18 Feb 3 Business Tools That Automate Optometry Practice Management
Every business has experienced the rapid acceleration of digital transformation over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eye care practices had to swiftly adapt to the times.
Even now that your practice has gone digital, you’re still figuring out a long-term approach that aligns with patient engagement goals and solves communication challenges.
You’re also wondering how you will be able to save your staff time and energy as they continue adjusting to these new digitized processes. To support this sudden standardization of digital communication, eye care professionals are equipping their staff with relevant business tools.
Today we’ll explore three business tools that will help you automate your optometry practice management processes. You’ll walk away feeling more informed about your technology options, so you can figure out the best next step for your eye care practice.
Check-in App Reduces Patient Wait Times
Are you looking for ways to automate checking in patients? Gone are the days of filling out paperwork on a clipboard. With the pandemic health emergency protocols that eye care clinics must follow today, your practice needs to focus on reducing wait times and limiting interactions with patients.
HIPAA-compliant check-in apps ensure patient privacy and data safety during self-check-in by confirming demographic data and accepting HIPAA privacy policies, billing notifications, and other office documents with electronic signatures.
Most check-in apps allow you to quickly view your practice dashboard to see arrival times, signed documentation, and what part of the check-in the patient completed. Not only that, you save time and eliminate rekeying demographic data and health history into your eye care EHR system with an automatic data sync.
Dr. Jeanette Lee with 20/20 Optometry of Silicon Valley has been using a check-in app for years. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Dr. Lee already had safety precautions and patient flow processes in place.
“Patients must sign in and complete the online patient welcome form unless they make an appointment right away and don’t have the time,” says Dr. Lee. “If patients don’t know how to use mobile devices (very rare), we have sanitized pens on the counter marked ‘clean’ and ‘dirty’ to separate the pens when filling out paperwork.”
Advanced Patient Portal Tools Enhance Patient Engagement
Patient portals are a great way to connect with patients and deliver on-demand secure access to protected health information (PHI) from doctor visits. The COVID-19 public health emergency moved patient portals into full swing as many eye care doctors focused on offering telehealth and telemedicine services.
When you give your patients the freedom to access a secure patient portal at their convenience—from home or on the go, on any mobile device—the provider-patient relationship will be more meaningful. To give you an idea …
- Online scheduling saves an average of two to four minutes per patient. Who doesn’t want to spend less time on the phone booking appointments?
- 24/7 online bill pay lets your patients pay their bills online via your patient portal. Reduce past-due balances, increase revenue, and eliminate data entry errors. Get paid faster with text and email reminders you can automate from within the patient portal.
- Online faxing eliminates the costs of fax machines, phone lines, storage, paper, and toner.
- Online welcome/medical forms put the check-in process in fast mode, maintains a healthy business, and prevents exposure to COVID-19. Patients review and update their medical history before visiting your office from the comfort of their home, or from their mobile device while waiting in their car or in your office reception area.
So how do you get patients to use patient portals? Check out Patient Portals Move Patient Care Forward for Eye Care Practices for helpful optometry practice management tips on how to encourage patients to use your patient portal and how to keep them coming back.
PRM Systems Automate Digital Communication
Patient relationship management systems (PRM) help eye care practices manage time-consuming front office tasks so they are able to focus more on their patients and run a successful business. 4PatientCare reports “one no-show a day costs a practice $75K per year on average.”
Finding the right PRM software that works with your eye care practice management system isn’t one size fits all. You need a PRM that generates a positive return on investment so you:
- Easily stay in touch with your patients
- Recall inactive patients
- Connect with patients via voice messaging, emails, and texting 24/7
“We use Demandforce to deploy weekly news, product offerings, and critical updates about COVID-19 to patients via email,” says Dr. Jeanette Lee with 20/20 Optometry of Silicon Valley. I could not have survived without Demandforce as their COVID-19 tools and resources help me stay connected with my patients.”
Dr. Philip Gross with Vision Quest Eye Care Center says, “Solutionreach has been great as we’ve been pushing out notices and updates to patients on how to adapt to the changes in our office hours and procedures. We send out specific messages to high-risk patients and recommend telehealth services, and we determine if telehealth, virtual visit, or an emergency in-office visit is necessary.”
Patient relationship management systems also gather feedback and insights from patients with automated satisfaction surveys that turn positive feedback into reviews to attract new customers.
Statista reports that 94% of consumers agree that positive reviews frequently motivate them to buy products or services from a business. To track your reputation, look for a PRM that includes online reputation management that sends out automated review requests and alerts you when a new review comes in.
Automate Optometry Practice Management with MaximEyes
When properly optimized, eye care practice management and EHR systems drive strategic decisions and quality improvements, enhance patient care, and deliver long-term value-added benefits to your practice. It’s important to continually explore, evolve, and embrace new optometry management business technologies that improve and streamline office efficiency.
Request a demo to see how MaximEyes and other practice management business tools offer the support you need to run an efficient eye care practice.
If you are a current MaximEyes customer, email sales@first-insight.com or call 800.920.1940, ext. 6659 for more information on adding the Check-in App and Advanced Patient Portal tools to your current system. The Check-in App and Advanced Patient Portal Tools are coming soon to MaximEyes.com.