Patient Access

for our upcoming webinar with Banner Health, where attendees will gain insights into the organization's workflow and processes.  It is estimated that 30-50% of denied claims occur on the front end during the patient access process, namely during registration, authorization and eligibility. Unfortunately, manual patient intake processes contribute to these denials, and ultimately, the bottom line, staff productivity and the patient experience take the hit. Banner Health chose to automate its patient access processes with eCare NEXT from Experian Health. The solution, which integrates directly with Banner Health’s acute and ambulatory electronic health records (EHRs), automates the organization’s preregistration workflow, including medical necessity and financial clearance. This improves registration accuracy, provides more accurate patient estimates and reduces the number of denials on the front end. Banner Health has benefited by incorporating a mix of Experian Health products that integrate directly and collaborate with other technologies and workflows already in place: Decrease in eligibility errors. With eCare NEXT, initial denials due to eligibility errors have been reduced by $30M in the first quarter alone since going live with Experian Health. Significant cost savings. With more accurate estimates, Banner Health has seen significant cost savings on the front end from more efficient coverage discovery. The system is consistently finding 30+% unique or new coverage in the patient access workflow. Improved staff engagement and satisfaction. Automation has greatly reduced manual inputs, enabling staff to focus more on the patient rather than systems and logins required for patient intake. Our partnership with Experian Health helps Banner Health's revenue cycle team deliver on its mission of “getting it right, at the right time, every time."  — Becky Peters, Executive Director of Patient Access Services, Banner Health  

It’s been almost an entire year since COVID-19 changed life as we know it. The good news? A vaccine has finally arrived and is currently making its way to distribution sites across the United States—a significant milestone as the nation has seen more than 16 million cases to date, and more that 300,000 deaths. Because of the current supply, the Centers for Disease Control are recommending healthcare personnel and residents of long-term care facilities receive the vaccine first. Supply is expected to increase in the weeks and months to come, however, and the goal is for everyone to have access to a vaccine by the second quarter of 2021. As healthcare organizations across the country prepare to meet the vaccine demand, it is expected the logistics and distribution management will add pressure to staff and services already under stress. The challenge: administer the vaccine as efficiently and safely as possible. Online patient scheduling has already been a game changer during the pandemic, but its potential as a traffic management tool to address the influx of vaccine appointment requests is even greater—and not just for patients. In the early stages of deployment, online self-scheduling can be a game changer for healthcare workers and other essential employees looking to schedule and receive the vaccine. Here are four ways providers can leverage online patient self-scheduling for the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine: Designate day and time slots specifically for administering vaccines By incorporating providers’ scheduling rules into the scheduling process, there is the opportunity to designate specific day and time slots for administering the vaccine. It not only makes it easy for patients to schedule, but it additionally allows both patients and providers to further minimize the risk of unnecessary contact with others in the office. Create screening questionnaires during patient scheduling As more patients go on-site for the vaccine, they must be routed to the most appropriate care source and location. This will prevent unnecessary traffic and bottlenecks in the office, while ensuring the safety of individuals. As soon as a patient begins to book a vaccine appointment a few short questions about their symptoms and reason for booking can be presented. A screening questionnaire like this can triage people wanting to get a vaccine or get tested, and help identify potential COVID-19 positive individuals, and if that individual needs to quarantine prior to coming in for the vaccine. After screening, the system can direct patients through the correct channel of care. Screening questionnaires can also be used to determine if a patient is eligible for the vaccine given the current status of vaccine deployment. Older patients may be given priority whereas younger patients may be told to schedule at a later date. A system like this can also reduce pressure on call center staff and give providers control over the volume and timing of in-person appointments, thus helping to reduce patient and staff exposure to any contagion. Make it as easy as possible for patients to schedule both doses Most of the early COVID-19 vaccines will require shots to be effective, with the second dose being administered 21 to 28 days after the first. It’s critical that the second does is administered in a timely manner. There are a few