How the Right EHR Can Save Your Practice Money
Opening an independent medical practice takes savvy, skills, and, crucially, money. Many providers have taken the leap into private practice, and in 2020, 49.1% of physicians worked at physician-owned practices. However, the costs of running a practice can be discouraging and, at times, prohibitive for healthcare professionals. Between paying for an office, staff, equipment, and more, costs pile up fast, and there are few corners to cut without sacrificing the efficiency of your practice.
We spoke with Minnesota-based chiropractor Dr. Edward Szklarczuk who found that signing onto the right EHR, practice management, and medical billing system helped level the playing field for his practice, True North Chiropractic & Sports Medicine. His practice launched in the summer of 2020, and in that time, he’s kept it lean and efficient on his way to opening a second location. This article takes a closer look at how your electronic health record platform can save your practice money.
EHR Can Reduce Overhead Costs
Though you will have to bake the cost of your EHR software into your budget, you may find that the monthly or yearly expense will pay for itself by reducing your other overhead costs. Glassdoor estimates that the average full time front desk staff member in a medical practice costs between $32,000 to $47,000 per year. If your EHR’s practice management features are robust enough, you might be able to automate a lot of that administrative work instead.
When he was developing True North CSM, Dr. Szklarczuk decided to assess the traditionally accepted costs of running a practice to see what was truly essential. He found that using DrChrono’s practice management features gave him enough administrative support to forgo full-time front desk staff.
“I joke with my interns at the end of the day to go put our secretary to sleep for the night because it’s an iPad. It’s a $400 device that never calls in sick, never has issues, and just works every day,” said Dr. Szklarczuk.
He’s able to use features like the check-in kiosk to streamline patient check-in. Once patients fill out their intake forms on the iPad, their information is input into their records automatically. If your EHR can automatically check for insurance eligibility, that can be another massive time saver.
“Once you populate the proper payer ID code, it will load all their information from the entirety of their insurance, as long as their insurance company subscribes to the database, within four seconds. That traditionally takes chiropractic offices 15 minutes to an hour waiting on the phone.”
Time is the most precious commodity at a small practice. By reducing the amount of time needed to perform administrative tasks, you can save money on staff and open up more time to see patients. To assist with getting patients in the door, make sure that your EHR makes scheduling and rescheduling appointments online easy for your patients.
An EHR that automates or streamlines practice management tasks can make all the difference in the world for a small, independent practice. Finding one with those capabilities is a great start, but medical practitioners can always seek out more.
Improve Your Practice’s Billing Efficiency
If you want to maximize your return from your EHR, find one with a powerful suite of medical billing and coding tools. High-quality medical billing software can vastly improve the efficiency of your revenue processes. Dr. Szklarczuk found that his billing software streamlined the process of billing insurance.
“When we bill an insurance company, it auto posts every day through the cloud. I use IHFA (also known as RTE or real-time eligibility) as well, which is traditionally done by a front desk staff person. They would be copying, printing, and faxing tens of pages of notes at a time. Instead, we can send it for $1.50 with IHFA in seconds, and it’s actually processed,” said Dr. Szklarczuk.
Speeding up the process of billing insurance has been a major boon for True North CSM. Now they do not have to pay for staff to plug away at tedious data entry because it’s done automatically. Improving the speed and accuracy of your billing and coding process gets your practice paid faster with fewer issues along the way. Your EMR and medical billing software should also have a billing dashboard where you can track the efficacy of your billing so that you can squash issues as they arise.
Not every provider will have the time to completely own their billing. In that case, you will be best served by an EHR vendor with an RCM team. That team of billing professionals can even further improve your practice’s revenue cycle management while you focus on taking care of your patients.
Additional Ways EHR Can Help Save Your Practice Money
Another area where the right EHR can save money is through workflow optimization. EHR systems enable seamless integration between practice operations, from appointment scheduling to medical records management and billing.
By doing this, they significantly reduce time and effort spent on administrative tasks. This efficiency allows healthcare providers to allocate more time to patient care. It allows practices to potentially see more patients and increase revenue.
EHR systems can also reduce errors and duplication in patient records. Increased accuracy can lead to improved clinical outcomes and patient safety. In the end, it enhances the reputation of the practice, further attracting more patients.
Streamlining Appointment Scheduling and Follow-ups
One of the critical features of an EHR system in optimizing workflow is the ability to streamline appointment scheduling. The automation of this process ensures a smoother operation overall. It also minimizes errors commonly associated with manual scheduling. You’ll see reduced double bookings or missed appointments.
Furthermore, the EHR can be configured to send automated appointment reminders to patients. Reminders significantly reduce no-show rates and optimize the scheduling of follow-up appointments. This level of organization leads to better patient flow and increased time for patient care.
Enhanced Record Keeping and Access
Another dimension of workflow optimization via EHR is enhanced record-keeping. An intuitive EHR system offers quick and easy access to patient records. This saves valuable time that healthcare providers would otherwise spend searching through files.
Immediate access streamlines the process. It also improves the quality of patient care. Healthcare professionals have comprehensive patient histories at their fingertips.
Next Steps for Finding the Right EHR
No matter what measures you take, running a medical practice is going to be expensive. However, with a little bit of tech-savvy and the right EHR, you can reduce costs for your practice without sacrificing much efficiency. As you search for the platform that will power your practice, make sure it has the features you need to succeed. Running with the wrong EHR can ultimately be costly, so invest your time in finding the right one now.
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