Cash flow is the lifeblood of a medical practice. It allows facilities to be maintained, staff to be retained, and equipment and tests to remain in sufficient supply for patient care. While many factors determine a practice’s cash flow, its necessity remains constant. Fortunately, practices can maximize cash flow by implementing a few well-placed strategies to optimize medical billing.

Strategies to Maximize Cash Flow

A practice’s cash flow is dependent on many factors, i.e. billing, but all these contribute to the practice’s success as a whole. Implementing any of these strategies will help not only with the financial aspect of operating a practice, but with overall performance as well.

Well-managed Accounts Receivable

Accounts receivable describes money owed to a business by another party in exchange for services rendered. In order for an accounts receivable strategy to be successful, it must be well-defined. Patients and practice should always know what to expect from the process. A proactive plan for contacting patients when collections are due keeps them in loop. 

When payments are late, have a script for staff to follow when contacting the patients in question. This should include a discussion of payment options in addition to the opportunity to establish a payment. Train employees thoroughly so all involved personnel have a clear picture of what is expected. A straightforward collection process can maximize cash flow and help practices achieve revenue targets.

Improve Balance Collections

Even before a patient receives care, steps can be taken to prevent hiccups in the billing process, thus helping to maximize cash flow. Optimize your practice to accept multiple kinds of payment methods, including checks, credit cards, and direct deposits from patient bank accounts. Send patient reminders when payment is required or past-due.

Consider implementing a pre-care payment policy. This policy may include increases in bill totals for delays in payment. Other payment plans can also improve patient accessibility and cover a practice’s bases for receiving payments. Offer flexible payment options to ease patients’ minds and help your practice increase collections.

As a precaution, collect patient contact and insurance information before their appointment. Verifying insurance before care is provided can help minimize hiccups and frustrations in the billing process later on.

Outsource Your Medical Billing

Especially if you find your staff is overwhelmed or managing collections or billing is inhibiting your practice’s ability to offer dedicated care, a third-party billing service can do much toward helping practices maximize cash flow: 

• With professionals dedicated to handling the billing process, the risk of misplacing or mismanaging claims is minimized. 
• Enlisting the help of a billing service can also minimize turnaround times, helping your practice receive reimbursement sooner. 
• A billing service like Aspen Ridge Medical can help your practice set a plan for handling denials so you do not suffer losses in the face of insurance denials or dead claims.
• Outsourced billing services, such as those provided by Aspen Ridge Medical, can maximize cash flow and improve practices’ revenue by 10–20%.

Improving Efficiency in a Medical Practice

Any efforts to improve efficiency in your medical practice are likely to result in maximized cash flow. These can range from technological improvements to innovations in training or practice management. For example, delegation can free up time and resources to provide better care and increase revenue. Optimize patient treatment accessibility through venues like telehealth can make sure that more people are able to receive the care they need.

First impressions matter, and you can make your practice much more streamlined by simplifying your patient check-in and check-out processes. Consider how you can collect patient information in a quicker and more efficient manner, improving patients’ initial experiences and freeing up valuable staff time. Maximize each appointment and make minimizing downtime caused by no-shows a priority. Better still, do what you can to deter no-show appointments, such as utilizing automated systems (texts, emails, your patient portal) to send patient appointment reminders and offering flexible scheduling.  

Capture all medical data through electronic means. This can make measurements more precise and make retrieving information later more streamlined. Ensure that your staff is well-trained on all their responsibilities and on performing them in a timely manner. Take steps to develop a team dynamic that allows the group to work together in tandem. For more information about ways to improve efficiency and maximize cash flow, give Aspen Ridge Medical a call. We offer consulting and utilization management services to help practices identify areas where efficiency can be improved.

In this, the information age, practices rely heavily on the internet and other computer-based strategies for storing and retrieving patient medical information. More than 90% of practices in the United States utilize electronic medical records, and the majority of smartphone and tablet users have downloaded at least one app designed to track their health. 

