ClientTell Blog

During HIMSS, Healthcare IT News New Media Manager Chip Means stopped by our booth and interviewed us. Watch the video

Because of the great feedback we have received from dentists across the country, we have decided to exhibit at the Greater New York Dental Show between November 29th and November 2nd. We love New York and we are very excited to visit the Big Apple and talk to prospective dentists. Our booth number is 4410. As always we will have giveaways and we would love to meet you there.

We are going to Denver! After having so much fun at the MGMA for the last two years, ClientTell is exhibiting again at the annual MGMA conference. Our booth number is 511. We will have a lot of fun giveaways. Come by to see us.

ClientTell has been certified as a Top 20% performer based on the Past Performance Evaluation survey responses of its customers. The survey was conducted by Dun & Bradstreet. Our PPE score of 96/100 demonstrates outstanding overall client satisfaction and shows the quality of our customer service. We are very proud of this achievement and look forward to continue servicing our clients with the same passion we are known for.View detailed report of the survey.

We began providing our appointment reminder and lab reporting services to medical groups outside of the United States. Read official press release.

A recent study by one of our clients: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center discovered that patients want to have full access to their medical records and are willing to sacrifice some privacy in order to receive customized medical information. This is really good news for EMR companies.

Press Release

The time has finally come. The official introduction of our new corporate office is Thursday June 4, 2009. Join us in downtown Valdosta as we introduce ourselves to the community.

Thursday, June 4, 2009
at 5.30 p.m.
119 N. Patterson St.
Downtown Valdosta

Refreshments and light hors d’oeuvres will be served. For directions and more info visit our event page.

Recently, a hacker claimed he stole confidential medical data on 8 million Virginia residents from a government website. With the increasing adoption of electronic medical records and the transfer of PHI to various vendors, security of data becomes increasingly important.

Do you take good safeguards to protect your PHI?

Whenever you start working with a new vendor that requires transfer of PHI make sure the company is following HIPAA regulations. Some
questions to ask:

• Is the vendor HIPAA compliant
• How is the PHI transferred
• How is PHI backed-up and or deleted.
• Does the vendor carry general liability insurance in case of a problem

Also, make sure you sign Business Associate agreements with your vendors, always backup your data and stay current on new HIPAA regulations.

A new website- a Healthcare Blue Book has just been launched where patients can see the average cost for different Healthcare services, from surgeries to cosmetic procedures. This will have serious implications as patients will now be able to negotiate pricing with medical offices.

www.healthcarebluebook.com

Last minute cancellations and no-shows are very disruptive for a medical practice. Most patients have experienced how busy a medical office can be and assume that being a no-show is not a problem. It appears the practice can easily reschedule another patient in their spot. They fail to realize that their time slot is reserved for them, and practices usually do not overbook. In addition, a private practice’s income is directly linked to how many patients a provider sees in a day. Insurance companies do not pay for missed appointments, and it is easy to see why no-shows are one of the most costly and stressful issues for a medical practice.

One of the best ways to ensure that patients attend their appointments is to implement a cancellation policy and use multiple reminders to make sure patients arrive on time or cancel well in advance. Even though some cancellations are inevitable, the majority of no-shows result from patients forgetting their appointments or having a conflict in their schedule.

In order to have a successful cancellation policy, a practice should create a clear cancellation message. For example: “In order to serve our patients better, we have instituted a cancellation policy. If you cannot make it to your appointment please contact us 24 hours in advance to cancel your appointment. If you do not cancel 24 hours in advance you will be charged a no-show fee of $50″. Once a cancellation message is created it should be included into your patient forms. In addition, you should explain the policy when scheduling an appointment and make sure that patients read the policy by referring to it when they return their patient forms. Also, train your staff to educate patients at multiple points during their initial visit. The more the policy is repeated to patients the better.

The second step in successfully reducing no-shows and last minute cancellations is calling your patients in advance and reminding them of their appointments. The number one reason for patient no-shows is forgetting the appointment. The most efficient and cost effective way to make reminder calls is to use a web-based service that can make automated appointment reminder calls for you. The service should allow you to customize your script by adding your cancellation message and the phone number of your practice. The reminder service should also allow patients to confirm or cancel their appointments over the phone. If your practice reminds patients two days in advance of their appointment, you can view your call reports and have a extra day to fill-in the canceled appointments.

For the patients that are still no-shows, your front office staff should follow up with them, determine the reason for the no-show and enforce the no-show policy. By tracking the reasons patients give for missing an appointment, patterns will emerge that will allow you to make adjustments to your policy and reminder messages.

Implementing and enforcing a clear cancellation policy is very important and will have a tremendous impact on your no-shows and last minute cancellations. Training your staff, educating your patients, and utilizing an appointment reminder service are the best ways to improve efficiency.