Click to edit Master text styles
Second level
Third level
Fourth level
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:60%;color:#521B75;mso-special-format:lastCR'>
•
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:60%;color:#521B75;mso-special-format:lastCR'>
•‹#=
›
![3D"PPT](3D"master03_image001.jpg")
![](3D"master03_image003.gif")
Tips &a=
mp;
Techniques to Improve Efficiency with Practice Partner
Presented
by…
Kathleen
A. Saradarian, MD
Branchville,
NJ
Effici=
ency
•Efficiency
is doing better what is already being done.
Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker
•
•Efficiency
is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.
Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker
Backgr=
ound
•I am not an efficiency expert, but let me tell you where I came from.
•I joined a solo doctor in 1990.
We grew and around 1994,
the hospital system that we were on staff with offered a Management Contract.
<=
/div>
•We were heavily staffed and too much management. It wasn’t working for anyone.
•Around 2002, we decided to make a break from the Management Contract and become electronic.
Backgr=
ound
•We
researched many EMRs and eventually chose Practice Partner
=
;
•Around
the same time, we decided to split our practice into two solo
practices.
Why
Practice Partner?
•We sat down and decided on those elemen=
ts or
features that we had to have, then what we would
like to have. I am sure many=
of
you did this when you made the plunge too. But what we also did was =
buy
into the need to use the features that are available and that=
the
staff must use them too.
•I believe that using the features that
Practice Partner offers is key to becoming more =
efficient.
Which
features?
•When I got Practice Partner, it was version 7.0, the first, complete package with PR and MBWin. We definitely wanted an integrated system where the t=
wo parts talked to each other.
•Messaging-What good is be=
ing
electronic if you still need
charts and “stickys” that get lost.
•Scheduling-again, you nee=
d a
schedule and not a paper
book.
•Health Maintenance Tracking
– something we had with
paper and wanted very much to continue.
̶=
0;It
would be nice” features
•Lab
Interface
•Letter
writing
•Recall&#=
13;
•To
Do’s and Reminders
•
In the
beginning
•When
I started using Practice Partner, I also started my own practice.<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> The Management company
graciously agreed to continue doing the billing for 3 months u=
ntil
we could each get ourselves situated.
•I
started with a file clerk/scanner, receptionist, Medical
Assistant and a second part-time receptionist/referral
person. The traditional =
heavily
staffed model.
•
What a
DISASTER!
![=3DDisaster](3D"slide0008_image005.gif")
What w=
as
wrong?
•Stuck in old ways of paper-paper back u=
p of
everything.
•Too much staff, using EMR didn’t
require same staffing.
•Billing, I had to now make sure my receptionist
got all the codes to send to Management Company with all the
insurance information, copies of cards,
demographics…
<=
span
style=3D'mso-special-format:bullet;color:#2D78BE;position:absolute;left:-4=
.09%'>•Redundancy
is labor intensive and wasteful.
What w=
ent
wrong next?
•Well,
my receptionist, who happened to have a great knack at scheduli=
ng,
developed personal issues and stopped showing up for =
work.
•My
“filer”, who really didn’t like people contact, had to step up into the reception=
ist job
about the same time I took over my own&nb=
sp;
billing.
•
What w=
ent
wrong next?
•My Medical Assistant thought she found=
a better
job that would guarantee she was done by 4:30 PM and quit.
•My file clerk didn’t like being =
the
“only” person in the office (and didn’t like=
the
face time with patients) and quit.
•That left me fairly rapidly with a full
schedule, Total Practice Partner and my part-time <=
span
style=3D'position:absolute;top:76.75%;left:12.17%;width:87.26%;height:6.0%=
'>receptionist/referral
person (who comes in after 4PM only.)
What d=
id I
do?
•Well, after my very brief meltdown, (I had 10 minutes <=
span
style=3D'position:absolute;top:35.25%;left:12.17%;width:88.38%;height:5.25=
%'>to pull together a plan for myself after my file c=
lerk walked out the door-my husband actually came in and sat at the reception desk for the afternoon) I=
had to make some changes, quickly.
<=
/div>
------=_NextPart_01C7DC5B.B6C818D0
Content-Location: file:///C:/0CC444D9/KSaradarianPPEfficiency_files/slide0014.htm
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Content-Type: text/html; charset="us-ascii"
•I decided (not exactly free choice) to let the program =
do many of the things it is capable of and that re=
ally didn’t require people to make it function. Practice Partner is not nearly as fickle or moody as people=
. This turned out to be a good thing.<=
/div>
Change=
!
![3Dpixel-scared](3D"slide0014_image007.gif")
Change=
!
•Yes,
this is a dreaded word to physicians, probably ranks third only=
to
malpractice and lawyer.
•We
hate change. We have a syste=
m, a
flow, it is working for us.
•Change w=
ill
slow us down, cost us money.
•And
let’s face it, some of us have a little OCD.
Change=
!
•We cling to our old systems (paper) li=
ke
Linus to his security blanket.
![3D"meet_linus_big"](3D"slide0032_image009.gif")
Change=
!
•Things
alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for t=
he
better designedly.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
•
•He
that will not apply new remedies must expect new evils; for time=
is
the greatest innovator.
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Change=
!
•<=
span
style=3D'font-size:86%'>They must often change, who would be constant in <=
/span>happiness or wisdom.
Confucius <= /b>
Confucius <= /b>
•<=
span
style=3D'font-size:86%'>It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it =
would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly whi=
le remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And=
you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordina=
ry, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad.
