Author Archives: Vignesh Eswaramoorthy

Why do Federally Qualified Health Centers need a Referral Management Software In Addition To An EMR?

Patient Referral Management is crucial for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). With the advent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act, Electronic Health Records have been widely adopted across many FQHCs. There are many benefits to EHRs like improved,

Accessibility to patient data
Charge capture
Preventative health

Let us look into each of them in detail to understand an EMR/EHR implementation better.

Pros of EHR/EMR

1. Improved data accessibility

Before EHRs, access to medical charts required a fair amount of physical labor. For example, every time a patient visits the physician’s clinic or hospital, physician physically pulls their file from a storage space. As a result of this back and forth exchange, there was a greater chance of human error and charts would sometimes be missing information or be chronologically out-of-order.

EHRs, on the other hand, have eliminated the physical transporting, sifting and filing charts, making data available at all times. Additionally, for systems that allow remote access to charts, clinicians can even be offsite and still securely access patient files.

2. Computerized physician order entry

CPOE allows physicians to place lab and imaging orders, prescriptions and other notes electronically. This reduces the error of handwritten orders and allows the patient’s other physicians within the same network access to the order.

3.Preventative health

EHRs allow prompts for preventative health screenings. During routine doctor or urgent care visits, the physician has access to preventive health records conveniently in one place. If the patient is due for a cancer screening (such as mammogram or colonoscopy), or blood pressure testing, the referral coordinator can easily look this up via the EHR system and schedule an appointment for the patient.

4. Ease sign off for PAs and NPs

While this varies from state-to-state by law, physician assistants and nurse practitioners are typically required to have their notes approved and signed off on by their supervising physician. EHRs allow the revision and cosigning of notes to happen electronically as opposed to physically moving and signing the paper.

5. e-messaging between providers

As any referral coordinator can attest referral information, telephone tag between providers can be common and is a big time-waster. With EHR software, physicians can e-message across practices. One situation that benefits in particular from e-messaging is referrals. Rather than playing telephone tag to get an appointment scheduled, the physician electronically sends a message to schedule the appointment.

How can a Patient Referral Management Referral Management work in cohesion with an EMR/EHR system?

FQHCs prefer working with EMR/EHR systems because they are comfortable with it. So they do not wish to move out their EHR/EMR system.

How great it would be if a Patient Referral Management software could integrate seamlessly with an EMR/EHR system? It can help in ensuring end-to-end Patient Referral Management without disturbing the existing system.

An EHR/EMR system has many advantages but when it is complemented with a Referral Management software practices can experience many more benefits.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution provides easy steps to integrate with a practice’s EMR/EHR system. The patient demographics, diagnostic reports, test results or any sensitive information can be transferred safely. The solution is HIPAA-compliant with complete data security. It has the following features,

Outbound Referrals – HealthViewX Referral Management Solution can integrate with both the receiving and referring end. For inbound referrals, it helps in channelizing various sources into one single queue. In case of outbound referrals, it facilitates integration with the existing system to read the patient data and send out referrals.
Referral Timeline – In HealthViewX Referral Management System, any referral has a timeline, to capture and notify the progress of the referral to all the stakeholders. A referral will be mapped to a status which helps in tracking it better. For e.g. – If a patient does not show up for the appointment, the status of the referral can be changed to no-show and an appropriate reason can also be given. With the help of a referral timeline, the providers can always be aware of what is going on with the referral.
Workflow and Task Management – A workflow can be defined on how the referral flow must be(business rules). Providers can create tasks to manage referrals by assigning it to the respective person.
Improved communication – HealthViewX Referral Management Solution supports messaging and calling features for the referring and the receiving providers to stay connected.
Data Management – The solution is HIPAA compliant and enables secure data exchange of all patient-related documents.
Seamless Integration – The solution can seamlessly integrate with any EMR/EHR/RIS or Third Party application thus providing minimal disruption in the existing referral flow.
Referral History Consolidation – The consolidated data regarding the referrals and the referral history of any patient can be printed as a hard copy at any time in pdf/excel.
Smart Search – HealthViewX Referral Management solution has a smart search facility that helps in finding the right provider for the treatment required.
Referral Data Analytics – Referral data-centric dashboard gives complete data regarding the number of referrals flowing out, the number of referrals in various status, patient follow-ups, etc.

