intervention.