ways to encourage patients to return. First, providers can help patients book their follow-up appointment in the office before leaving. Second, providers can leverage automated outreach as a method to contact and remind patients to book a follow-up. Experian Health’s Patient Outreach Solutions have been purpose built to meet this need, sending outreach campaigns to individuals enabling them to self-schedule needed care conveniently, right from a text or voice message. Automated outreach would allow providers to reach out to specific subsets of patients that may require or benefit from the vaccine early on, like older individuals or those with chronic conditions. With it, providers have the ability to reach out to hundreds, even thousands of patients without manual call center workload – something that will come in handy as now the majority of Americans plan to get vaccinated for the coronavirus. Improve the efficiency of drive-through vaccination programs For those providers considering drive-through vaccinations (similar to drive-through COVID testing), online scheduling makes a huge difference—not only for booking an appointment, but for preventing bottlenecks as patients arrive. Detailed information such as the patient’s vehicle model, color and license plate number can all be recorded ahead of time during the screening process, allowing providers to quickly identify patients as they arrive. Learn more about the benefits of digital scheduling and how Experian Health can help your organization navigate the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Scheduling an appointment shouldn’t be complicated. Yet too often, patients are left to figure out their next move alone, with just a single phone number to call. Frustrated and confused, patients may drop out of the scheduling process entirely or miss the appointments they’ve already booked. Missed appointments can lead to critical gaps in care, poor health outcomes and possible readmissions, and they are also unnecessarily costly for providers. But what if you could make scheduling easy? Minimizing the burden on patients could close more gaps in care, improve the patient experience and reduce call center workload at the same time. Automated, targeted outreach campaigns can help you do exactly this. 5 ways automated patient outreach can help close gaps in care 1. Quicker and easier for patients to book care An automated solution can send targeted text messages (SMS) or interactive voice calls (IVR) to patients to remind them to book an appointment. By providing a self-scheduling link in the message, patients can book their appointment immediately. Patients are often more likely to schedule when they’re given a reminder plus a booking link, compared to a reminder message alone. There’s less risk of appointments being forgotten, sealing any potential care gaps from the start. 2. More appointments booked Automation also means you can contact and schedule more patients than if your call center was contacting each person individually. One large Medicaid managed care plan saw a 140% increase in their scheduling rates since using Patient Schedule. They’re able to match patients to the right provider first time, protecting calendars from errant bookings and eliminating the dreaded three-way calls between member, provider and payer.  3. More patients showing up to appointments When automated patient outreach is paired with digital scheduling, patients are far more likely to show up to appointments. The Iowa Clinic found that when patients book online, they’re not only more likely to show up, but they feel more engaged and eager to follow their care plan. Their patient show rates are as high as 97% for appointments scheduled online. If those patients are also more engaged, that’s a good sign that care gaps can be minimized too.  4. Better coordination of transport services One obstacle to attending non-emergency appointments that is often overlooked is the lack of access to reliable transportation. With automated scheduling software, this can be easily fixed. Once a member has booked an appointment, data analytics can flag up a potential need for transportation, so the member can be sent an automated text reminder to book transport. And if they need to reschedule for some reason, the transportation booking will auto-update too. Patients (and staff) no longer need to wrangle two separate systems for booking appointments and transportation. 5. Better management of wait lists and reduced call times Another way to close gaps in care is to give patients the option to book an earlier appointment, if a slot becomes available. Seeing their doctor sooner can mean quicker treatment and reduce the chance of a patient disengaging with their care plan because of a long wait. With automated outreach, you can send an automatic message to offer an earlier appointment, and then cancel the old booking (and offer it to others) at the same time. This enables better wait list management and can reduce call time for staff by an average of 50%. Automated patient outreach is a win-win. It’s far more convenient for patients, and drives down costs for providers and payers. Learn more about how automated appointment reminders and digital patient scheduling can help your organization improve the patient experience and close costly gaps in care.

