This week we’re sharing the preliminary results of our 2004 Customer Survey, to help you compare your practice to the industry and also to point out opportunities to increase your practice profitability.

About the Survey
Each year, SpectraSoft surveys its customers for ways to improve our software and provide better service. This year we expanded our survey, asking questions about other front office functions such as billing, documentation and appointment reminders. The preliminary results described here are from 184 respondents in a wide variey of specialties including physical therapy, family medicine, behavioral health, radiology, pain management, pediatrics, oncology, podiatry, health research, OB/gyn and surgery. Responses from customers in fields outside of health and medicine were not considered .

Billing & Documentation
Our first questions involved billing methods. Two-thirds of respondent report that they use a software solution, such as PTOS, AS/PC or Turbo PT. A substantial number – 21% -- outsource their billing to companies like BMS and MDeverywhere. This option is growing in popularity throughout the industry, as claims and collections issues have become more complex and burdensome.

One in nine practices are still billing manually. For these people, or for those looking to switch their billing method, SpectraSoft Appointments™ makes it easy to move to either a software-based or outsource-based solution. You can track all of your billable activity for each scheduled visit and then export it to either a software program or a billing service. If your billing service is not currently compatible with Appointments, let us know, and we will gladly look into creating the necessary interface.

While 89% of practices have automated their billing with either a software or outsourced solution, only 40% report using a computerized patient documentation system. Some of these practices are using advanced systems such as ReDoc, or MediNotes; however this number also includes repondents who have created solutions as simple as Microsoft Word templates. Given that detailed documentation and accurate patient coding have become critical in order for practices to collect and defend the full revenue they are due, the small number of practices using a leading edge documentation system is a real eye-opener.

For those practices looking to automate their documentation, SpectraSoft makes it easy to move to many leading documentation products by allowing you to access your existing patient database -- so you don't have to re-key patient information in order to automate your documentation.

Patient Reminders
Reducing no-shows and cancellations is a frequent topic of this newsletter, and patient reminders are certainly one of the best ways we know of to boost patient attendance. The survey indicates that most practices have considerable room to improve when it comes to their reminder protocols. Only 61% of practices report making reminder phone calls and a mere 6% send out reminder emails.

The key to improving these numbers could be in automation. While 61% of practices make calls, only 3% use an automated system, either in-house or outsourced. The other 58% are employing a staff member. Even ifyou have a very large practice and can hire a dedicated phone caller who does nothing but make reminder calls all day, manual calling is an expensive, tedious and inefficient endeavor, which is probably why so many practices don't do it at all.

The SpectraSoft phone module offers two cost-effective solutions to this dilemna: you can connect an affordable automated system to your PC, or outsource your calls to a telephone service bureau. Either way, your Appointments™ software does all the work. You set up the system once and your calls get made day after day -- you don't have to do a thing.

For example, figuring in wages and benefits, you pay anywhere from $1 to $2 for a staff member to make each reminder call. Service bureaus and automated systems can make those same calls for 25¢ or less with the added benefit of achieving higher contact rates at the same time, by reaching people during the evening when more people are home. Here is a breakdown of costs...

Calling Costs
Based on 200 Work Days (Roughly One Year)

No matter which solution you choose, it almost certainly pays to make reminder calls, considering the revenue you gain by saving just two or three patient visits that would otherwise be lost.

With so many people using their PC as a calendar, the fact that almost no practices send email reminders is probably the biggest profit opportunity uncovered in the survey. Of the practices who are sending emails, a third of them are already using an automated system, such as SpectraSoft's Email Module for Appointments.™ Like the telephone module, you set up the email system once, and it sends your emails every day -- including the date and time of each patient's appointment -- with no manual assistance required.

Data Backup
One in 12 respondents report that they do not back up their data, which is a HIPAA requirement. Of the rest, 70% use an automated data backup system, while 22% back up manually. Of the respondents that back up manually, one in five report they are unhappy with their manual backup system. (Our guess is the other four are in denial.)

If you are looking for a fully automated backup system, SpectraSoft's DataHEALTH solution encrypts and transmits your data to a secure off-site location each day at a regularly scheduled time. If you should ever lose your data, you can retrieve it with a mouse-click.

Conclusion

Many practices in the survey could probably increase profitability by automating more of their front office tasks. In most cases, the industry offers a wide range of available solutions to fit any budget: from software to outsourced services to automation equipment. No matter which solution you choose, your SpectraSoft Appointments™ system is designed to be the hub that can unify all of these solutions within a single database, saving you hours of integration headaches.

Let us know how you’re doing with your office automation and if this article was helpful by emailing PMN at newsletter@ssoft.com.