HealthViewX Referral Management solution helps in building a secure referral network in no time. Our expert team will guide you in changing to a Patient Referral Management Software with minimal effort. Schedule a demo with us to know more about our solution.

Reference

University of California—Davis. “UC Davis study finds e-medical records have varying effects on productivity.” Dec. 2010. http://www.news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=966

How Can Hospitals Improve Their Patient Referral Management By Complying With Meaningful Use

What is meaningful use?

Meaningful use (MU) is a health information technology (HIT) term that defines minimum U.S. government standards for

Using electronic health records (EHR)
Exchanging patient clinical data between health care providers, between health care providers and insurers, and between healthcare providers and patients

It has a set of rules known as meaningful use measures or meaningful use criteria. It determines whether or not a healthcare provider receives federal funds from the Medicare EHR Incentive Program, the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program or both.

Almost 99% of the hospitals in the U.S. use EHR systems. It is a huge leap by EHRs compared to 31% of hospitals back in 2003. EHRs are real-time, patient-centered records that make information available instantly and securely to authorized users. While an EHR does contain the medical and treatment history of patients, an EHR system is built to go beyond standard clinical data collected in a provider’s office and can be inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care. EHRs can:

Contain a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, and laboratory and test results
Allow access to evidence-based tools that providers can use to make decisions about a patient’s care
Automate and streamline provider workflow

Impacts of EHR on Care

Electronic Health Records create a greater and more seamless flow of information within a digital healthcare infrastructure. It encompasses and leverages digital progress and transforms the care delivered. With EHRs, hospitals experience improved,

Patient Care and participation
Care Coordination
Diagnostics and Patient Outcomes
Practice Efficiencies and Cost Savings

Three stages of Meaningful Use (MU):

Meaningful use is divided into three stages.

Stage 1, which began in 2010, focused on promoting the adoption of EHRs.

Stage 2, finalized in late 2012, increases thresholds of criteria compliance and introduces more clinical decision support, care-coordination requirements and rudimentary patient engagement rules.

Stage 3, which the CMS is writing from late 2014 through early-to-mid 2016, will focus on robust health information exchange as well as other more fully formed meaningful use guidelines introduced in earlier stages.

What are the incentives and penalties for meaningful use?

Under the HITECH Act enacted under the 2009 Recovery Act, incentive payments are available to eligible professionals who successfully demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

The Recovery Act specifies three main components of meaningful use: The use of a certified EHR technology

In a meaningful manner
For electronic exchange of health information to improve quality of healthcare
To submit clinical quality and other measures

According to Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, the practices receive incentives if they meet the meaningful use requirements. If they do not meet the meaningful use requirements, they will be penalized.

Medicare EHR Incentive Program

Medicare incentive payments are equal to 75% of a practice’s annual Medicare Part B allowed charges up to a maximum yearly amount.

After 2015, providers who were eligible for the Medicare Meaningful Use program but did not successfully demonstrate Meaningful Use were penalized. The penalty started at 1% of Medicare Part B reimbursements and increased each year to a maximum of 5%.

Medicaid EHR Incentive Program

In the case of Medicaid patients, a practice can earn up to $63,750 in incentive payments over the six years that they choose to participate in the program.

If you start in 2015, you can earn incentives through 2020. Practices can consult their state’s agency for information about a specific payment schedule.

Providers who are eligible for Meaningful Use under the Medicaid program are not subject to payment penalties unless the provider is also eligible under the Medicare program.

How can a Patient Referral Management Referral Management enhance an EHR system to achieve meaningful use?

