Medicare
Jul 22, 2021
Helping practices thrive, not just survive.
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On average, physicians in the US spend about 13 to 24 minutes with each patient, according to a 2018 Medscape Physician Compensation Report. However, studies have shown that physicians with longer durations dedicated to direct patient care had more positive patient outcomes. Additionally, these physicians had higher patient satisfaction and a lower risk of malpractice claims.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the physician-patient dynamic, with over 50% of physicians in the 2021 Medscape Physician Compensation Report reporting a reduction in patient volumes during the worst months of the pandemic. Restrictions and risk-minimization strategies set in place by the WHO further widened the gulf between physicians and patients.
Physicians across the country agree that they would rather have more time with patients. And with this year’s E/M Coding changes having taken effect in January, affecting reimbursement processes, practices need more effective ways to address the concerns of physician-patient time.
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There are of course numerous ways to prioritize patients, but we have whittled it down to the top 5 ways:
According to a study by the Annals of Internal Medicine, physicians spend, on average, 16 minutes and 14 seconds using an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for each patient encounter. This time spent on indirect patient care puts tremendous time pressure on direct patient care, which is what patients perceive as time spent with the physician.
One of the ways practices can reduce this time spent on EHRs and channel it toward direct patient care is by involving patients in their own care. This patient-centric approach can be implemented by activating the patient portal on the EHR. An EHR contains a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, radiology images, and laboratory and test results.
With the patient portal activated, patients can log onto their own health records and review their care plans. They can also schedule non-urgent appointments and make payments. This saves the physician considerable time and allows them to focus their attention on their face-to-face interactions with patients.
Practices can increase the amount of time physicians spend with patients by starting the care process long before the patient walks into the examination room. This can begin with having the patient access their EHR via the patient portal prior to their visit so they can streamline any questions they may have for the physician.
A well-trained front-office staff, or call answering service like PRM’s Scheduling & Registration service, equipped with the knowledge and skills to be patient educators can also help increase the time physicians have with patients. By answering non-medical queries like how to use the EHR portal, or informing patients about payment plans they may qualify for, it saves the physician time that would have been spent on these aspects of patient education.
Have a medical assistant on hand to set up the exam room with any supplies the physician may need for the patient, as well as follow up on any test results the physician may need to review. Having all the tools and information to treat the patient readily available will prevent delays and time wasted on leaving the room to find these tools during the exam. Additionally, being well-prepared for patients’ appointments makes them feel like a priority and pushes higher patient satisfaction.
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the growth of the digital health technology industry, with solutions targeted at fostering a better patient-physician relationship. Innovations like Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Telemedicine are going to be a big part of the post-COVID era.
Practices can leverage such advances to increase the amount of time physicians spend with patients. Although working from home is not as sustainable in the medical industry as it is in other fields, these innovations have made it possible for physicians across the country to monitor and treat patients from anywhere, at any time.
RPM tools allow physicians to remotely monitor patients in real-time. Physicians can also access patient information with features like internet-connected blood pressure cuffs and weighing scales. By adding RPM to their routine care, practices can focus more on patient care and increase access to real-time patient data.
With telehealth visits, physicians no longer need to worry about losing patients due to COVID restrictions hampering patients’ ability to visit the clinic.
Scheduling is an integral part of ensuring a practice runs efficiently. However, many physicians find themselves falling behind because appointments are booked in small windows, or are overbooked. This puts tremendous strain on both the physicians and other support staff to attend to large numbers of patients in a limited time.
With online scheduling, practices can minimize overbooking, double booking, and missed appointments. Online scheduling tools allow patients to schedule and reschedule their own appointments, and send reminders in the form of message alerts to ensure patients do not miss appointments.
With an automated online scheduling system in place, practices can more easily streamline their scheduling process while ensuring each appointment is allotted an adequate amount of time.
This report by the Annals of Internal Medicine found that physicians spent a staggering 49.2% of their office day on EHR and desk work. With most of their attention turned to documentation, only 27% of the office day went to direct clinical patient care.
Practices can overcome this hurdle by taking on the services of a practice management firm. These companies take on administrative tasks like bookkeeping and accounting, HR management, billing, claims submissions and collections. This leaves physicians with more time to focus on direct patient care.
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At Professional Reimbursement Managers, we know most physicians want to focus more of their time on helping patients, but administrative requirements and profit management issues have become a constant hindrance. We partner with physicians by providing both operational and consultation services to minimize physicians’ worry, risk, and work levels, ultimately allowing them more time with patients.
Initially, physician’s offices had a person in-house that handled everything having to do with billing for the practice. This person added to the overhead of the office – about 10 – 12% and handled everything from A-Z in the billing process. General knowledge of codes was all that was needed to ensure reimbursement from insurance companies as this was before managed care.
The beginning of managed care brought to the industry fee schedules, preferred provider contracts, the need for pre-authorizations and more. These changes meant a more intensive knowledge of medical codes was required as well as continuing to keep updated as codes were added and deleted. These changes increased cost and time required to handle billing.
Initially, physician’s offices had a person in-house that handled everything having to do with billing for the practice. This person added to the overhead of the office – about 10 – 12% and handled everything from A-Z in the billing process. General knowledge of codes was all that was needed to ensure reimbursement from insurance companies as this was before managed care.
The beginning of managed care brought to the industry fee schedules, preferred provider contracts, the need for pre-authorizations and more. These changes meant a more intensive knowledge of medical codes was required as well as continuing to keep updated as codes were added and deleted. These changes increased cost and time required to handle billing.
Our Complimentary Consultation is a discovery and feedback initiative built to help practices. You get one on one advice from our experts, plus a report for your practice to use, absolutely free for you.
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After listening to what clients were asking for, a more robust system was created that covered more than just standard medical billing. This full-cycle revenue management system saved doctors time and money by eliminating the need to have different people handling all other aspects. Revenue Cycle Management includes: