Money inflow is very important for medical practices. Without a constant source of revenue, medical practices cannot pay bills, pay employees or take care of patients. Importance of revenue is no different for Federally Qualified Health Centers, Community Clinics, Large Enterprise, and Specialty Hospitals. One way to ensure constant revenue is by retaining patients within the hospital network and providing optimal patient care. To do this efficiently, hospitals use patient referral management software.

Role of FQHCs:

FQHCs play an important role in supporting their community and providing care services to the underserved. Due to this, they may experience financial issues at uncertain times. When budgetary resources are strained, it is critical for an FQHC to

• Operate with maximum operational efficiency
• Preserve financial security
• Maintain staffing levels to continue operations

Inefficient and improper business processes will lead to patient dissatisfaction which will result in patients leaving the practice. FQHCs must concentrate on

• Maximizing their business and staff efficiency
• Minimizing financial risks

The relevance of patient referral management software to FQHCs

It is important for FQHCs to take good care of their patients. Factors such as waiting time, improper schedules, referring to the wrong provider, etc create patient dissatisfaction. Using referral management software, providers can access patient health records, schedule appointments and choose providers based on diagnosis and preferences. FQHCs can reduce patient-show rates, decrease referral leakage and also improve patient satisfaction.

FQHCs traditionally prefer working with EMR/EHR systems because they are comfortable with it. An EHR/EMR system has many advantages but when it is complemented with a Referral Management software practices can experience many more benefits.

The relevance of patient referral management software to Enterprise Hospitals

The following challenges in the patient referral workflow are common in enterprise hospitals across the USA.

• Limited provider information – Physicians do not have information about the providers within their network. This is to blame for unnecessary out of network referrals. Providers who refer out of network could avoid at least one-third of these if they had access to more robust information about providers in their networks. Even when physicians have access to their health system’s provider directories, they are not using the directories because they don’t have the level of information that is needed.
• Inadequate referral information – Even when physicians refer their patients out-of-network, the chances of a successful referral are less. This is because many providers who receive referrals rate referral information as poor. Without referral information, receiving providers cannot treat their patients effectively.
• Inefficient patient appointment scheduling – For providers who schedule an appointment for the patient, they prefer doing it through the phone to shared electronic health records system. When heavy use of the phone occurs, it is difficult for providers to see capacity in their network to book the next available appointment. So they bypass the network and book the appointment before the patient leaves the office.

For FQHCs and Enterprise Hospitals, additional investment in a patient referral solution is recommended for the following reasons:

1. Outbound and Inbound 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 the case of outbound referrals, it facilitates integration with the existing system to read the patient data and send out referrals.
2. 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. With this, the providers can always be aware of how the referral is progressing.
3. Workflow and Task Management – A workflow can be defined by how the referral flow must be(business rules). Tasks can be created to manage referrals by assigning it to the respective person.
4. Improved communication – HealthViewX Referral Management Solution supports messaging and calling features for the referring and receiving providers to stay connected.
5. Data Management – The solution is HIPAA compliant and enables secure data exchange of all patient-related documents.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Smart Search – HealthViewX Referral Management solution has a smart search facility that helps in finding the right provider for the treatment required.
9. 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 Patient Referral Management solution smooths the referral process and solves most of the inbound and outbound referral challenges for Large Enterprise Hospitals. Do you want to know more about HealthViewX HIPAA compliant Patient Referral Management solution? Schedule a demo with us.