As 2020 draws to a close and headlines hint that the end might finally be in sight for the pandemic, the healthcare industry is considering COVID-19’s legacy. The sudden shift to contactless care, financial consequences of widespread social distancing measures and changing expectations of the patient experience have upended the world of healthcare and health IT – but which changes are here to stay? And what do these changes mean for the patient experience in 2021? We asked several leaders across Experian Health for their predictions in the areas of patient access, collections, and identity management, and here is a preview of what they had to say: “Patients will choose providers that give them control over their healthcare experience” Patients have more opportunity today than ever before to manage their healthcare experience from the comfort of their own home, whether that be through patient portals, online self-scheduling and registration or online payment tools. As lockdowns and social distancing prevented patients from presenting in person, providers were forced to offer patients with more options for self-service. Unsurprisingly, this was a move a lot of patients have been waiting for and many welcomed this new technology with open arms. Jason Kressel, senior vice president of consumer products and analytics at Experian Health, expects that, as patients become more accustomed to this level of self-service, more than half of consumers will change providers in favor of one that offers premium digital healthcare services: “Providers who can meet patients where they are—through web-based services and via their mobile devices—will have the most success with retaining and attracting patients.” Online self-scheduling can put patients in the driver seat while also avoiding unnecessary contact while many remain cautious about on-site visits. With access issues removed, the patient experience will improve, in turn improving health outcomes (and providers’ bottom lines!). “With hospital finances on shaky ground, collections will be a top priority for survival” As COVID-related unemployment leads to an unstable insurance landscape, many providers are worried about maintaining effective collections processes, and they cannot afford to spend time chasing payments. Guarding against uncompensated care and tightening up the collections process will be essential. Automated collections software can help collections teams focus their efforts on patients who are most likely to pay, while also helping patients manage their financial obligations with as little stress as possible. Providers can also quickly determine which patients qualify for financial assistance, helping them get them on the right payment pathway for their circumstance without delay. Not only will this provide a much better patient financial experience, it’ll prevent “lost coverage” and allow providers to collect a larger portion of dollars owed. “The surge in portal usage means providers need to watch out for fraudsters” What does the rapid growth in portal uptake mean for data security? The speedy rollout of telehealth and other digital services has exposed security concerns for many providers, who fear a rise in fraudulent activity in 2021 as cybercriminals sniff out opportunities to steal patient data. To protect patient information and avoid costly reputational damage, providers must adopt more sophisticated identity management solutions. By combining cutting edge identity proofing, risk-based authentication and knowledge-based questions, providers can more easily verify a patient’s identity when they log on to their portal, greatly eliminating the risk of fraud. Interested in learning more about other trends that could affect the patient experience moving forward?

The manual process for fielding scheduling calls isn't an easy one. Calls can take up to 20 minutes, and call center agents may have to comb through binders or spreadsheets of provider calendars and scheduling rules to book a single appointment. As a result, call center staff may only be able to place a handful of patients per day, despite receiving hundreds of scheduling calls. This not only contributes to a poor patient experience but can cause care delays and potentially push patients to seek care from surrounding competitors. Prior to working with Experian Health, call center agents at Heritage Medical Associates were manually scheduling patients with the process described above, and only able to place three to five patients per day with calls lasting several minutes. With Experian Health’s call center scheduling solution in place, call center agents now have access to all of the organization’s 135+ providers in a single digital platform. With an integration with Allscripts, call center agents can see all available appointments in real-time, identify the best provider and appointment for a patient’s specific care need and then book the appointment on the spot. Heritage Medical Associates has seen several improvements since working with Experian Health. Increased call center efficiency. The time spent on the phone for scheduling an appointment has been nearly cut in half — from seven minutes down to just four. With more time, call center agents can now place between 40 and 50 patients per day. Improved patient experience. Patients who called in to book an appointment, reported higher levels of satisfaction as they were able to navigate to the right provider and appointment more quickly. Enhanced physician satisfaction. By automating their scheduling rules, providers can ensure that any open appointment slots are booked according to their personal preferences. They can better predict their schedules and maintain control over their calendars with the new solution. Improvements to the bottom line. As each individual provider and separate location becomes more efficient, Heritage Medical Associates as a whole has been able to control overhead and has seen quantifiable improvement to its bottom line. “The physicians that I’ve talked with so far find that they have a more efficient and planned day, and it’s more relaxing. Their productivity is increased, and, at the same time, they’ve been able to reduce some of the stresses of their schedule.” — Jim Browne, Chief Executive Officer, Heritage Medical Associates Learn more about how you can improve call center efficiency and the patient experience with guided search and scheduling.

