Introducing Healthcare’s Newest “Power Couple”—Online Order Processing and Enterprise Scheduling Functionality Unite to Become One “Power Access Workstation”

Patricia Fletcher, Manager, Sales Support

SCI Solutions

Healthcare is in critical need of tools that will revolutionize patient access and revenue cycle management. Too often hospitals are hampered by inefficient scheduling procedures and manual orders processes that result in lost and misplaced orders, patient delays, call-backs, finger-pointing as well as dissatisfied patients, physicians and staff. By not coordinating the orders and scheduling processes, hospitals are losing significant revenue and missing out on opportunities to 1) proactively assist patients with their care coordination and 2) build customer loyalty.

Healthcare organizations continually struggle to:

• Receive complete, accurate orders from referring physicians
• Identify which orders need to be scheduled
• Eliminate order non-compliance
• Convert orders into scheduled appointments
• Track which scheduled appointments have outstanding orders
• Communicate scheduling information back to physician offices and patients

 When You Called “HELP!” … SCI Solutions Responded!

Rising to fill the market need, SCI has teamed its Order Facilitator and Schedule Maximizer products into one powerful Access Management workstation solution. This “power coupling” of healthcare access and revenue cycle management processing provides hospitals the ability to offer physician offices a quick, online scheduling process. After they schedule the appointment via the Provider Portal, just two clicks are needed to submit the order for the appointment.

Because order management is embedded in Schedule Maximizer orders are automatically matched with scheduled appointments, eliminating patient non-compliance and service delays, phone tag, faxing and subsequent patient and provider frustration. This newly combined automation dramatically reduces current manual efforts associated with receiving orders, matching orders to appointments and managing lost orders.

The Power to Support Your Workflow

Since SCI understands that hospitals differ in clinical and ancillary operations and workflow, we designed the combined Schedule Maximizer-Order Facilitator Power Access Management Workstation to support a variety of workflows, including:

Schedule-First processes (scheduling occurs before hospital receives the order)

• Workflow #1: Physician office schedules online, then submits order online
• Workflow #2: Appointment scheduled by phone, then order submitted online

Order-First processes (hospital receives order before appointment is scheduled) 

• Workflow #3: Order submitted online, then patient calls to schedule appointment
• Workflow #4: Order submitted online, then hospital calls patient to schedule
• Fax Workflow: Same as #3 and #4, except physician office faxes order to hospital
  

 The Power of Complete Processing

Integrated processes are simplified and connected so nothing is misinterpreted or overlooked.

• Order management functionality tracks open orders (those not linked to an appointment), links appointments to orders, maintains a Worklist of orders needing appointments and a Worklist of appointments needing orders
• Orders-to-be-scheduled Worklist enables schedulers to build an appointment from an order with one-click
• Intelligence ensures order matches appointment. If appointment diverges from order, then order is canceled and a new order is requested from the physician office
• Link to launch Order Facilitator from within Schedule Maximizer
• Link from the Provider Portal to launch Order Facilitator and pre-populate a new order with the details from the scheduled appointment

The Power to Compete in Your Market

Improving service to physician offices and patients, while also decreasing overhead with efficient use of resources, gives healthcare organizations clear advantages over their community counterparts. And streamlining and enhancing the processes that greet your customers on first contact leaves a lasting impression that fosters their loyalty.

The benefits of SCI’s Power Access Workstation are many and far-reaching, as highlighted in the following key points.

Reduce physician office and hospital office disruptions

• Resolve lost, illegible or incomplete orders
• Confirm Medical Necessity

Lower hospital expenses

• Fewer FTEs assigned to Lost Orders and Order Management.
• Less overtime cost for technicians to resolve order issues before starting a procedure
• Lower cost for forms associated with orders
• Decrease number of FTEs assigned to scheduling

Improve regulatory compliance

• Medical Necessity checking with ABN compliance
• Signed physician order for each procedure within 24-48 hours post procedure

Increase patient revenue

• Fewer Medical Necessity write-offs
• Earlier pre-registrations and better collection rates for Self-pay and Medicaid
• Capture appointments that would otherwise be lost because patient never followed through with appointment for physician order

Reduce errors

• Ensures accurate coding
• Coordinates authorization
• Verifies Medical Necessity

Summary of Benefits From Integrating Orders With Scheduling

• Enables proactive conversion of online orders into scheduled appointments for your facilities with minimal effort
• Increases number of appointments scheduled, improving both revenue and utilization
• Improves patient care by eliminating order non-compliance
• Enhances communication with physicians and patients
• Streamlines patient access for faster service delivery, making a good first impression
• Automates all areas of the enterprise

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customer quote:

“I like knowing that Provider Portal gives physicians more time to deliver quality care instead of concentrating on logistics required to coordinate that care.”

Michelle F., Patient Access Director HealthFirst, Inc.

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