These technological advances, while improving accessibility, have also made it more difficult to protect patient information. The shift to telehealth has exacerbated the problem. Despite the difficulty, safeguarding medical information is crucial to protect patients from identity theft.

Federal Law

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is the defined set of legal requirements to protect patient information. Originally passed in 1996, HIPAA’s privacy and security rules safeguards patient health information at the healthcare-provider level. Organizations acting for practices, including insurance firms, must legally adhere to these federal restrictions.

Precautions Practices Can Take to Protect Patient Information

While patients certainly have a responsibility to use discretion in disclosing or sharing their medical information, healthcare providers must also be vigilant. Not only do they have a legal obligation to protect patient information, it is part of honoring the trust patients put in them.

Have Practice-Specific Policies

Not all healthcare facilities work with the same kind of information or interact with patients or external organizations in the same capacity. The plan for your practice to keep patients’ medical information safe should reflect the work you do and be geared toward the particular data with which your organization transacts. The goal to keep electronic health information secure should be reflected in your practice’s policies, procedures, and systems. Your plan should also include training goals and systems for your employees.

Keep Security Training Current

The people carrying out your security plan will chiefly include the physicians and nurses in your practice. All of your employees should be well-versed, not only the methods of security, but also on its importance. Make sure your team understands how to store and send data securely to protect patient information, using methods we will describe below.

HIPAA regulations are an evolving entity, and as we continue to base more of our information and information-sharing technologies online, the regulations governing those will also adapt. New regulations, beyond HIPAA, may be a thing of the future. For this reason, it is critical that medical staff stay up-to-date on their security training. Anticipating changes can make regulatory adjustments even easier.

While patient error is not the responsibility of a healthcare practice, educating patients on the basics of security protects them and makes a medical facility’s duty easier. Help patients understand the importance of keeping their medical information safe and not sharing it, especially not on social media. They should never assume that any online forum is safe.

Use Encryption

Encryption is a computer data protection strategy that converts information into code. This makes the data less accessible without authorization and is an especially good strategy to protect patient information. All data and especially mobile devices in your facility should be encrypted. 

Other methods available to make storage more secure include passwords, firewalls, and antivirus software. Passwords should be strong, using combinations of letters and numbers that are not easy to identify easily. Staff should log out of networks when they have finished working on them and should refrain from using personal devices to access patient information.

Other strategies practices can employ to protect information while it is stored include using secure hardware and software, vigilantly monitoring online forums and cloud-based services, and destroying information that does not need to be kept.

Be Wary During Remote Handling

Information is at its most vulnerable when it is in transit, either during telehealth sessions or when being transferred between patient and practice. For telehealth work, invest in a secure wifi network, and encourage patients to have the same when accessing their medical information. The video platform used in remote conferencing should also be secure. While they make communicating with patients easy and immediate, be wary in the use of options like texting or private messaging. These platforms have minimal security features and may even violate HIPAA standards. 

Routinely Clean House

In addition to keeping your plan to protect patient information current and in harmony with HIPAA standards, regular housekeeping is an essential part of any good security strategy. Keep your practice’s firewalls and security software up-to-date at all times through updates. Every year, perform a security risk analysis to verify the security of all the storage tools you employ.

Establish a Failsafe

Sometimes the worst does happen. Hacks are sometimes successful, and breaches in security do occur. Before they do, establish a response plan designed to contain damages and mitigate losses. This should include a chain of command, but the response should not be dependent on it since immediate action is the key to minimizing damage. Have corrective methods ready to go in case of an incident, i.e. enable remote wiping or disabling on all your networks and servers.

The term telehealth describes a method of remote healthcare utilizing telecommunications technology. This may include everything from a telephone call to a video chat between patient and healthcare provider. Telehealth has been a successful practice since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but enforced quarantine certainly caused an uptick in its use. Today, telehealth makes healthcare more accessible to those who would not otherwise be able to receive treatment, and successful telehealth can be achieved by taking conscious and deliberate steps.

