Front desk employees can cost your physical therapy clinic thousands of dollars and impact patient satisfaction and retention.
Why your front desk matters
With 74% of physical therapy patients feeling frustrated upon entering a clinic, the front desk plays a crucial role in patient satisfaction and retention. Depending on how an owner delegates responsibilities, the scale that a good or bad front desk can affect a clinic’s success will vary. With all that in mind, an EMR system that can empower those in that position would be the logical choice. However, from research conducted on legacy EMR systems, the limited functionality provided only amplifies the risk in bad front desk practices. Over the course of today’s blog we will break down the front desk in terms of responsibility and provide solutions for issues that cost clinics tens of thousands of dollars annually.
Tracking patient eligibility
Even with direct access being commonplace in physical therapy, many patients still require pre-certification and authorization to receive treatment. However, there is no software that displays a patient’s eligibility to the front desk employees at a clinic. Instead, front desk employees track eligibility on Excel spreadsheets or paper and the therapists and billers have no visibility into this information. However, Prompt EMR is here to change that.
The Prompt solution
Front desk employees have the ability to view Prompt’s live eligibility tracking and see the remaining visits on the script. When a patient enters a clinic, the front desk uploads and enters the script and pre-certification/authorization information into the patient’s eligibility tracker. From then on, they receive an alert whenever a patient has 3 or less visits remaining. This innovative solution is built with validation tools to ensure accuracy throughout the process and prevent unauthorized visits from occurring.
Front desk scheduling
Inefficient scheduling and the inability to see the center’s capacity at a glance can lead to decreased quality of care. Prompt EMR’s modern design and user experience solves a clinics poor scheduling habits.
The Prompt solution
Our scheduler at a glance notifies the front desk of center capacity, visit types, and any miscellaneous notes. The scheduler is connected with the rest of the platform, allowing therapists to understand their day on one screen. Removing the duplicity of information and keeping everything on one screen prevents visits from slipping through the crack and enables front desk employees to consistently follow up with patients.
In-center communication
Considering the average physical therapy clinic is staffed with employees given a wide range of roles, a lack of proper channels of communication can create issues in-house. While Prompt was in development we asked clients to provide a list of desired functionality that they believed would add value to the product. Patient First Chiropractic & Physical Therapy in Waltham, Massachusetts gave insight on issues their prior EMR system did not provide solutions for. One of their top complaints was the lack of ability for users of the system to effectively communicate.
The Prompt solution:
Prompt created a revolutionary system that includes an inner-clinic comment section. This system creates a channel of communication that all users of Prompt EMR have access to. In our beta center, Edge Physical Therapy, they use the comments to communicate changes required for notes, follow-up needed with patients, and what the front desk needs to gather from insurance carriers.
Prompt EMR and practice management – a fully-integrated physical therapy software platform
Learn more about how Prompt EMR and practice management changes the landscape in physical therapy with a revolutionary approach to software. With built-in documentation, billing, and Medicare logic, Prompt provides therapists, front desk employees, billers, and owners the tools they need to reduce clinic inefficiencies, grow profit margins, and improve patient outcomes.