FQHCs prefer working with EMR/EHR systems because they are comfortable with it. So they do not wish to move out their EHR/EMR system. An EHR/EMR system has many advantages but when it is complemented with a Referral Management software practices can experience many more benefits.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution provides easy steps to integrate with a practice’s EMR/EHR system. It also enables easy and safe transferring of patient demographics, diagnostic reports, test results or any sensitive information. The solution is HIPAA-compliant with complete data security.

HealthViewX can enhance a practice’s EHR capability by making it achieve meaningful use. The practice’s scoring can also improve by using HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution features

It has the following features,

Inbound and Outbound Referrals – HealthViewX Referral Management Solution can integrate with both the receiving and referring end. For inbound referrals, it helps in channelizing various sources into one single queue. In case of outbound referrals, it facilitates integration with the existing system to read the patient data and send out referrals.
Referral Timeline – Any referral has a timeline, to capture the progress of the referral. It is common to the referring and receiving provider. A referral will be mapped to a status which helps in tracking it better. For e.g. – If a patient does not show up for the appointment, the status of the referral can be changed to no-show and an appropriate reason can also be given. With the help of a referral timeline, the providers can always be aware of what is going on with the referral.
Workflow and Task Management – A workflow can be defined on how the referral flow must be(business rules). Providers can create tasks to manage referrals by assigning it to the respective person.
Improved communication – HealthViewX Referral Management Solution supports messaging and calling features for the referring and the receiving providers to stay connected.
Data Management – The solution is HIPAA compliant and enables secure data exchange of all patient-related documents.
Seamless Integration – The solution can seamlessly integrate with any EMR/EHR/RIS or Third Party application thus providing minimal disruption in the existing referral flow.
Referral Data Consolidation – The consolidated data regarding the referrals and the referral history of any patient can be printed as a hard copy at any time in pdf/excel.
Smart Search – HealthViewX Referral Management solution has a smart search facility that helps in finding the right provider for the treatment required.
Referral Data Analytics – Referral data-centric dashboard gives clear figures regarding the number of referrals flowing in and out, the number of referrals in various status, patient follow-ups, etc.

Reference

https://www.healthcare-informatics.com/news-item/ehr/survey-nearly-all-us-hospitals-use-ehrs-cpoe-systems

How Can The Healthcare Industry Equip Their Senior Patients For Chronic Care Management?

Healthcare organizations and chronic illness

By 2029, estimates show that senior patients will make up 20% of the population and a considerable share of healthcare spending. As it stands now, senior patients and patients with chronic illness make up to 5% of the population but nearly 50% of healthcare spending. How can healthcare organizations cap these rising costs.

According to a report from BDO Center for Healthcare Excellence & Innovation, healthcare organizations are taking more responsibility when it comes to older adult care and chronic care management,

From NEJM Catalyst survey, it was found that healthcare organizations are looking into

Home health services
Strong chronic disease plans
Health IT

to address the needs of a growing aging population.

How can healthcare organizations achieve patient-centric and value-based care?

As mentioned earlier, healthcare organizations are looking into home health services and care plans to treat patients with chronic diseases.

Home healthcare services – Home healthcare is a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home for an illness or injury. Home health care is usually less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective as care you get in a hospital or skilled nursing facility. Examples of home health services include:

Wound care for pressure sores or a surgical wound
Patient and caregiver education
Intravenous or nutrition therapy
Injections
Monitoring serious illness and unstable health status

In general, the goal of home health care is to treat an illness or injury. Home health care helps you:

Get better
Regain your independence
Become as self-sufficient as possible
Maintain your current condition or level of function
Slow decline

Strong chronic disease plans – Patients with one or more chronic diseases need doctor’s attention almost every day. The physicians create care plans for such patients with vitals, measurements, activities, pain, etc that need to be monitored. This will help in keeping chronic patients healthy if they follow the care plan strictly.

HealthViewX Care Management and Chronic Care Management solution to ease the process for healthcare organizations

Information technology helps in making the process simpler for healthcare organizations by reducing their time and effort. HealthViewx software provides Care Management and Chronic Care Management solutions which help in providing home health services and also care plans for chronic patients.