Strategies for Both Patients and Healthcare Facilities

Both patients and providers have a part in creating a successful telehealth session. These include a good setup and being present during the process.

Find the Right Spot

In order to have a successful telehealth session, it is important to set the scene. Neither patient nor provider should be distracted, so both parties must find quiet spots that allow them to work undisturbed. Make sure things in the background (posters, pets, equipment, etc.) won’t be distracting. The ideal spot has good lighting if the telehealth session will be conducted over video conference.

Quality equipment 

While neither party needs to create a recording studio, making sure you use quality cameras and sound equipment can mitigate the frustration of poor audio or video quality. This lends itself to better care and overall more successful telehealth since neither party has to worry about the sound or picture cutting out. You may also choose to use headphones or earbuds to block out background noise.

Secure Internet Connection

Sufficient bandwidth is essential for a telehealth session to be successful. The fanciest camera on the market cannot save a telehealth session if the internet goes out. Delays, lost information, and severe frustration are only a few of the side effects of a faulty connection. Minimize other internet uses during a session for best results. Practices may even have a dedicated wifi just for telehealth calls.

Keep Relevant Information Close

The middle of a telehealth session is not the time to try to find pertinent medical records, and sifting through your medicine cabinet is not a good use of the appointment’s allotted time. Instead, have relevant information at hand before the session begins. Healthcare professionals will have a list of questions ready, and patients may feel free to do so as well. 

To receive the best care possible without a medical provider in the room, patients should also keep a list of medications ready, for providers will ask for them. Have an explanation of your symptoms ready, especially if you have experienced difficulty performing routine activities. If you have the metrics of your vital signs (blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, and weight) taken within the last 24 hours, those are helpful to have onhand.

Stay Engaged

Incorporating telehealth successfully into a practice means we all need a little coaching on our web-side manner. During a telehealth session, both parties should remain attentive, keep eye contact, and ask good questions. Healthcare workers should adopt a professional tone and explain the telehealth process systematically and clearly. Patients should repeat any instructions given to them to ensure they have them correct.

A good web-side manner isn’t just about demeanor. Apparel also comes into play. Both patient and provider should wear solid colors since patterns can show up differently on screen, playing with the eyes and tricking them into seeing movement. In addition to scrubs, medical professionals should consider wearing their lab coats while on the call to inspire confidence.

Keep good notes

Both patients and providers should have questions beforehand and make sure to cover them during the appointment. Healthcare professionals should let patients know that they will be taking notes so patients do not feel like physicians are not paying attention.

Make Plans to Follow-Up

Many telehealth sessions lead to follow-up appointments, whether via technology or in-person. Establish the necessary next steps before the call ends. Doing so will allow both parties to walk away understanding what comes next.

Successful Telehealth Practices for Medical Facilities

If telehealth is an option offered at your practice, you have an additional responsibility to use the technology wisely.

Offer Multiple Platforms

Medical facilities should offer telehealth on multiple platforms to best reach the maximum number of clients. This is a failsafe against some IT problems. There are many online communication systems on the market. Zoom is taking the world by storm, but FaceTime, Google Hangouts, and other platforms are available for use. Find the best combination for your practice.

Prepare the Patient

To have a successful telehealth session, let the patient know what to expect. Consent must be properly documented, and be sure to let patients know they have the right to stop at any time. Make sure patients understand the billing process for telehealth before the session.

Follow protocol

In terms of getting to the root of a patient’s problem and offering treatment solutions, telehealth sessions are the same as in-office visits. Adhere to proper protocols to give the best care while avoiding legal and billing difficulties.

Maintain Privacy

Prioritizing privacy is crucial for successful telehealth. This involves keeping the room in which telehealth calls take place secure. Conversations should remain confidential in the same way in-facility visits are. If other practitioners or staff are in the room, be sure to notify the patient.