Doctor Appointment Reminder

Dealing with the top challenges faced by medical practices today: Rising operating costs

Thursday, January 19, 2012 by Susan Linton

Continuing with the theme of the last post, we're taking a closer look at one of the main challenges faced by medical practices according to the 2011 MGMA member survey. For the past few years, operating costs have been rising faster than revenues for the average medical practice and this trend is expected to continue.

Cost cutting is a necessity for medical practices. Automation of routine tasks can help cut costs and boost office efficiency without compromising customer service. Let's look at three ways that automation decreases business operating expenses:

Incoming message management. An automated answering service can replace the more expensive live doctor answering services. A virtual office phone answering service records messages and sends new message notifications, providing greater message accuracy and greater speed and reliability than a live human operator can. The automated service can route callers according to their reason for calling and perform many of the functions of a medical receptionist when the practice is closed.

Timely responses to after hours calls from patients with the need for clinical advice are also an opportunity to increase patient satisfaction and look after your patient's health.

Outgoing automated messages that improve communication with patients. An automated notifications service can perform functions typically performed by a receptionist, including sending out appointment reminders, payment reminders, lab results availability, and more. Think of how many appointment reminder calls your office makes per week, per month, and per year. The cost of those phone calls adds up quickly, especially if you pay extra for long distance. With an automated reminders system in place, you can decrease your monthly phone bills. If you mail appointment reminders, shifting to automated phone reminders will save you about 35 cents per postcard or 85 cents per letter.

Offering greater convenience with self service tools. A new survey conducted by Intuit, the company behind Quicken Health financial management software, found that 72% of respondents said they would "use online tools to pay bills, send messages to physicians, make appointments and get lab results. Eighty-four percent would fill out forms online prior to an appointment if that option were available."

Cost cutting need not involve reducing staff but it should involve making better use of your staff and increasing office efficiency. Instead of paying your receptionist to make hundreds of reminder calls per week, why not have her use her time in a more valuable way? Let the service send out the reminders through an automated call system. Maybe your receptionist can spend that extra time on billing or something that raises your revenues. You won't have to hire someone just to help out with making phone calls.

Online sources of practice management tips

Tuesday, October 11, 2011 by Susan Linton

I've scoured the Web to find websites that medical practice managers should bookmark.

MedPage Today: Check out Rosemarie Nelson's column, Practice Pointers. Ms. Nelson is a former practice manager and a principal with the MGMA Health Care Consulting Group.

Medical Economics: Access free articles on practice management and read blog posts from other practice managers.

Physicians Practice: Read the online version of Physicians Practice, the leading practice management journal. The site also has a buyer's guide, tools, podcasts, CME, enewsletter sign-up and more. Don't forget to read the Tech Doctor column: Appointment reminders, explore your options for setting up autodialing appointment reminders.

Manage My Practice: I've been reading Mary Pat Whaley's blog for years. She's an experienced practice manager and the top medical office manager blogger.

Medical Practice Trends: This is an attractive website with content (blogs, podcasts, articles) tailored to the interest of practice managers.

Medical Group Management Association: Since most medical group managers belong to MGMA, this list wouldn't be complete without mentioning MGMA's website, including its online courses, member directory, job listings, benchmarking tools and more. Members get additional benefits.

I hope you found these sites useful. Please share any sites that you know about by leaving a comment.

Mobile smartphone apps for patients, providers and practice administrators

Thursday, October 6, 2011 by Susan Linton

I've picked out a few of the best mobile apps that I've seen and included links to other articles about health-related mobile apps. Downloading the app is one thing but actually using it is another; an April 2011 survey by Consumer Health Information Corporation found that 26% of apps are downloaded and used only once.

Some of these apps look so useful and having them accessible on the phone is so convenient, that hopefully people will actually use these apps.

FOR PATIENTS

Enjoy access to WebMD's health information on your iPhone and iPad. Their mobile app has a symptom checker, first aid essentials, drug database, local health listings, pill identifier and more. WebMD mobile is free.

