4 creative ways to increase patient volume without adding staff

1. Reduce patient no-shows

No-shows cause a loss of patient care, missed revenues, and wasted prep work. They also make it hard to fill or predict a schedule.

An automated patient messaging system can remind patients of appointment times in the way they prefer to communicate, whether through text, phone, or email. Such a system can also help reduce missed or forgotten appointments.

A no-show policy is also useful. When a patient knows there will be a fee, he or she will be less likely to miss an appointment.

2. Finding your at-risk patients

Practices can increase patient volume by identifying and targeting at-risk patients. By providing care to patients most in need, they can improve outcomes and minimize costs.

“When we can identify those care gaps, you can better manage the patients that need care the most,” Suzie said.

To this end, a population health solution can provide analytics, risk stratification, and care management.

“Ultimately, this all leads to better care management and empowers providers to manage care coordination and help to intervene at the right time to maximize patient health outcomes,” Suzie said.

Practices can also work to prevent the progression of chronic diseases using care coordination services to assess patients’ physical and mental health and psychosocial needs, ensure they receive recommended services, and manage their transition of care between healthcare settings.

3. Harness social media

How do you reach patients through social media? Using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram — or even a well-designed website — can help get the word out about your practice.

Americans look at their phones an average 52 times per day, according to Deloitte.

“The age of getting our knowledge on our phones is here,” Suzie said, “so keeping these types of platforms updated with the most updated information about your organization can be extremely helpful.”

Here are a few tips:

• Use social media to gather reviews and put positive reviews out there to keep patients in the loop.
• Keep contact information updated so patients know how to contact you.
• Advertise hours of operation so patients know when to reach out.
• Provide an FAQ section to answer common questions.
• Post “warm” or enticing and welcoming office photos.
• Share new treatments, services, and other updates.

“The driving force behind our Facebook page is to give patients and families insight into how our practice works — before they get here,” said Dr. Michael Jordan, Founder of East Lake Pediatrics.

Click here for more on social media marketing for healthcare.

“The driving force behind our Facebook page is to give patients and families insight into how our practice works — before they get here."

Dr. Michael Jordan, Founder of East Lake Pediatrics

4. Prepare for increased claims

Now that you’ve increased patient volume, how do you manage the influx of increased claim volume? One way is to partner with a revenue cycle management service to increase efficiency.

“Having Greenway Revenue Services is almost like having a secondary financial team, an accounting team, overlooking your audits, correlating, so everything checks out at the end of the day,” said Xavier Anderson, General Manager with Valley Day and Night Clinic.

Greenway research shows the industry faces these top revenue cycle management challenges:

• 79% of practices typically deal with 10 or more payers, each with its own fee schedule.
• 96% of practice leaders report inefficient billing processes, from documentation to coding.
• 97% of independent groups and solo practices experience high business turnover.

“This is about needing to add additional staff to work the increase in claim volume that’s needed to be processed,” Suzie said. “Eventually, it allows you to see more patients.”

To hear more from Suzie, click here to listen to her webinar.