A consumer-first healthcare revolution has been simmering for years. Despite efforts to create more human-friendly services, the industry still lags behind other consumer-centric sectors. Patients want healthcare to be simple, convenient and on-demand, but a persistent lack of coordination, accessibility and affordability leaves many struggling to navigate the healthcare landscape with ease. Is this about to change? Has COVID-19 flipped the switch? The pandemic has prompted people to engage with their own care in a way the industry hasn’t seen before, with a surge in telehealth and virtual care. Infection-control forced much of the patient journey online, while providers were pushed to find new ways to communicate quickly and clearly. Now, those with an eye on the road to post COVID-19 financial recovery are optimizing these digital strategies to meet new consumer expectations and improve patient loyalty. Embracing digital technology and automation throughout the entire patient journey will be key to patient acquisition and retention. Where should providers focus first? 4 consumer-led strategies to keep patients loyal 1. Prioritize convenience across the entire consumer experience Eighty percent of patients would switch providers for convenience factors alone – ranking ‘convenient, easy access’ ahead of insurance coverage and quality of care. Creating a digital experience that gives patients the flexibility and simplicity they desire should be priority number one in any patient loyalty plan. Providers can start by reviewing their digital platforms. Encourage patients to use their patient portal to access information, book appointments and manage their healthcare when appropriate. Telehealth and virtual care solutions can be future-proofed with reliable identity protection, so patients can safely access care from home and not worry about cumbersome log-in procedures. 2. Make patient access…accessible The patient experience shouldn’t begin with time-consuming forms, long waits and error-prone manual intake processes. Rather, providers can make it easy for patients to complete as many tasks as possible BEFORE they set foot in the office by automating patient access. Online patient scheduling lets patients book, cancel and change appointments online – which 77% of patients say is very important. It has the potential to reduce delays and no-shows, and can minimize the administrative burden for provider staff. While patients remain concerned about the risk of infection during COVID-19, providers can ease their concerns by reducing face-to-face contact with online pre-registration. 3. Respond to affordability and pricing pain points One Experian Health study found that the top pain points in the consumer journey center on the financial experience, from shopping for health insurance to understanding medical bills. Patients may be unsure what their insurance covers, whether their deductible has been met and whether they can afford the out-of-pocket costs. By providing clear, upfront pricing information about coverage and financial responsibility, providers can protect their patients from unnecessary surprises and reduce the risk of missed payments. Self-service patient payment tools can simplify the payment process too: patients can settle their bills anytime, anywhere, and get advice on financial assistance and best-fit payment plans. 4. Personalize the patient experience from end to end A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t cut it anymore. Patients are looking for communications and services tailored to their individual needs. That used to be both technically and logistically impossible, but not anymore. Providers today can use comprehensive data and analytics to personalize the entire healthcare journey, from customer relationship management to patient collections. By combining automation, self-service tools and accurate insights into the patient’s circumstances, providers can help consumers make better decisions about their care and how to pay for it. To ensure data reliability and integrity, providers should consider partnering with a trusted data vendor, who can translate robust, multi-source consumer and financial data into a competitive consumer experience. There is no question that COVID-19 has changed the way we do healthcare, but the industry is perfectly posed to harness the change in consumer behavior and shift towards greater patient engagement. By bringing together a myriad of digital tools, providers can create a healthcare experience that’s convenient, compassionate and in line with consumer expectations. Interested in learning more about how we can help your organization welcome new patients through its digital door, and boost loyalty among existing patients?