Additional patient health apps: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/26/iphone-apps-health

FOR PROVIDERS

Procedures Consult is a tool that offers procedure checklists, ICD-9 and CPT codes, universal protocols, video tutorials and more. It looks like they have a free trial.

Additional apps for physicians:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2010/03/free-iphone-medical-apps-doctor.html
http://www.physicianspractice.com/mobile-health/content/article/1462168/1589750

FOR PRACTICE ADMINISTRATORS

The apps that I found are productivity boosters that anyone can use. If you like making task lists, try Remember the Milk. I first encountered this app through my very organized colleague. He had tasks and appointments set for a couple of years out. The application is free and it will send you reminders. Patients would benefit from using it too, to get appointment reminders (maybe your practice sends them, but most of us can never get too many reminders), medication reminders, bill pay reminders and more.

Additional apps for practice administrators: http://blog.mgma.com/blog/bid/32731/7-smartphone-apps-for-patients-and-medical-practice-administrators

Understanding the basics of automated appointment reminders

Thursday, September 15, 2011 by Webley MD

Driven by economic necessity, many physicians are seeing more patients than ever. Some are extending their hours to accommodate more patients. "According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, more than one in three primary care doctors now sees patients after hours, a figure experts say has surged among all specialties in the past 12 to 18 months."

This increase in patient load puts a greater demand on office staff as well. Over 75% of physician's practices use reminder telephone calls from their staff to remind patients about their appointment time and date. Even the smallest practice can benefit from automating appointment reminder calls.

Reminder phone calls from a phone dialer program help maintain peak patient flow. An automated appointment reminder system uses a computer software program to dial customers at a preset time before their appointment. A pre-recorded message provides a details of the appointment, including date, time and patient name. Even messages that are left on answering machines serve as effective reminders. However, the most effective reminder (i.e., the one with the lowest probability of a no show) is one where you reach your patient and your patient confirms the appointment.

Traditional communication methods have grown less effective

Many traditional patient appointment reminder techniques are no longer as effective today because lifestyles and communication preferences have changed. It's easier to reach many people on their cell phone and email than at home with a phone call.

Calling patients to remind them of upcoming appointments may take up several hours of effort. Dialing each person by hand and speaking with them, or leaving a message takes away from patients that are in the office. Using an automated phone reminder service can help to reach patients without the effort of a staff member. And the phone dialer can make calls during the evening, when the practice is closed and patients are more likely to be home.

Automated phone reminders are more efficient and more cost effective. The cost of making an automated phone call is typically 80% less than mailing a postcard and 72% less than making a manual phone call.

The same call reminder can deliver other routine messages, such as account balance notifications, lab test results, recommended health screenings, and more.

Automated phone calls have proven effective at getting the patient's attention and may offer interactive features that make it convenient for the patient to respond. This also makes it extremely easy for practices to track responses.

Leveraging technology for healthier patients and practices

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 by Webley MD

Healthcare is an industry that struggles to meet the challenge of reconciling high touch with high tech. The essence of healthcare resides in the personal relationship between a patient and that patient’s physician. Technology, in many cases, appears to erode that sense of personalization that patients seek.

A virtual medical assistant can actually help strengthen the practice-patient relationship by providing both parties with timely, easily accessible, relevant, and convenient communication. Patients, like doctors and the front office staff, are busy and they appreciate phone reminders from their practice. Without a reminder, appointments are more likely to be missed and are often rescheduled much later or not at all.

Automated reminder calls that prevent a missed appointment may mean the difference between the early detection and treatment of a life threatening disease or a serious illness that is detected too late.

An automated call service not only increases the probability that a patient is seen and issues diagnosed as early as possible but it also ensures higher revenues for the practice. From the practitioner’s perspective, this type of medical practice support optimizes a doctor’s time so that he or she can help the greatest number of patients in a day without having to experience ebbs and flows in the daily appointment schedule. That proves to be healthy for the physician, both physically and mentally, and it also ensures a steady flow of paying patients so that the practice can continue to employ other physicians, nurses, technologists, back office staff and the like.

