Power Portals—Empowering Providers and Patients with Self-scheduling Tools
An interview with John Piper, Riverside Health System
Today’s physicians are inundated with mandatory paperwork and a continuous stream of phone calls. Behind all the paper, insurance company verifications, HIPAA forms, authorizations and referral management are the hands of office support staff—waving white flags of surrender.
Additionally, today’s average consumers find their schedules packed with business, family and social obligations, so they turn to any means to better organize their lives. Tools that provide a high degree of service and efficiency are in great demand. The Internet has become a popular medium for researching, selecting and acquiring everything from books and banking to travel and groceries. So it’s not surprising that consumers are increasingly turning to the Internet for information and access to healthcare.
An effective way for progressive hospitals and health systems to respond to this demand is to view web-based self-scheduling tools as a demonstration of their commitment to provider and patient satisfaction. For them, portal technologies become a fundamental business decision to enhance the organization's value proposition and market share.
Provider Portal: A Tool for Building Business
For one such progressive organization, Riverside Health System in Newport News, Virginia, business development was the impetus for change. John Piper, System Manager of the call center, leads a staff of 10 schedulers who book an estimated 145,000 appointments per year. Serving eastern Virginia, the Riverside health system consists of three hospitals and two diagnostic centers. In 2003, Piper’s challenge was to increase the number of outpatient orders for Riverside services—at a time when he had minimal scheduling staff.
“We’ve used Schedule Maximizer since 2000, so we were aware that SCI’s Provider Portal was available and that it opened another method for physicians to get to our services without calling in,” says Piper. “We had heard some dissatisfaction with our call process, but mainly we saw the online portal as a way to bring in more business using existing call center staff resources.”
From there Riverside progress was straightforward. “We sent out letters and emails to solicit buy-in from physicians who might be interested,” he says. “Next, we got a demonstration of Provider Portal, conducted testing and procured it in 2004. Then we went out and trained community physician office staff.”
How does it work? To use Provider Portal, the scheduler simply selects a date and time for the appointment. Then a rules-based cross-checker searches for conflicts to ensure resources are maximized but not over-booked. The Provider Portal also provides Authorization and Referral capabilities based on the insurance plan and procedure being scheduled or requested. Additionally, it enables schedulers to run Medical Necessity checks based on up-to-date ICD9 and CPT4 codes.
Riverside reports its orders increase with each additional physician office it brings on board Provider Portal.
Making Techies and Traditionalists More Efficient
Since implementing Provider Portal, Riverside has experienced differing patterns in physician response. Internet-savvy offices embrace web scheduling and run with it, while more traditional offices hold off or adapt cautiously. Among Riverside’s referring physicians, there are more than 65 practices actively using Provider Portal (with another 15 trained on the system). “Some of our practices are not as comfortable with computers and would rather phone us—so we’re glad we can offer them the options to call or use the Internet,” Piper says.
According to Piper, the practices that use the portal can’t imagine operating any other way.
Reduced Calls and More After-hours Orders
Piper documented that through Riverside’s marketing efforts portal use has increased to 20 percent of its total appointment volume, which translates into that many fewer calls coming into the call center. “This is significant because our strategic goal is to reduce our call center workforce; and the portals are key to meeting that goal.”
He has also noticed how web-based scheduling seems to match up with another positive change. “Because Provider Portal is accessible 24/7, scheduling is not just limited to when the call center is open, and as a result we’re seeing more after-hours and weekend use.”
Consumer Portal Empowers Patients with Self-scheduling Option
In December 2007, Riverside rolled out its Consumer (SCI’s Patient Portal) Portal—a self-scheduling option for patients in its mammography and bone density departments. This self-service tool enables Riverside patients to schedule and view appointments online at their convenience. Patients can review their appointment history and see current appointment details, including: date, time, location and status of upcoming visits as well as other pertinent information such as prep notes, procedure descriptions and directions. Riverside’s Consumer Portal:
Attracts new patients
- Enables access 24/7
- Helps build loyalty with existing patients
- Provides a cutting-edge benefit for a savvy community—a niche that Riverside’s competitors have not addressed
Super Results
By implementing its Provider and Consumer Portals, Riverside has reduced the number of phone calls between the physician office and the patient, as well as calls into the call center, enabling schedulers time to attend to other duties. This Virginia health system has increased market share and patient compliance. And, most important to Riverside, it has achieved improved patient and physician satisfaction.
“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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