As medical revenue processes evolve towards more value-focused systems, it’s imperative that healthcare professionals identify viable solutions that will maintain revenue streams. Traditionally, maintaining revenue streams meant providing high-quality care, while simultaneously ensuring proper payment for appointments.

The medical landscape is rapidly changing, however, and such a basic transactional exchange simply isn’t enough. Patients now expect more open lines of communication, and follow up regarding ongoing medical concerns.

Then vs Now

In the past, staff would spend hours submitting insurance claims and entering patient data, as well as making phone calls to patients and coordinating with other providers, specialists, and parties of interest. Unfortunately, these tasks all had to be done manually, which consumed a considerable amount of time that would have otherwise been spent providing a higher quality of healthcare to patients.  

Over the course of the last decade, technology has quickly been reshaping the foundational basics of healthcare as we know it. Unnecessary tasks are being eliminated, which frees up time to focus on more meaningful work. This, in turn, results in better operational efficiency and an enhanced patient experience.

Transitioning to EHR has been a true catalyst of change in the healthcare space. A close second relates to improved patient communication, with many medical practices now using text message reminders to minimize the number of missed appointments.

On this surface, this may sound great. Once you dig a little deeper, however, what you will discover is that most of these platforms don’t allow for two-way conversations. This presents a substantial missed opportunity, especially as patients have come to expect more and more from their healthcare providers

So, what’s the solution? How can you take things one step farther?

Our recommendation is to incorporate a HIPAA-compliant patient communication software into your practice.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was established to protect the privacy of patients’ health information. Using HIPAA-compliant patient communication software, as opposed to a more scaled down platform, boasts major financial and operational benefits like increased collections and decreased support costs. It also ensures that patient confidentiality is maintained.

But that’s not all.

How HIPAA-Compliant Patient Communications Can Boost Your Practice’s Revenue

Here are the 5 additional ways HIPAA-compliant patient communication can boost your practice’s revenue, improve your bottom line, and provide for a better patient experience.

1. You Will See a Decrease in Missed Appointments

Think about this for a minute: how many times do you ignore a text message? Now, how many times do you ignore an email?

Research has found that text messages have a roughly 98% open rate, whereas emails are only opened – on average – 20% of the time.

With Curogram’s 2-way text messaging, you can send:

• Appointment reminders
• Directions to your office
• Simple surveys
• Access to your top reviews

By sending appointment reminders via 2-way text messaging, your patients are more likely to show up to their appointments… and on time.

But that’s not all.

They will also be able to reschedule at a more convenient time, based on their schedule and your availability, as opposed to just not showing up at all.

Let’s look at how much money you’re leaving on the table because of no-show appointments. Let’s say:

• You’re currently scheduling 500 appointments per month
• Each appointment is worth $200
• There’s a 30% no-show rate

This equates to $30,000 in missed revenue, per month.

Here’s how we have arrived at this number:

• 500 appointments per month x 30% no-show rate = 150 no-shows per month
• $200 cost per appointment x 150 no-shows per month = $30,000 missed revenue per month

If you want to stop this type of financial hemorrhaging, HIPAA-compliant patient communication software that provides 2-way text messaging can help. In fact, according to a study conducted by the Department of Primary Care and Social Medicine at the Imperial College London, no-show rates were 38% lower amongst patients who received a text message appointment reminder.

2. It Will Be Easier to Keep Your Calendar Full

When patients cancel appointments at the last minute, you need a strategy to fill the openings. Through Curogram’s HIPAA-compliant secure patient messaging system, you can communicate directly with clients on your waitlist, which will minimize your loss of revenue due to patient cancellations and no-shows.

Integrating this type of innovative patient communication into your overall operations will help fill appointments with same-day scheduling. It will also give you the ability to treat more of your patients in a timely manner.

3. You Will See an Increase in Productivity

Prior to COVID-19, practice management was typically performed by front office staff. And more often times than not, everything was managed via the telephone. With Curogram, your team can make more time for in-office visits to enhance your patient’s experiences and treatments.  

Additionally, you can better engage with new patients by directing them to your website so that they can learn more about your practice and the services you provide, as well as fill out any necessary patient intake forms prior to their visit. Existing patients can be directed to your patient portal so that they can update their records electronically.

4. You Will Be Able to Communicate More Effectively with Your Patients

Billing under a value-focused system is just as important as patient experience. For successful billing, however, you need seamless communication. The problem is that traditional billing requires multiple steps, including manual data entry. This can – and often does – result in billing errors, which is embarrassing for you and frustrating for your patients.

A HIPAA-compliant patient communication platform such as Curogram simplifies this process by integrating 2-way text messaging, which gives you the ability to follow up with your existing patients, while still adhering to HIPAA guidelines. Our system makes it easy to keep track of multiple conversations at once.

5. You Will Retain More of Your Current Patients

It’s no secret that businesses, regardless of industry, must retain clients long-term to increase revenue. In fact, in some instances, increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profits by 25%.

Quality of experience is one of the most important factors when it comes to patient retention. By communicating with your patients through HIPAA-compliant patient communication software, you can be extremely proactive in improving their experience when it comes to appointments and follow-ups. You will also be showing them that you’re staying on top of trends so that you can deliver a higher quality of care.  

At the end of the day, patient engagement is – and always will be – a major factor when it comes to growing your medical practice. By implementing the right patient communication software into your practice, engagement will improve, and your revenue will subsequently increase.

The True Value of Incorporating HIPAA-Compliant Patient Communication Software into Your Practice

If you are looking for ways to improve your medical practice’s operations, save money and increase revenue, seamless patient communication software is no longer just a “nice to have.” It’s a necessity.

Curogram is an easy-to-use, HIPAA-compliant patient communication software that will improve patient engagement, make it easier to schedule and coordinate appointments, and cut down on manual data entry.

Oh, and implementation is probably easier than you think.

Schedule a demo today to learn more about how we can help you elevate your practice, both in profitability and patient satisfaction.