A reminder call service is a win/win for doctor and patient. The technology will both reduce costs and increase revenues, thereby providing the means and the incentives for physicians to continue to deliver quality health with greater efficiency. Patients experience continuity of care and better health.

Tips for keeping your automated calls respectful, personal, and effective

Thursday, August 25, 2011 by Webley MD

Automated telephone reminders can sometimes be perceived as impersonal. However, this misconception is easily corrected by working to improve your patient's experience with your new computerized system. Here are three easy ways to be respectful, personal, and effective with your automated reminder calls.

1. Be aware of your messaging schedule
Have your reminder service send your messages at times that people are most likely to be home (after dinner) and available to take your call. Many people will not answer the phone during dinner, so avoiding the 5:30pm to 6:30pm time frame is a wise practice. Also, be aware of holidays and weekends, especially high travel times like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year celebrations.

2. Always be respectful
As you are well aware, medical matters require the utmost privacy. In your appointment reminder, don't reveal what the appointment is specifically for. Sometimes even mentioning that your doctor is the OB/GYN can be embarrassing for some. “Remember your appointment with Dr. Smith” is perfectly sufficient. Remember that just about anyone can be listening to the messages on an answering machine or taking the reminder call. Be respectful of your patient's privacy and they will be grateful.

3. Invite a two-way communication
One of the benefits of having your receptionist perform your reminder calls is that if the patient has any questions, she is already speaking with a live person who can answer them. In most cases, the patient doesn't have questions, so the pre-recorded message is sufficient. But sometimes the patient will have a question. To account for this possibility, be sure to include the practice phone number in your message script.

Your automated reminder may also be interactive. For example, the patient may be able to confirm the reminder by pressing a button. This type of message is superior to one that does not allow for two-way communication.

In the end, remember that automated communications can be just as personal and convenient as having your receptionist perform all the calls. It just takes the right combination of respect and usefulness to make the new system satisfying for your practice and your patients.

The rise of convenient care clinics and what it means for your practice

Wednesday, August 10, 2011 by Susan Linton

Last week MinuteClinic, the nation's largest provider of walk-in retail medical clinics in the U.S., announced that it reached the 10 million patient visit milestone. They opened their first retail clinic in 200 and now have close to 600 clinics in 26 states. The rapid growth of retail medical clinics has been driven by their ability to offer convenient, affordable care. And patients have by and large been satisfied with the services they've received.

Medical practices have several key advantages over retail clinics and one major disadvantage, accessibility. By emphasizing advantages and addressing the major disadvantage, practices can better compete with retail clinics.

Medical practice advantages:

Wider range of available services
Stronger relationship with existing patients
Physicians and the trust that people have for physicians

Emphasize those selling points on your practice website, blog, Facebook page, newsletter, etc. (your marketing materials). Strengthen your relationship with patients by improving communication with them. Communicate more often and use different communication channels. Try to involve your physicians and increase their visibility (e.g., for the ones that are interested, encourage them to get involved in online social networking).

Consider proactively communicating with patients using automated broadcast messaging. For example, helping patients keep track of when its time to come in for an annual exam by sending automated reminders is a valuable service that keeps patients healthy and strengthens the relationship between your practice and the patient.

Automated patient messaging services make it easy and cost effective for busy medical practices to reach a large number of patients with reminder calls and reminder emails. These services also make it easy to personalize and customize messages.

Addressing the key disadvantage of medical practices

Consider making a few changes to make your practice more accessible. Start by reminding your patients that you are available after hours, that you have self-service features and that you are available by email for non-emergency situations.

Let your patients know about your after hours accessibility. When patients need medical advice, you want them to think of you - but they might not do so unless you make it clear that your practice can be reached after hours. Post your after hours policy on your practice website if you have one. Let them know that your after hours calls are listened to and that they can expect a call back within a short period of time. Setting expectations will alleviate your patient's anxiety.

The best way to provide after hours care to your patients and to keep them from making unnecessary emergency room visits is to use an automated after hours answering service with call routing and message notification features. An automated answering service puts the triage decisions back in the hands of the person best suited to make those decisions, the on-call physician, while saving the physician from dealing with callers who do not require clinical advice. The physician can screen each call, and decide to take the call or let the caller leave a voice message.

