Conversations about the patient experience and healthy outcomes tend to focus on the clinical aspects of the experience.
But the administrative side of the patient experience is just as important for both health and financial outcomes. Focusing on accuracy is a powerful way to improve the patient experience.
In a September Becker's Hospital Review webinar sponsored by RevSpring, Kristen Jacobsen, vice president of marketing and omnichannel engagement, and Christine Frandsen, patient engagement product communication manager, both of RevSpring, shared insights into how a better, more accurate administrative experience can improve the patient experience and patient outcomes.
Three key takeaways were:
1.) Accurate patient experiences trump traditional marketing for building patient loyalty and trust. According to a Press Ganey report, patients are five times more likely to select a practice because they had a positive experience than if the practice has an extensive consumer marketing protocol. In addition, 70 percent of people said their most recent healthcare visits influence their loyalty to an organization. "Experience can't be overlooked when it comes to how important loyalty can be for patients," Ms. Jacobsen said. "That doesn't just mean your experience with your provider. It's all those things that go into that healthcare visit, from the time you make that appointment to the time you pay that final bill."
2.) Accuracy is a powerful tool for building great patient experiences that reduce risk. Most people have had the "clipboard experience" in a physician's office — the patient is handed a clipboard with several pages of forms to fill in and update. But that introduces two opportunities for error: one when the patient fills in the information and another when staff types the hand-written data into the EMR.
"If a patient is not feeling well, they don't have their insurance card or maybe their child is sick and needs their attention, you're not collecting the best dataset you can from that patient," Ms. Frandsen said. As a result, inaccurate patient data can lead to rejected claims and communication gaps that harm the patient experience.
3.) New technology solutions can deliver more accuracy while reducing the burden on patients and administrative staff. Accuracy starts with automating processes as much as possible using technology to save time and improve data integrity. There are many tools available to help, Ms. Frandsen said. They include:
- Optical character recognition. OCR can quickly scan insurance or ID cards and convert the images to text to reduce data entry errors.
- Pre-filled forms. When data is shared across platforms, data can be pre-populated in patient-facing forms, eliminating the frustration of having to supply the same information multiple times.
- Estimate confidence scores. With the advent of the No Surprises Act, patients can get an estimate of healthcare services before an appointment. Confidence scores, which indicate how likely the estimate is to be accurate, help set expectations for prepayment options.
- Card on file. To make it easier for patients to pay in a timely manner, consider gathering payment information upfront or when forms are required. Opportunities to pay can also be woven into other touchpoints.
Solutions like RevSpring offer ways to leverage technology to save precious staff time, improve accuracy, improve the entire patient experience and simultaneously yield better health and financial outcomes.
To register for upcoming webinars, click here.