HealthViewX Care Management solution supports the following features,

Care plans to enable remote care – A provider can create a care plan for a patient depending on the vitals, treatments, measurements, etc that need to be tracked. The patient-centric application helps in logging data for the vitals specified in the care plan. If needed the care plan can also be printed.
Customizable dashboards to suit the need – Dashboards comprising of graphs and tables show a comprehensive data of the number of patients in different care plans depending on the patient diagnosis.
Scheduler to keep track of the appointments – An inbuilt scheduler keeps track of the appointments and sends timely reminders to both the patient and the provider. The chances of missing out an appointment are very less.
Audio and video calling features – HealthViewX Care Management solution support inbuilt audio and video calling features which help in connecting with the patients for follow-ups.
Patient-reported data – Patients can record data for all attributes in the care plan. Summary graphs and table data helps the providers in monitoring the patient vitals. The patient records can be anytime printed in pdf or excel report form.
Health device integration – HealthViewX Care Management solution can integrate with any wearable device like Fitbit, apple watch, etc. Hence the patients need not waste time in logging data in the application if they are already using wearables.

HealthViewX Chronic Care Management solution supports the following features,

Automated call log feature – After a call, care plan creation or any action related to CCM health services, the system automatically adds call logs. It reduces the physician’s manual effort is logging the call logs.
Preventive Care plans – HealthViewX solution supports care plans for the Chronic Care Management service for a patient. The physician can create a care plan depending on the patient’s health report. It helps in monitoring the patient’s vitals.
Chronic Care Management Analytics – Dashboards with intuitive charts and tables give complete analytics of the Chronic Care Management services. It provides a clear picture of the revenue perspective.
Consolidated Report – The physician can generate a consolidated report of the Chronic Care Management services given for a particular period. This makes it easy for the billing practitioner for getting the Medicare reimbursements.
HIPAA compliance – HealthViewX Chronic Care Management is HIPAA compliant. It facilitates secure data exchange. The solution manages all patient-related documents securely.

HealthViewX Care Management and Chronic Care Management solutions have features that suit healthcare organizations best. To know more about our solutions, schedule a demo with us.

How Is CMS Changing The Face Of Remote Patient Monitoring And Patient Access?

CMS has finally issued its 2019 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule. It has highly anticipated new reimbursement policies for telehealth, remote monitoring, with a stronger focus on patient access to health information.

The new codes for Patient Remote Monitoring

The 2019 Proposed Rule offers three codes through which providers can get reimbursements for integrating remote monitoring data into their practice.

The first two are practice expense codes, which include resources providers spend such as office rent, supplies, and medical equipment. The third code tracks the amount of time a care provider spends managing patient care using the remote monitoring data.

990X0 – Remote monitoring of physiologic parameter(s). Covers the time providers spend on setting up the technology and explaining to patients how it works.
990X1 – Remote monitoring of physiologic parameter(s). Covers device(s) supply with daily recording(s) or programmed alert(s) transmission, each 30 days.
994X9 – Remote physiologic monitoring treatment management services. Covers 20 minutes or more of clinical staff, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional time in a calendar month. The code requires interactive communication with the patient and/or the patient’s caregiver during the month.

There are some challenges in the proposed codes. These codes only cover the exchange and interpretation of “physiologic” data; yet many providers today would agree that there is a wealth of patient data that is helpful at the point of care, including patient-reported outcomes or behavioral data, that would fall outside the definition of physiologic.

Further guidance may be helpful to determine exactly which providers on a care team can spend time working with remote monitoring data. While the code definition states “clinical staff, physician, or other qualified healthcare professional,” elsewhere in the PFS proposed rule refers to the term “practitioner,” which “is used to describe both physicians and non-physician practitioners (NPPs) who are permitted to bill Medicare under the PFS for the services they furnish to Medicare beneficiaries.”

New Reimbursement for “Communication Technology-Based Services”

CMS acknowledges the evolution of physician services furnished through communication technology. So Medicare enacted the telehealth services statutory provision for patients with chronic conditions. Recognizing the many statutory restrictions on telehealth in Section 1834 (m) of the Social Security Act, CMS has taken the interpretation that there are physician services that involve interaction with a patient via remote communication technology that are not considered telehealth services and therefore are not covered by these restrictions.

