Your medical practice is also a business. Don’t forget to ensure your back-office processes are healthy.
While your goal as a provider of healthcare services (primary care to dermatology and anything in between) is to help your patients; you’re also operating a business. Like any business, you need to cost-effectively manage your back-office processes. While getting your patient information under control is important (read our post on 7 features you need to look for in an EHR), managing your business documents is equally important.
The healthcare field almost seems to run on documentation alone, but that doesn’t have to equate to unruly stacks of paperwork all over the place. If you’re running out of room for filing cabinets to store patient records, using a single document management system will not only free up space in your office but also help your whole practice run more efficiently. Here are the top four ways a document management implementation can benefit your medical office beyond managing patient information.
Simplify Record Keeping
When you use document management software, you have quick access to patient records, eliminating the need to rummage through paper files to find crucial patient information. Instead, you can type in a search term and instantly find the data you need. Many programs can also be programmed to send records to specific providers and will even work with any EMR program your office uses. If you want patient records to be fully searchable and quickly accessible, this type of program is the right solution for your medical practice.
Make Admissions Easier and Faster
You can ease the burden of your front desk personnel by using a document management system to turn patient documents into digital records — they make it easy to scan everything from insurance cards and driver’s licenses to lab results and patient medical histories. Once all hard-copy documents exist on the computer, employees can search for and retrieve them within seconds, speeding up the check-in process.
Streamline the Billing Process
Collecting payment is an important yet time-consuming task in the medical field, but making all documentation digital will speed up the process. Document management programs can scan claims, EOBs, statements, checks, and any other supporting payment information. Having these documents online allows personnel to easily find them when needed, which can result in shortened billing cycles and easier collection of payments.
Achieve Interoperability Among All Systems
You likely use a few different computer programs while managing your practice. For best results, they need to work together to help your staff stay organized. Many document management programs integrate perfectly with EMR, practice management, accounting, coding, and various other applications, making the workday more efficient for your staff. Additionally, the file storage formats are not proprietary, so you will still be able to access them in the future, regardless of the systems your practice has in place.
So, if you’re interested in streamlining important processes such as record keeping, admissions, billing, and just general practice management, you should look into going vertical with us and a Laserfiche document management solution. Find out more about our healthcare solutions approach here.