—AMPED webinar recap
On May 23rd, Dr. Amanda Hess and Dr. Erik Kowalke of AMPED presented a webinar about tools and techniques to improve the patient experience while also running a more efficient practice. Dr. Hess, who serves 1,200 to 1,500 patients a week at her practice in Atlanta said, “My passion is to do things the right way, and Platinum System allows us to be efficient and compliant.” She and Dr. Kowalke shared their top 5 office procedures for success:
1> Using Platinum Systems saves time and helps doctors work smarter.
When a new patient comes in they can already have filled out their paperwork online, which saves time for patients and staff. When patients in active-care come in for an appointment, they swipe their health card and answers questions about their loss of function, which takes care of the subjective information for S.O.A.P notes. Patients are then ready for adjustment, which Dr. Hess noted really helps speed up the workflow.
Notes are easy to customize if there’s a special situation with a patient going on. And if a practice has associates or other doctors in the office, the EHR software is easy to use by noting professional #1, #2, etc. The system allows for each professional to have different schedules, and patients can be color coded to a certain doctor.
Checklists, team huddles, and color coded tasks help the office flow more efficiently. In addition, doctors can electronically specify which appointments should go to which rooms, which helps manage patient flow and takes the pressure off the team.
2> Using Platinum System with other technologies
For x-rays, some companies sync directly with Platinum System, like ChiroSight Imaging. Doctors simply screen share and load the images. Images can be easily viewed side by side, quickly.
Access to this easy-to-view imaging also helps when people have questions or are on the verge of discontinuing care. Doctors can show them the amount of disc space in their spine, for example, and explain how long it will take to improve.
Dr. Kowalke said, “Fortis payment software changed our game.” Payments can be set up to run on the 5th or 20th of each month automatically, or can be run on various schedules with flexible options. Dr. Hess added, “The integration with the credit card processor changed my life. It used to be an arduous process if someone needed two extra days to pay, for example. But now it’s only a matter of pressing 2 or 3 buttons, which is such a time saver.” This has also saved on payroll, too, since her staff doesn’t have to spend the time they once did processing payments.
“I love how easy it is to use the software to build a care plan, and schedule appts. It takes 10 seconds with Fortis,” Dr. Hess said. Dr. Kowalke noted that all of these things had to be done manually before. Now he has more time to relate to patients with full attention, to be present and efficient without worrying about sacrificing efficiency.
Another integration is SKED, where patients can reschedule an appointment through an app on their phone. Dr. Kowalke noted this was also game changing. He showed that in May, 929 appointments were scheduled through the app, which drastically cut down his staff’s time answering calls or responding to voicemails.
Another huge increase in efficiency is the automated appointment reminder. Through SKED, the doctors are able to send different automated text messages for different purposes. Messages are set up once, scheduled in Platinum System, and then send automatically. Patients can respond to the texts by confirming an appointment, which cuts down on staff calling time. Patients can also be sent a text if they’re 15 min late, which they can respond to by confirming they’re on their way or will reschedule on the app.
The doctors also use SKED automated messaging to send texts or emails 60 minutes after a patient’s visit to remind them about an event that a staff member may not have had a chance to tell them about. They can then register for the event through the app. When the event is created on Facebook, patients can share the event on social media, which increases attendance at events.
3> Make it easy for people to come in and out of office in large numbers.
Platinum System has a unique module that calls patients to a room after they’ve checked in with their health card at the arrival station. Patients are automatically entered into a queue based on arrival time, which eliminates the issue of patients becoming angry when someone who arrived after they did is called in ahead of them.
A patient’s file can also be specially coded to flag the front desk before they’re sent to a room should there be an issue with paperwork or billing. These measures cut down on payroll of staff members having to physically call people to rooms, allowing them to focus on other tasks.
Promotional events can also be programmed to pop up on the arrival station screen too. And Dr. Hess has a “happy birthday” song in her system automated to play if a patient checks in on their birthday. The arrival station can be customized for whatever doctors want it to do.
4> Keeping information relevant.
Special notes are color-coded and date-stamped in the EHR system, which makes it easy to look at quickly before adjusting a patient. Both doctors add personal notes so they can connect with patients and show they care about their lives outside of the adjusting room.
Special front desk messaging allows for quick sharing of testimonials and appointment reminders. Another color-coded box keeps track of notes with dates, insurance benefits, and all the information the doctor or staff would need to see very quickly. Any team member can instantly see a patient’s care plan, how many visits they’ve had, who’s interacted with them, etc.
5> Doing It The Right Way
Data entry can become messy, particularly if the wrong text or email information is entered. This interferes with communications and notifications about billing or appointments, for example. The EHR software makes it easy to keep information accurate and up-to-date with simple, daily practices.
Dr. Hess noted that it’s important to add demographic information about a patient, including whether they are single, married, or widowed, or about who helps with their finances or healthcare decisions since that person will be asked to come along for doctor reports.
The software allows the doctors to add referral sources so they can track what’s working and what’s not. For example, if you spend $1000/month on Facebook marketing you’ll want to run a report to see how many patients came in as a results of Facebook, and whether that strategy is worth continuing or not.
Dr. Hess also said that she runs daily income reports, transaction reports, a report of all patients seen each day, and all missed appointments. Reports can indicate whether a team member had to call those missed appointment patients, or if they rescheduled through the SKED app.
She added that it’s important to track overall growth and revenue to see how many lives you are affecting each day, month, and year.
To view the webinar and see screenshots of how Dr. Hess and Dr. Kowalke use the Platinum System EHR software, click here.
See for yourself why 99% of doctors like Dr. Hess and Dr. Kowalke stay with Platinum System for the life of their practice. Platinum System offers the fastest and most reliable billing and EHR software in the industry, and consistently earns five star reviews for customer service. To discuss how Platinum System might serve the unique EHR and billing needs of your practice, contact us online, or call us at 888-808-4898.