CMS proposed several new HCPCS codes that are not considered “telehealth” services and as such, not subject to the conditions of Section 1834 (m):

HCPCS code GVCI1 – Brief Communication Technology-Based Service, e.g. Virtual Check-in. This would include the kinds of brief non-face-to-face check-in services furnished by a physician or other qualified healthcare professional, using communication technology, to evaluate whether or not an office visit or other service is warranted.
HCPCS code GRAS1 – Remote Evaluation of Pre-Recorded Patient Information. This covers physician time spent reviewing patient-submitted video or images to determine if a follow up visit is needed.

CMS acknowledges modern communication technology that allows for “the kinds of brief check-in services furnished using communication technology that are used to evaluate whether or not an office visit or other service is warranted.”

Beginning January 1, 2019, CMS is proposing to pay providers for utilizing these types of preventative technology services, even in cases where the activity means that a follow-up office visit is not scheduled. Where the check-in services precede an office visit or follow a visit within the previous 7 days, they would be bundled into the payment for the visit, but where the service does not lead to an office visit, there could be a separate payment.

CMS is seeking comments on the implications of this approach, as well as more information from industry about the types of technologies in use today to achieve these goals. Additionally, CMS seeks insight from industry as to if,

These services are appropriate for new patients
They are only for existing patients
Patient consent is required

Health Information Technology to simplify the process

Information Technology can greatly simplify the process by making remote patient monitoring easy for the hospitals. HealthViewX is a healthcare product that provides solution for remote patient monitoring, chronic care management and referral management. Our product has many unique features that simplify the workflow and improves patient satisfaction. To know more about our solution, schedule a demo with us.

References

https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-14985.pdf

How Can Referral Inbound-Heavy Practices Profit From Patient Referrals?

Why are patient referrals important?

Patient referrals are excellent sources of revenue for health systems. Why is it necessary to have referrals flowing into your network? When a practice receives more referrals, it means patients will visit that practice. It has a positive impact on your revenue. When patients regularly visit a practice, the practice always stays active in the healthcare industry. But inbound-heavy referral practices can use technology to take care of their patient referrals.

What are the challenges faced by a referral inbound-heavy practice?

Multiple referral channels – For the specialist/imaging center who receive referrals face more difficulties than the referring provider. The receive referrals through various channels like fax, email, direct message, website, user-filled forms, etc. It is difficult to track and manage such a high volume of referrals. Varied sources of referral make it difficult to get a comprehensive data about the referrals flowing in. The chances of missing out on a referral are high.
Time-consuming process – On an average, referral inbound-heavy practices receive 1000 plus referrals every day. Handling all of them manually is a time-consuming process. The practice is aware of how many were processed and how many need immediate attention.
Limited referral information – Many referrals have less or no information required to process them. It makes it difficult for the referral coordinator to proceed with the diagnosis. It takes a lot of time for a practice to contact the referring provider for information or clarifications.
Appointment scheduling and patient no-show rates – After receiving the referral, the practice schedules appointments with the patient. In some cases, the patients are not notified clearly about the appointment. When patients do not show up, it is difficult for a practice to track.

How can an Electronic Patient Referral Management help referral-inbound heavy practices?

The current referral management is no way close to the increasing demands of the referral process. It provides no option for communicating between the referring and the receiving ends. Relying on EHR/EMR/RIS for managing referrals makes it a costly affair and does not fulfill the current requirements. Electronic Referral Management has been creating buzz for some time.