“It’s important to provide our patients with the absolute best access channels to quickly and seamlessly connect with the care they need. Experian Health’s solution guides our patients to the right care and digitally connects them with a confirmed appointment.” - Kaci Husted, Vice President, Benefis Health System It’s shouldn’t come as a surprise that patients today want their healthcare experience to mirror the flexibility and convenience that they are now accustomed to with other industries. Notably, patients want easier and faster access to care, and preferably without having to pick up the phone to call and make an appointment.   Benefis Health System knew it needed to provide patients with a new and improved access experience. Patients were required to call the office during business hours to book an appointment, and while some may have been immediately connected with a scheduler, others would have to leave a voicemail or be placed on hold. The process was not only taking valuable time out of patients’ days but carried the risk of delaying care. With online self-scheduling in place, patients can schedule an appointment online with any of Benefis Health System’s 300+ providers, regardless of time of day. The solution leverages powerful decision support, which guides patients directly into the appointment type and provider necessary for the treatment they need. It’s good for patients and providers, as the solution’s accuracy prevents any misplacement of patients to the wrong provider or appointment type. Patients started using the self-scheduling solution almost immediately after it was available. Benefis Health System has since experienced the following results: Improved access to care. Patients of Benefis Health System have used the system to book many appointments outside of office hours, with 50% of its patient base booking after hours. Better access to urgent care. One of Benefis Health System’s urgent care centers has seen a large uptick in online self-scheduling. In fact, 52% of patients are scheduling appointments online for that location. Ongoing improvements with analytics. Benefis Health System is leveraging analytics to track how many patients use online self-scheduling and can identify when and where they might fall out. They can see the pitfalls and where improvements may be necessary and make those changes in real time to drive better conversion rates. Currently, 23.6% of patients who start the process are converting to a booked appointment. Interested to see how online self-scheduling can help your organization improve access to care?

In previous winters, anyone struck by a sore throat or fever might assume they had flu, and head to bed with a hot drink and some painkillers. This year, the looming specter of COVID-19 could prompt those with flu-like symptoms to seek medical care instead. Combined with a likely second wave of COVID-19 cases as lockdown requirements relax, healthcare organizations anticipate a surge in patients seeking tests and treatment this winter. To protect against a possible “twindemic”, where COVID-19 and winter flu season collide, providers will want to ensure the patient intake and access process is as easy and efficient as possible—and not just for regular appointments with a primary care physician or specialist, but for pandemic- and flu-related services like COVID tests, flu shots, and more. Online scheduling has been a game-changer during the pandemic: could it be the key to surviving a twindemic? With the right digital tools in place, providers can screen patients for their COVID-19 or flu risk before attending an in-person appointment, helping separate healthy patients from those suspected of having either illness. Providers can also leverage those same digital tools to streamline activity like flu shots, or even drive-through testing for COVID-19. Four ways to leverage digital scheduling for a twindemic These four steps could be key to protecting patients, streamlining workflows and reducing pressures on call centers during flu season as it collides with COVID-19: 1. Create screening questionnaires during patient scheduling As soon as the patient logs on to book an appointment, they are asked to answer a few short questions about their symptoms. A screening questionnaire can triage people wanting to get tested, while the answers inform providers of the likelihood of a patient having COVID-19 and if that individual needs to quarantine. After being screened, the system can direct patients through the correct channel of care based on the information provided. A similar questionnaire could be adapted during flu season for providers to assess and compare symptoms and risks ahead of time. Providers can even designate day and time slots available to patients for flu vaccinations, making it easy for patients to schedule on their own time and further minimizing the risk of unnecessary contact with other patients in office. 