C. S. Lewis
=
;
•<=
span
style=3D'font-size:86%'>Things do not change; we change.
Henry David Tho= reau
Henry David Tho= reau
Change=
!
•But
in the long run, and if done correctly, it will improve our efficiency
and should improve our bottom line.
•We
actually change all the time.
As far as our medical treatments, we change and ad=
apt
all the time. Even =
with
billing and coding, we have had to change and adapt to what=
is thrown
at us.
Change=
!
•We need to constantly reevaluate our <=
/span>systems
to see how we can do things better.
•We are JEDI (Journeyers in the Digital=
Information)-John
Bachman
•I’m going to take you through wh=
at I
did, but this is just a “for example” and what=
you
do in your own practices will need to be solved individually,
the processes as the roles.
My cur=
rent
staffing
•As
mentioned, I use Total Practice Partner and use Gateway EDI as my
electronic clearing house and to send statements. All billing is
“in-house”.
•(Practice
Partners Clearing House was not up and running when I took ov=
er
my own billing.)
•I
have 2 part-time receptionists, the second coming in at 4 PM and
overlapping briefly with the first, and a part-time
biller.
•
Current
Staffing
•My syste=
m is
still evolving.
=
•I
am not a high-volume provider; never was, never will be, even when I=
had
a Medical Assistant.
For me, that job position was the easiest to leave vacant.=
3;
•I
needed a biller more. I tried
doing that myself but found it takes about 50% of the time
I spend seeing patients to collect on payment.
Take Home Points
2.Evaluate “add-on” features and their cos=
t effectiveness
for you.
3.Eliminate redundancy. We actually never had
redundancy with our paper systems but feel the need for extra
redundancy with our electronic system. Is our electronic data really
easier to permanently lose than our paper chart or ledger?
Scrol=
ls
to Books to Computers
![](3D"slide0020_image011.gif")
So
here’s what I do
Job
Descriptions
•Receptionist:&nbs=
p;
•Answers phones and disperses all messages.
•Meets and greets all people coming into the office=
•Verifies and updates demographics, insurance info, signatures on all patients.
•Gets “Instant Medical History” started and assists patien=
ts
in completing
interviews.
•Books all appointments and calls patients back regarding messages.
•Collects and posts co-pays and outstanding balances, and =
schedules follow-up appointments for all outgoing
patients.
•
Job
Descriptions
•Completes and posts the EEF (Electroni=
c Encounter
Form)
<=
span
style=3D'mso-special-format:bullet;color:#521B75;position:absolute;left:-4=
.2%'>•Calls
and confirms next day appointments.
•Does referrals and preauthorizations f=
or
meds, radiology, etc.
<=
span
style=3D'mso-special-format:bullet;color:#521B75;position:absolute;left:-3=
.67%'>•Follows
up on all lab orders and radiology orders
•Names scans, “files them” =
and
makes links to EMR
Job
Descriptions
<=
span
style=3D'mso-special-format:bullet;color:#521B75;position:absolute;left:-4=
.23%'>•“Sends”
insurance claims
<=
span
style=3D'mso-special-format:bullet;color:#521B75;position:absolute;left:-4=
.23%'>•“Sends”
patient statements
•Posts all payments (and adjustments) t=
hat
come via the mail.
•Follows up on all nonpayment or
inappropriate adjustments.
•Goes over next day’s schedule and
records outstanding balances for receptionist, as well a=
s checking
signature dates.
Job
Descriptions
•Biller
(continued)
•Handles =
all
billing related phone calls.
•Steps in=
for
receptionist if need arises.
•
•Physicia=
n
•Everythi=
ng
else.
Do I s=
till
use paper?
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:83%'>•We keep copies of all insurance cards as well as scanned.
=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:83%'>•Patients fill out a demographics sheet.
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:83%'>•I keep a paper back up of the days finances and schedule.
=
<=
span
style=3D'font-size:83%'>•End of day reports are put to paper.
•The next day’s schedule is printed to paper =
as
well as “an encoun=
ter
form.
•It really goes back to that video and comfort with=
old
ways. It’s really for staff comfort and some train=
ing
mostly.
•But there are also some things that are just easie=
r to
“see” on pap=
er
still.
Schedu=
ling
•The
more effort you put into setting up elements in Practice Part=
ner,
the more it can save time on the other end.
•I
have created my schedule in 10 minute increments as it fits with =
any
length appointment I offer: 20, 30, 40 or 60 minutes.<=
/div>
•Scheduli=
ng
•The
scheduling program is capable of getting very complex although=
I
have found that keeping it simple is easier for training.
=
•I
started with 3 basic appointments but as I matured and my practice
matured I have added more.
•
Schedu=
ling
![](3D"slide0073_image013.gif")
![](3D"slide0073_image015.gif")
Schedu=
ling
![](3D"slide0028_image017.gif")
![](3D"slide0028_image019.gif")
Schedu=
ling
•You can also create “Visit
Instructions” to coach your “scheduler” to
get proper information.
![](3D"slide0029_image021.gif")
![](3D"slide0029_image023.gif")
Schedu=
ling
•There are quicktexts to make
scheduling quicker.
![](3D"slide0040_image025.gif")
Schedu=
ling
•There are also quicktexts
to make canceling easier
to document.
![](3D"slide0035_image027.gif")
![](3D"slide0035_image029.gif")
Schedu=
ling
![](3D"slide0036_image031.gif")
![](3D"slide0036_image033.gif")
Schedu=
ling
![](3D"slide0075_image035.gif")
![](3D"slide0075_image037.gif")