Inbound patient referral management challenges can be resolved to improve operational efficiency, reduce inbound patient referral leakage and close the loop of patient referrals. A patient referral management software must have the following benefits,

Consolidating the referral channels – The system must handle referrals from email, fax, phone, referral slips and direct visits. The software must consolidate referrals from all sources into a single queue from where it can be processed.
Data security – The software must manage all sensitive patient-related data securely.
Data Analytics – Complete analytics of the referrals flowing in, processed, missed etc. Patient referral system should give a clear picture of how efficient the practice is in handling inbound referrals.
Referral history – The history must be common to both the referring physician and receiving specialist/imaging center. The progress of the patient referral from the time of referral initiation and subsequent diagnosis should contain patient diagnostic reports, referral status to ensure there is no missing information.
Integration with scheduler – This will help in scheduling appointments for the patients. Also, the system should send automated reminders to patients and physicians about the appointments.
HIPAA Compliant – This will enable secure data exchange of patient sensitive documents.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management Solution features

Single Referral Workflow Queue Consolidation – It collects Fax, Phone, Email, Website referrals and manages them in a single interface. This helps in managing them better.
Timeline View – Both the center and the PCP can view the timeline data of the patient in which the referral history is present. The provider can attach documents at any time for one another’s reference.
To and fro Communication – At any time of the referral process, the PCP and the center can communicate with the help of the inbuilt secure messaging and voice call applications.
Patient coordination framework – After finding the receiving provider, the referral coordinator refers the patient. When the receiving provider receives the referral, the provider will get notified of the referral. Even the patient will be notified of the referral. The receiving provider can schedule appointments based on the patient’s comfort. This will cut down patient no-show rates.
Referral Data Consolidation – It has options for printing the consolidated data about the referrals and the referral history of any patient as a hard copy at any time in pdf/excel.
Secure Data Management – HealthViewX Patient Referral Management is HIPAA compliant. It manages all patient-related documents securely. It helps in secure exchange of data.
Referral Analytics – Helps in tracking the number of referrals and gives complete information about the number processed, missed, scheduled etc with the help of a Referral Data-centric Dashboard.

HealthViewX Patient Referral Management solution helps practices in managing their referral network and increasing their revenue. Are you a referral inbound-heavy practice looking to track your inbound referrals very effectively? To know about HealthViewX Patient Referral Management System in detail schedule a demo with our team.

Attract And Retain Patients Within Your Network In Seven Simple Steps

Did you know? More than 80% of the patients rely on online reviews to evaluate patients. 8 out of 10 Americans internet users have researched topics including diseases, treatments, health insurance, a particular doctor or hospital. They do not go to the specialist just because they were referred to. Indeed patients spend a lot of time researching about the hospital and other options. Hospitals try to seek the attention of the patients through advertisements. But in this world of growing technology, ads through radios and billboards have become old-fashioned. So the hospitals are quite lost with the following questions in mind,

How can we reach our ideal patients at the right time with the right message?
How can we keep them happy and loyal?
If potential patients are no longer reacting to traditional advertising and promotional methods then what are they responding to?

It is through Patient Value Journey.

The way a patient chooses their health care provider shows what consumers want from a product or service. Below is the 7-step Patient Value Journey that can help practices turn patients into appointments and advocates of their practice.

The Patient Value Journey

Millions of Americans are embracing technology. From online search to wearables, they are transforming the patient journey at record-breaking speed. Google receives 63,000 searches per second on any given day and health care is the third most searched topic.

Considering the present reality, how can a practice drive more patient appointments both online and offline? The best marketing strategies begin and end with how a patient finds a practice and the process that flow after their first appointment.

1) Attaining Patient Awareness

A potential patient first becomes aware of the practice and its doctor(s) during the Patient Awareness Stage. Perhaps they have a health problem or concern, are researching a health condition and potential treatment.

In this early phase of the patient journey, the patient has a problem. The practice must present their solution while showing them what differentiates them from other practices. Potential patients can become aware of a practice in the following ways:

Seeing an advertisement
Finding the practice on social media
Receiving a referral from another doctor, friend or family member
Viewing the practice website as a search result on Google
Meeting at a health fair or community event

All these avenues present significant opportunities for a practice to reach potential patients both online and offline.

