Re: Reducing Staff Needs and Websites Like Medfusion

[Guest guest]

HIMany folks have done thisCarla GIbson and NAncyGuinn have in the last 6-12 months IN THEIR IMPS already well established, lost the receptionist and found out that not having receptionist worked BETTER than having one

Having a good simple reliable set of systems is what you want Keep your phone message simple HAve a phone system that works Some people tell us of various gizmos they try but are not good in their rural area or have no support and go down etc

etcMuch has been described on wwww.idealhealth.wikispaces.com which has an excellent search engine One thing to do is construct your appointmetn schedule so that you have times to check the phone You can call my o ffice to see what I say as one example

When patients know you will c all back , when they have that relationship with you, and you are reliable things flow well no matter what system you usehere is a screen shot of my standard day( fake patietns of course you will n otice) so you can see what is blocked out to answer the phone and waht is pre set up to leave plenty of time for call ins

Some patietns will use online alot as MAtt points out some will notConsider all vehicles for access - PHONE EMAIL EVISIT ETCJean

I had a couple questions for the group. I'm leaving my current practice as an employee of the hospital and starting my solo IMP late 2009/early 2010.

One of my biggest concerns if how to minimize my staff requirements and specifically reduce the amount of work that is done primarily by staff on the phone . I plan to have at most 1 total staff person in my new practice and would like that to even be part-time. Currently I am in a 2 physician practice and we have 2-3 staff in the office depending on the day. It seems like our phones ring constantly and 1-2 staff are almost always on the phone. We use Allscripts EHR and I just learned from them they are developing a partnership with Medfusion to integrate their online/patient portal tools into the Allscripts system. I plan to have the online portal an integral part of my new practice and would like to have everything from patient registration, bill pay, forms, online messaging, virtual visits, etc. I had planned to have things like registration, scheduling, refills, referrals, billing questions all be a free service and things like virtual visits/doc questions be a pay as you go or unlimited for yearly fee.

I guess my questions are

1) has anybody used Medfusion specifically for any of their services, or at least other similar services (i.e. relayhealth, etc)? Do these services really work as well as they appear when you read about them and see the demos, and will patients use (and pay for) them?

2) how have folks that have moved from a traditional practice to an IMP retrained their patients to utilize the online services instead of the telephone? Has is been hard or is it something patients really have been wanted but just don't get the opportunity? I hope that I have enough time to start warning my patients about the change in office communication to get them used to things.

First of many questions over the next few months as I start on my new venture...thanks to everyone

-- If you are a patient please allow up to 24 hours for a reply by email/please note the new email address.Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ MD

ph fax

[Guest guest]

also part 2: much phone stuff comes from things we do not have good systems forA do all prescriptions at the visit If you explain that to people they begin to undertsand that 1. it is time to come back when they a re out and

2 .they will call pharmacy first -- this redcues callsB MAke sure you have a good system t o get people lab results and then they will not call for thatAlot of phone calls is this thing that people more educated than I call the tragedy of the commons Or something

People call more when they can reach you less YOu become so valuable see when you are inaccessible YOu kow like gold If you cannot afford it it si valubale commodity as it is rare /drives up price all that stuff yes?

when you unfetter access when you drop barriers and people know thay can reach you they are secure and confident and call less Sorta way cool and non intutiiuveIn a big practice patietns call and get SAlly who has them talk to patty but MAry calls them back becasue they saw Dr M last time even thogugh usually they see DR H although they wan t to get into DR Z practice but she is too full etc etc

Probably you knew all this:)Jean

I had a couple questions for the group. I'm leaving my current practice as an employee of the hospital and starting my solo IMP late 2009/early 2010.

One of my biggest concerns if how to minimize my staff requirements and specifically reduce the amount of work that is done primarily by staff on the phone . I plan to have at most 1 total staff person in my new practice and would like that to even be part-time. Currently I am in a 2 physician practice and we have 2-3 staff in the office depending on the day. It seems like our phones ring constantly and 1-2 staff are almost always on the phone. We use Allscripts EHR and I just learned from them they are developing a partnership with Medfusion to integrate their online/patient portal tools into the Allscripts system. I plan to have the online portal an integral part of my new practice and would like to have everything from patient registration, bill pay, forms, online messaging, virtual visits, etc. I had planned to have things like registration, scheduling, refills, referrals, billing questions all be a free service and things like virtual visits/doc questions be a pay as you go or unlimited for yearly fee.

I guess my questions are

1) has anybody used Medfusion specifically for any of their services, or at least other similar services (i.e. relayhealth, etc)? Do these services really work as well as they appear when you read about them and see the demos, and will patients use (and pay for) them?

2) how have folks that have moved from a traditional practice to an IMP retrained their patients to utilize the online services instead of the telephone? Has is been hard or is it something patients really have been wanted but just don't get the opportunity? I hope that I have enough time to start warning my patients about the change in office communication to get them used to things.

First of many questions over the next few months as I start on my new venture...thanks to everyone

-- If you are a patient please allow up to 24 hours for a reply by email/please note the new email address.Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ MD

ph fax