The past nearly two years have had a significant impact on the healthcare industry. The pandemic affected all of our lives in so many ways, including how healthcare facilities are managed. More companies are starting to realize that outsourcing can solve many of the problems they face daily. Let’s look at why many healthcare companies are struggling right now and how they can fix it.
What is Outsourcing?
In short, outsourcing is simply the process of hiring a third party to complete tasks that are usually performed in-house. Outsourcing is becoming increasingly popular in businesses to reduce costs, improve accuracy in specific administrative tasks and increase electronic capabilities.
How Does Outsourcing Help the Healthcare Industry?
Many businesses don’t realize how much of a positive impact outsourcing could have on their organization. Here are some of the ways this practice can help:
Time Management
It’s no secret that hospitals, labs, and outpatient offices are experiencing severe staff shortages. With many facilities running on a skeleton crew, many employees are spread thin, leading to frustration, stress, exhaustion, and eventually burnout.
Having worn-out staff taking care of sick patients is a recipe for disaster. What if there were more staff to take care of routine clerical tasks so that workers could spend more time on patient care while maintaining a healthy work atmosphere?
Outsourcing things like data entry, billing, medical claims processing, HR, payroll, and more helps healthcare facilities save an enormous amount of time. When nurses, doctors, or patient care technicians have the time they need to complete all of their duties without rushing, so many things improve, such as:
- Patient safety
- Morale
- Employee health
- Staff retention
- Billing and documentation accuracy
- Work-related incidents & injuries
Information Technology
IT departments are one of the most commonly outsourced areas in healthcare. Electronic health records and billing systems have been on the rise recently and show no signs of stopping. Third-party experts in those electronic systems are the best way to help in-house staff and customers troubleshoot any issues they may be having with the technology.
Human Resources
There are many advantages of outsourcing human resources services. Creating employee manuals and training staff are good examples of tasks that don’t require an in-house team to complete. Outside entities can also provide access to benefits packages that will be cheaper and better for your employees, and the organization as a whole.
Medical Billing
Healthcare organizations process a staggering amount of medical bills each day. The coding and billing processes for medical services can get extremely complicated and are especially difficult when in-house staff is crunched for time. Unfortunately, errors with medical billing can cost your company a lot of money.
When you outsource medical billing services, you’ll be connected with a team of industry experts that can process medical bills and statements with accuracy and efficiency.
Clinical Services
More businesses are just starting to realize that there are some patient care tasks that can be outsourced to outside entities. Outsourcing things like diagnostic imaging and some pharmaceutical services can save hospitals and outpatient offices a lot of time, money, and manpower. Not only does it allow in-house staff to allocate their time elsewhere, but it also saves your company from having to purchase and maintain certain medical equipment.
Payroll
Payroll services are such a huge part of running a successful company. Ensuring that your staff are paid properly for their time, and paid on time, keeps your employees happy and helps to avoid payroll mistakes. Outsourced payroll teams have access to the latest time management and payroll software, guaranteeing accurate records and no missed paychecks.
Scheduling Systems
Appointment scheduling, rescheduling, and cancellations can take up a large part of your employee’s days. Most of the scheduling for routine appointments does not need to be completed in-house. Outsourcing scheduling tasks can streamline the appointment-making process, leading to more efficiency, and ultimately lower costs for your company. Customers also appreciate the ability to always be able to connect to someone to make an appointment.
How Visaya Can Help Your Business Move Towards the Future
Visaya provides professional healthcare information management services for hospitals and outpatient clinics. These programs can give your business access to the latest technology and software to make patient care and everything behind the scenes run smoothly. And when you streamline those processes, your company saves time and money.
Here are some of the other benefits of outsourcing your healthcare information management services to Visaya:
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Employee Satisfaction
Stressed-out workers that don’t have enough time to complete their daily tasks at work are typically unhappy with their jobs. Outsourcing to a team of experts that can take care of clerical duties will allow your employees to work at a more comfortable pace, making them more likely to stay with the company.
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Compliance
Our employees are specially trained to follow HIPPA Laws and will do everything within their power to protect and secure sensitive patient data.
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Improving Value-Based Care
Health care providers can earn incentives by providing high-quality care under the Advanced Alternative Payment Model, which was made possible by The Medicare Access & CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. Visaya helps healthcare organizations improve their quality scores to earn higher reimbursement for services.
The Bottom Line
The healthcare industry is moving more towards outsourcing certain services as time goes by. Saving on costs, increasing employee satisfaction, and improving the quality of patient care is just too valuable to pass up. No matter what, healthcare organizations should continually look for ways to improve their business by looking into each option that is available to them.