Outsourcing companies can help facilities increase their ROI by eliminating errors in several departments.
The U.S. spends more money on healthcare than any country. Administrators are looking for ways to reduce costs while maintaining the same quality of customer service. Healthcare outsourcing is the answer.
The healthcare outsourcing market has created new options for healthcare facilities by reducing costs and saving time for healthcare workers to focus entirely on the patient.
Outsourcing companies can also help facilities increase their ROI by eliminating errors in several departments.
Today, we’re reviewing outsourcing trends as of 2022 to see if outsourcing is suitable for your facility.
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Outsourcing Trends in 2022
Sometimes the various tasks required to keep a facility running can dilute the physician-patient relationship. That’s why medical administrators are looking toward outsourcing.
There are several areas that a healthcare facility can outsource. Let’s take a look at a few popular services.
Provider Services
Provider services include the following:
- Medical billing: The biggest challenge for healthcare facilities is collecting payment at the time of service. Medical billing outsourcing companies help a facility gain control of finances by reducing billing errors.
- Medical Transcriptionists and Scribes: Doctors and nurses spend several hours a day entering notes into EHRs and paper records. Some doctors like to record their notes and pass the recording to a transcription service. The transcriptionist translates the doctor’s voice recording to the written word and gives back a script of his notes.
Other doctors have a medical scribe in the room. Medical scribes reduce physicians’ workload by entering medical notes in real time into the EHR record during the office visit.
- Medical coding: Medical coding errors are one of the reasons why insurance companies deny claims. Outsourcing medical coding to professionals helps reduce labor and mistakes. Ultimately, fewer mistakes on claims result in higher revenue cycle management.
- Finance and Accounts: Finance and account management includes ledger and asset management, accounts payable, and accounts receivable, to name a few. Outsourcing these tasks help simply transaction processing and remove the heavy task load of tracking revenue.
RELATED: Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management: Why It Matters
Payer Services
Payers in healthcare are companies like health plan providers- Cigna, Medicaid- that pay provider claims and reimbursements, set rates, and process claims.
Outsourcing payer services means that a health plan contracts with a third-party vendor for claims and processing. Facilities can significantly cut costs by outsourcing payer services. Medical offices wouldn’t need to pay for technology, staffing, and additional resources for this service.
Pharmaceutical Services
Not every medical office has a pharmacy. Some offices don’t have the infrastructure to build a pharmacy. Other offices don’t have the financial means.
Many family medicine offices outsource their pharmaceutical services for different reasons.
Outsourcing pharmaceutical services saves money on expensive construction plans and staffing. Facilities don’t need to pay for medication inventory either, nor do they need accreditation to open and manage their pharmacy.
Outsourcing can also improve the medication distribution system by reducing medication dispensing and administration errors.
RELATED: Outsourcing In Healthcare: Why It Matters
What is a Healthcare BPO & Why Should You Use One?
BPO stands for Business Process Outsourcing. It’s delegating non-essential but still essential tasks to an outside party. All of the outsourcing options we mentioned above represent healthcare BPO.
Healthcare facilities consider BPOs physician support because they’re not physically present like physicians in the office. BPOs can only provide service to customers through email, phone calls, online chat, and other digital communication.
BPOs benefit small and mid-sized medical facilities looking to expand without breaking the budget. The time and money saved can be re-invested into the facility for further expansion.
In addition to time and money, medical offices can benefit outsourcing their work by:
- Accessing Talent
- Improving Patient Experience
- Reducing Risks
- Increasing Data Protection
Although BPOs don’t provide direct healthcare, they make a massive difference in the lives of healthcare workers and patients everywhere.
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects a patient’s information.
Choosing the Best Healthcare Call Center
Medical facilities have unique requirements for call centers to comply with. Laws, regulations, and attitude all play a part in a worthwhile customer service experience.
When searching for a reliable BPO, you need to look for the following:
HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) protects a patient’s information. Healthcare call center agents must be well-trained in HIPPA laws and regulations. If your call center violates any of these laws, the call center and your facility receive penalties.
Penalties threaten your insurance payments and maybe your entire practice. Ensure that the call center you choose is HIPAA compliant for protecting your patients and your practice.
Security
HIPAA also dictates how patient information is transported and stored between providers and patients. Strict security conducts must exist in a medical call center to ensure security for both the patients and providers.
When searching for a healthcare call center, ask how they store patient information. Do they store medical records in the cloud? With a third-party provider? In-house?
It would be best if you also asked how they transport records. For example, do they electronically fax or send documents via a disc?
In addition, ask how they handle emergencies. A healthcare call center should have clear emergency plans in place to handle hackers, breaches of information, and any other security issues.
Multilingual Support
Healthcare facilities serve a wide array of races, ethnicities, ages, and genders. A common problem that medical offices have is the language barrier. An excellent healthcare call center will have bilingual support for patients that can’t speak English well.
Call centers should also have multiple avenues for communication, like email and bot chat. Not everyone wants to call a medical office, especially if they struggle with speaking.
Ensure that the call center you choose is consistent in communication and doesn’t struggle with a common foreign language, like Spanish.
Compassion
People are often fragile and vulnerable when they call their doctor. They could be frustrated, sick, scared, or in pain. Or maybe all of the above. The call center you choose to work with should show compassion and understanding to your patients.
When your patients call with questions, they need someone to empathize with their situation. Choose a call center that shows compassion to your patients and gives your practice a good name.
RELATED: Organizing The Perfect Medical Contact Center
Call centers should also have multiple avenues for communication.
Final Thoughts on Health Care Call Companies
Technology has allowed family practices and hospitals to branch out of the norm and try new methods of communication. Outsourcing your calls to a professional healthcare call center can offer your patients flexibility and 24/7 support.
If you think your practice could benefit from a call center, contact our sales department. We’re happy to discuss any questions and concerns you have.
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