Modern healthcare practices rely on many technologies to process patient data, make informed care decisions and provide meaningful outcomes. When healthcare technologies are disconnected, your practice suffers higher costs due to miscommunication.
Here are three ways a lack of technology integration could hurt your practice:
1. Your intake forms drain resources
Collecting health history for new patients takes up valuable time and resources, a problem that worsens when the forms are not connected to the rest of the practice management system. Whether a practice uses a traditional pen and clipboard or a tablet, a lack of integration means administrative staff needs to spend more time inputting data into the system.
Joining disparate systems together can save time and money as well as build patient loyalty. It’s no secret that patients don’t like to sit around in doctors’ waiting rooms. Streamlining the intake form process can improve patient engagement.
2. Your patients miss their appointments
Missed appointments cost the medical system over $150 billion each year, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Urban family clinics see patient no-show rates between 10 and 20 percent. Those numbers increase as preparation requirements for procedures grow. Some procedures that require a special diet in the days leading up to the appointment have a no-show rate as high as 50 percent.
An appointment reminder system can lower no-show rates and improve your bottom line. This is especially helpful for appointments that require patients to fast beforehand. A reminder system can use text messages, emails and phone calls to remind patients of the appointment and explain what they need to do prior to coming to the office.
3. Your patients don’t follow treatment instructions
In 2012, the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations found that around 80 percent of serious medical errors are a result of miscommunication between providers during transition of care. If trained professionals can make those mistakes, so can the patients themselves.
Sending treatment instructions home with patients is meant to clarify the care process – but that only works if patients don’t lose their paperwork. Making care instructions accessible via an online, secure system engages patients in their own health care and can improve outcomes.
These are just three ways that a lack of technology integration can harm your practice. When each of your systems can connect, your practice will save time and money. For intuitive healthcare technologies, contact Tangible Solutions.