Patient intake is an essential part of running a successful medical practice, but it can also be a time-consuming and inefficient process.

Here are some tips for streamlining your patient intake process:

1. Offer online appointment scheduling

Allow patients to schedule appointments online, which can reduce the time and effort required to handle scheduling tasks.

2. Use electronic medical records systems:

EMR systems can streamline the patient intake process by allowing patients to input their own information and providing easy access to their medical history. .

3. Train staff to be efficient and friendly

Ensuring that your staff is well-trained and able to handle patient intake efficiently can go a long way in streamlining the process. Encourage staff to be friendly and helpful, as this can help to put patients at ease and improve the overall patient experience

4. Review and optimize processes regularly

Regularly reviewing and optimizing your patient intake process can help to identify areas for improvement and ensure that you are providing the best possible service to your patients.

5. Make use of technology

Technology can be a useful tool in streamlining the patient intake process. Consider using electronic forms, appointment scheduling software, and other tech solutions to reduce the time and effort required to handle patient intake.

CompanyOn’s online forms provide the ability to send intake forms and econsents so you can collect patients’ information in advance

Practitioners should strive to leverage all the automation that technology can offer and create streamlined processes in order to improve performance and metrics.

6. Communicate clearly with patients

Ensuring that patients understand the intake process and what is expected of them can help to reduce confusion and improve the overall patient experience. Consider providing clear instructions and information to patients to help them navigate the process smoothly.

7. Stay organized

Maintaining a well-organized office can help to streamline the patient intake process. Consider implementing a filing system and making use of online storage solutions to keep important documents organized and easily accessible.

By implementing these strategies, you can help to streamline the patient intake process and improve the overall patient experience. This can help to reduce wait times and increase efficiency, ultimately leading to a more successful independent practice.

At CompanyOn, we’re committed to supporting our community of solo practitioners, no matter if they are just thinking in pursuing professional independence, or they are already well established solo practitioners.

It is also important to identify where the most opportunity lies for improvement when it comes to the way the practice is managed and clients are cared for.

Here are 3 quick tips for measuring your practice productivity:

1. Efficiency and Effectiveness

The first step is to determine what productivity actually means. The best metric to use is the utilization rate or number of hours per client per week including, commute and documentation of care, you invest in the provision of care.
Utilization is defined as the amount of a practitioner’s available time that’s used for productive, billable work, expressed as a percentage. It’s a measure of billing efficiency that helps the business understand if it’s billing enough to cover its cost plus overhead. To learn more about how to calculate your utilization rate, please check the following article here.

2. Net Collection Rate

Net collection rate measures productivity by determining how much of the work a practitioner bills for, actually gets paid. It measures how effective the practice is at collecting all legitimate forms of reimbursement for services. The net collection rate will reveal deficiencies in this process. It provides visibility into what is actually being collected and what your independent practice is actually allowed to collect after factoring in any refunds, write-offs, discounts, etc. To learn more about how to calculate your practice net collection rate, please check the following article click here.

3. Outstanding Account Receivables

This is one of the key indicators of a practice’s performance. How long does it take your practice to collect payments for services you provide? Reducing the time, it takes for an outstanding invoice to be paid is key to increase cashflow and overall financial stability of your business.

There are a variety of metrics that practitioners can use to assess how effectively and efficiently running their practice is. While some such as net collection rates and outstanding accounts receivable are traditionally seen as indicators of how satisfied clients are with the services provided, they may also indicate billing issues.

Practitioners should strive to leverage all the automation that technology can offer and create a streamlined billing process in order to improve performance and metrics.

This will help identify any potential problems early on and hopefully result in increased satisfaction among clients.

At CompanyOn, we’re committed to supporting our community of solo practitioners, no matter if they are just thinking in pursuing professional independence, or they are already well established solo practitioners.