Medical practice has several departments, and surprisingly, every department is finding new solutions with time.
An American Medical Association study indicates that physicians spend double the time on electronic health records (EHR) than they spend on their patients.
The control over the practice is declining. Thus, virtual assistance can be helpful in many ways to cope with the problem areas. You, as a doctor, can find extra opportunities to grow in your work, and focus on improving your practice. In the meantime, your virtual medical staff can simplify complex organizational objectives.
The disturbance in the balance between treating patients and various other systematic duties has impacted the outcomes of medical practice.
There are several duties that can compound affect your practice. These duties include scheduling appointments and follow-ups, managing tons of data, accurate coding, and staying compliant.
‘Patient payment collection’ is another responsibility that doctors are struggling with. No matter how much effort doctors put in, they are stuck with piled-up payment collections and an endless line of patients. A doctor must address this problem at the soonest. This problem can get twisted if not taken care of immediately.
Does it sound familiar to you? Do you too have a long checklist of pending tasks apart from treating your patients?
Virtual Medical Assistant Services – A Solution To Your Problems
Schedule Appointments & Follow-ups
Any mismanagement with the scheduling can lead to a disturbance in your office. Moreover, patients too appreciate a quick response when calling for an appointment. A smooth scheduling process can be healthy for your medical practice. A virtual medical assistant can offer you full-time availability for the following tasks:
- Taking your messages
- Collecting patient information
- Answering the phone calls
- Managing appointment schedule
- Screen calls
Leave the unattended calls, and the worry of aligning the patient visits, and follow-ups for your virtual medical assistant.
Managing Data And Staying Compliant
Inputting a large number of data and then ensuring its privacy is a huge responsibility. Patient data is often too sensitive. You need to be careful with the technical, physical, and administrative aspects to stay HIPAA compliant. Assigning this task to an expert virtual assistant can give you peace of mind.
The virtual medical assistant manages and evaluates the patient details to organize visits more effectively. Virtual assistants are clinical experts. This allows them to assess the severity of a patient’s disease and plan the visit accordingly.
Efficient Medical Billing And Coding Process
Numerous studies carried out in the past 2 decades have indicated that 15%-25% of the total national healthcare expenditures go to administrative expenses account. This includes billing and coding expenses, insurance administrative costs, and physician administrative activities. Hiring medical virtual assistants reduces administrative costs and office furniture costs. It also eliminates the need of supervising staff.
‘Insurance eligibility verification and prior authorization’ is a crucial phase in the medical billing process. It demands high attention, as minor errors can lead to failed eligibility. Thus, this step requires a lot of time.
Outsourcing a reputed medical billing and coding services company for a virtual medical assistant can do wonders for your practice. You will be amazed at how relieved you will feel when you know you can rely on expert billers and coders within a reasonable budget. This is such an innovation of technology in the medical field that a lot of doctors have finally been able to give their attention to their actual responsibility.
Billing Freedom is healthcare expert that assist you throughout your billing process. They help you code the diagnosis and treatment procedures accurately. A correctly-done coding can result in a more precise bill. You can hand over these tasks to a professional with a single click:
- Coding
- Claims creation
- Claim submission
- Eligibility verification
- Prior authorization
- Claim denial
- AR follow-up
A mind clear from the lengthy medical billing process can let you focus on your patients.
Another common issue encountered during the billing process is ‘denied claims’. It can be due to many reasons. But, virtual medical assistance covers the responsibility of following up with any denied claims. Virtual assistants fix the denied claims before they bother your practice.
Telehealth Support
During Covid-19, there was an increased fear of contracting the coronavirus. This led to a large number of patients shifting their visits to telehealth services. Since then, the idea remained intact and is being liked by both patients and doctors.
Virtual assistants have been of great help for telehealth services. During the telehealth visits, virtual assistants efficiently documented the required information. They also helped with transcribing data and keeping the patients’ data updated.
24/7 Assistance
In-house assistance is mostly available for a few hours or working hours. However, a virtual medical assistant can be available throughout the week. Patients searching for a new doctor try to find help through the website. They feel supported if they get in touch with someone immediately. Here’s where a virtual assistant can be useful.
‘Virtual Assistance’ has helped medical practice strengthen and advance in a new and better direction. The charge taken by virtual medical assistants gave doctors the space and time needed to amplify their focus on patients. It has allowed the patients as well as doctors to connect more. Furthermore, this evolution in medical practice is expected to get to the next level in the coming years.