2. Direct patients to drive-through testing to minimize in-person tests Depending on the answers given during screening, patients may be directed to virtual and disease-specific care, such as drive-through COVID-testing. An online scheduling platform can easily be used to book appointments for tests, presenting patients with any available time slots, either same-day or a few days out. The platform can also record information about the patient’s vehicle to quickly identify patients and avoid bottlenecks in the drive-through. With so many patients hesitant to show for in-person visits today, a similar system for flu shots could serve providers well. 3. Use guided search to direct patients to the right virtual services Virtual care has proven both necessary and valuable during the current pandemic. Not only has it kept patients in close contact with providers and specialists, but it has helped providers capture revenue lost from the cancellation or delay of in-person appointments. Virtual care will be increasingly critical during a dual COVID-19/flu season. By asking the right questions during online scheduling, patients can be connected to the correct provider, whether virtual or in-person, for their needs and book an appointment quickly and easily. 4. Eliminate walk-through traffic at urgent care centers Urgent care centers are already known to be the ‘doctor of choice’ for many patients, but this could pose a few challenges for both patients and providers during a dual pandemic. Rather than be a gathering spot for patients with both illnesses, urgent care centers may want to consider switching to an appointment-only system, where appointments must be scheduled online or by phone. This can help reduce the number of in-person visits and walk-in traffic, which will not only help keep everyone safe and healthy but contribute to a far better patient experience as patients wouldn’t have to sit and wait to be seen by a provider. Interested in hearing more about how online scheduling could help your organization manage flu season as it collies with COVID-19?

Before working with Experian Health, call center operations at Sanford Health were disparate and disjointed, with each call center operating on a different phone system with different carriers. While some centers saw high abandonment rates, others were waiting around for calls. Although Sanford attempted to create balance by placing accounts in a work queue, the process for managing outbound collection calls remained manual and it was impossible to identify and strategically contact patients based on ability to pay. Sanford took steps to improve collections with a patient-focused, hybrid approach that combines employee incentives with segmentation strategies. Since working with Experian Health, Sanford now has a focused approach to managing accounts receivable (AR) by identifying patients with a certain propensity to pay. Collections Optimization Manager allows Sanford to quickly identify a pathway and delivery to resolution of the patient’s balance. The analytical segmentation models within Collections Optimization Manager use precise algorithms that reveal those patients who likely are eligible for charity services, those who might prefer to pay in full at a discount, or those who might benefit from a payment plan. The solution then feeds segmentation data to PatientDial, which Sanford uses to route calls to 70 patient account representatives. Sanford also implemented a re-designed, more user-friendly patient statement format. The improved cover page offers easy-to-understand information about the bill including the available options for payment. In a larger effort to improve the patient experience, Sanford implemented an employee incentive program that appropriately rewards staff based on their collections’ performance. Since working with Experian Health, Sanford has seen the following improvements: Streamlined call center operations. With PatientDial in place, Sanford was able to consolidate its call center team members in 4 regions and seamlessly operate on centralized toll free and direct dial numbers. Where it used to take on average 56 seconds for a call to be answered, calls are now answered in 20 seconds or less. The system now comfortably manages an average of 12,000 inbound calls weekly. Increased collections. The model in place has allowed Sanford to improve collections in a myriad of ways. In addition to increased collections from calls made through PatientDial, Sanford was able to see an additional $2.5M in patient payments by ensuring patient statements were sent to the new or correct address. The system found an additional $60K by identifying new guarantors for accounts of deceased patients. The segmentation capabilities from Experian Health also enabled Sanford to identify patients struggling with bankruptcy, allowing staff to focus their efforts on collectible accounts and more efficiently direct individuals to charity options. Learn more about Sanford Health’s journey and how a similar approach could help your organization improve collections and employee satisfaction.