First Class Patient Access: You Only Get ONE Chance to "Nail" That First Impression
An Interview with Lesli Kennedy, Director of Reservations, Scheduling and Telecommunications, McLeod Health
If you make a bad impression at the front door, it negatively impacts all of your subsequent experiences once inside. This concept applies to more than dinner party etiquette. It goes to the core of healthcare delivery. McLeod Health recognized that smooth patient Access Management has real value in making a good, lasting first impression. That value was defined as a means to improve physician satisfaction, enhance the patient experience and also manage simultaneously rising patient volumes and falling reimbursement.
McLeod physician satisfaction surveys complained loudly that the scheduling system they had already paid for was not working. There were too many places to call, no integration of information, countless duplication of efforts for physicians and their patients and no way to guide patients seeking outpatient appointments from point A to point B.
Fixing the "front-door" impression meant implementing a centralized, responsive scheduling solution across multiple entities, investing in pilot technology to facilitate physician orders and utilizing commercial technology to connect patients, staff and physicians under a universal system of "way finding" from points A to B.
The scheduling infrastructure and supporting information systems, Schedule Maximizer, zoned in on creating an environment of responsiveness—responsiveness to the physician, patient and internal departments. When outpatient surgery nurses came to McLeod's Director of Scheduling frustrated by their inability to manage beds and patient flow, their issues were heard and translated into language that the scheduling solution could understand. An entirely new outpatient surgery scheduling process was implemented in 72 hours. Typically, a multi-hospital system addressing a similar problem would require two weeks to schedule a meeting, four months to review the team’s needs and six months to complete only half of the goals due to the inflexibility of both the software and the hospital procedures.
A physician portal to facilitate scheduling and kiosks to assist patients in “way finding” from the front door and throughout the system rounded out McLeod’s Patient Access Management restructuring. With itinerary in hand, patients begin their journey through McLeod’s myriad of services and facilities armed with information. That same information is just a touch screen away for authorized personnel at McLeod who might have a patient encounter. If the patient becomes lost, despite the finely tuned scheduling process, kiosks are available around every major turn. Touch the screen and get a map to the physician or department sought or pick up the handset at the kiosk and help is at hand.
McLeod’s 2002 physician satisfaction survey had uncovered an opportunity to improve Scheduling and Patient Access in general. Not surprisingly, the survey questions related to Access echoed that finding. Following the overhaul of Scheduling, improved customer communications increased physician satisfaction by 24% in the first survey year.
McLeod recognized that patient preparation and education prior to the appointment, ease of registration and locating the correct department, as well as improved wait times all impact the patient experience. So it cheered when their efforts to centralize scheduling and foster a patient-centered culture showed great results with a 72% decrease in patient complaints.
Internally, the sounds of applause had yet to resonate through the halls. Questions on McLeod administration’s lips: “Did the scheduling, physician portal, and way finding kiosks pay off? Can we prove it?” To formulate a response the Director of Scheduling gathered and tracked outcomes pertinent to return on investment. The results confirmed the value of Access Management. In conjunction with the increased physician and patient satisfaction, the amount of rejections from payers decreased by 40% between 2002 and 2005. Insurance denials decreased 91.7% for contracted payers between 2002 and 2007, thus solidly hitting the revenue cycle management goals. No-shows decreased by 20% due to appointment reminders and better patient information on the front end. Campus-wide availability of schedules reduced phone calls between departments. Reporting capabilities led to operational and process improvements. Last fiscal year, an additional $250,000 of co-pays, deductibles and self-pay balances was collected with the use of Schedule Maximizer. Ultimately, more streamlined Access had created more than a good first impression. It had also created more efficient and financially sound clinical operations.
client quote:
“With SCI we reduced our lab monthly denials from $23,000 to 0, and increased utilization from 400 average orders a month to 3,230, as well as improved patient, physician and staff satisfaction.”
Eisenhower Medical Center
 |
Sign up for a free Webinar |
 |
Watch our 3-minute PowerView summary |
 |
Request an SCI Patient Access consultation |
 |
Put the SCI Superheros to work for you |