2) Patient Engagement

After becoming aware of the practice, a potential patient will take action to learn more of their doctor(s). After grabbing their attention, the practice must trigger them to interact with you or their social circles. Downloading a digital asset (white paper, checklist or eBook) from your practice website

There are numerous ways patients can engage with the practice including:

Searching specifically by name for the practice on Google
Visiting physician review sites to check their overall score
Sharing, commenting or liking one of their social media posts
Clicking on an ad or post that drives back to their website
Asking peers (online or offline) about their experience with the practice
Visiting the practice website

Digital marketing, social media, and website strategies are critical for bringing the patients to the subscription phase. When new visitors arrive at the practice’s website, it must impress the users in a few minutes. The site must have an eye-catching design, have killer content, and be easy to navigate. In addition to being desktop-friendly, the website must also be mobile-friendly.

3) Patient Subscription

In stage 3, potential patients will opt in to view or receive additional content from the practice. Here, a prospective patient likes what they have seen so far, but isn’t ready to commit to an appointment just yet. They are, however, seriously considering that practice for their health care needs.

What patient actions can the practice expect in this phase of the journey?

Joining an email list for the practice’s newsletter
“Liking” the page(s) on social media to receive updates in their newsfeed
RSVPing to attend a talk or seminar
Signing up for a webinar discussing a particular pain point or treatment option

There are several tactics a practice can employ to optimize patient subscriptions.

Keep blogs updated and post relevant content that readers can share across their social networks
Respond (ideally in real-time) to comments on their social media pages
Add social sharing buttons to their blog posts, newsletters, and general emails
Encourage readers to share their posts on their social media networks

4) Conversion

In the Conversion phase, the potential patient is satisfied with their research and is now ready to become a patient of the practice with a scheduled office visit. Upon entering the conversion stage, a patient will:

Book an appointment and schedule an office visit via the website or by phone
Set up a time for an in-office consultation about services
Not cancel the appointment

To ensure a patient’s smooth flow from subscription to conversion, the practice must make the transition easy for them.

If a potential patient spends precious minutes on the website trying to figure out how to contact or book an appointment, they’ll just give up in frustration. The site must make it easy for patients to schedule a visit on every single page.

5) Achieving Diagnosis and Treatment

In the diagnosis and treatment phase of the patient journey, the medical team diagnoses and prescribes treatment to the patient. The patient receives immediate value in the form of a diagnosis or treatment plan following the appointment.

Depending on the condition, the patient is under observation or conservative treatment over multiple visits and monitoring.

6) Ascension

As part of their journey, patients may or may not be prescribed additional treatments. It depends on their condition and their response to initial treatment(s) in the diagnosis and treatment phase.

Some patients will receive continued treatment as needed. Some others may be referred to supplementary services in or outside of the practice. While others may require surgery and rehabilitation.

7) Advocacy

In the Advocacy stage, the patient has completed their treatment protocol and is satisfied with the outcome of their care. They are now in a position to advocate for the practice both online and offline.

Patients can share positive feedback with the world by:

Providing an online review or rating on the physician(s) review website(s)
Taking part in a video testimonial to share their brilliant outcomes and benefits with other potential patients
Become the subject of a case study

Patient advocates are one of the most valuable assets for a practice. Patient success stories create a connection, build trust, credibility, and interest to motivate potential patients to answer a call-to-action.

Making the Patient Value Journey Work For You

The patient-physician relationship is a symbiotic two-way relationship. The patients can provide transparent feedback which can positively impact the start of other patient journeys.

Mapping the medical practice’s goals with Patient Value Journey helps in understanding the audience’s mindset and behavior. It can hone the practice’s short-term, quarterly wins and activities that contribute to reaching their long-term goals.

Using technology to solve patient-related problems

If your practice is facing problems related to managing patient traffic, patient referrals, chronic care management, remote patient monitoring or anything at all, HealthViewX is always there to solve your operational issues and optimize the workflow. To know in detail about our solution, schedule a demo with us.

References

http://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/

https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/pew-study-health-information-third-most-popular-online-pursuit

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077086/t/more-people-search-health-online/#.W4zdVc4zbIW

https://www.softwareadvice.com/resources/how-patients-use-online-reviews/