Offer self-service features. If your practice has a website, you can provide basic information on the site (e.g., directions, hours of operation). Or more sophisticated patient portals offer access to medical records, online bill pay, refill requests and e-consults.

Allow patients to email your practice. Many patients would like to communicate with their doctors via email and this type of communication has been shown to increase effectiveness of care and reduce healthcare costs. Make sure you clearly state how patients should use e-mail (e.g., not to email when experiencing a medical emergency) and expected response time. Also make sure these communications are secure (encrypted).

It may make sense for your practice to stay open longer hours and leave some unscheduled slots for drop-in patients. Patients who are experiencing discomfort are naturally concerned and most cannot wait weeks for the next open appointment. Increasing your practice's accessibility will increase patient satisfaction.

Add email communications to please your current patients and attract new patients

Thursday, July 14, 2011 by Susan Linton

Intuit Health's Annual Health Care Check Up Survey of 1,000 American adults in January 2011 found that 59% of Gen Y respondents and 29% of Baby Boomers would switch doctors for one with better online access.

Rosemarie Nelson, a self-proclaimed “healthcare technology guru” and management consultant, weighs in: “In a recent Harris Interactive poll, 77 percent of the adults surveyed indicated they would appreciate email reminders from their physicians when they are due for a visit or follow-up care,” she says. The poll also revealed, in concurrence with other studies, that many patients will choose a new doctor based on whether they use modernized forms of communication.

The message is clear. Modernize the way you send appointment reminders to please your patients and improve communication. Adding email communications and/or a practice website is the easy way to attract new patients and retain the ones you already serve.

A good automated reminders service sends interactive high quality messages that allow patients to easily confirm (or cancel) the upcoming appointment, whether that message is sent by e-mail or by phone.

Using multi-channel electronic communication solutions to one's advantage will not only determine the practice's growth, but its survival against other competitors.

The changing face of the patient

Tuesday, May 31, 2011 by Susan Linton

My last blog post covered physician retirement trends. In this post I discuss two patient trends.

Growing interest in alternative medicine. Deloitte & Touche’s 2008 Survey of US Health Care Consumers found that 1 in 3 consumers expressed the desire to have more holistic/alternative therapies in their treatment program. Deloitte’s 2007 survey of over 3000 consumers found that 20% reported using an alternative approach to treatment, 32% prefer doctors with an orientation toward holistic or alternative treatments (7% strongly prefer) and 47% said access to alternative health care providers would impact their insurance plan choice though many pay for these services out of pocket. Insurance companies are responding by covering more of these alternative treatments.
Transparency of information. The majority of the U.S. is online (approximately 80% of adults). Patients have access to a wealth of medical information, including hospital ratings, physician ratings, health information websites, and more. They expect businesses to be online and to find information readily. Many consumers research health topics online, including treatments, medication, etc., for themselves and for family and friends. They read health blogs and visit health-related social networking sites like Patientslikeme.com and Carepages.com. As patients take on more responsibility for their healthcare decisions, some are becoming better informed and more engaged.

Providers can be responsive to these changes by learning more about alternative medicine and embracing transparency of information.

At a minimum, be prepared to speak on the subject when your patient asks for your opinion. Consider signing up for continuing education programs on alternative medicine.

If you don't have a practice website, why not? They are easy to create and maintain at very little cost. Put forms and information about your practice on your website (e.g., physician profiles, address, hours of operation, contact information). When you find a good online article or resource, save it and share it with your patients and staff members.

There are multiple sites that allow consumers to anonymously rate physicians, including RateMDs.com, vitals.com, drscore.com, vimo.com, etc. It wouldn't hurt to learn more about your online reputation, read your reviews and try to learn something from them. While not every comment is valid, some comments can be used to improve your practice. It's easier now to collect patient data and track patient satisfaction.

You also have new communication channels that you can use to reach the patient (email, SMS). It may be worth your while to try online appointment scheduling, multi-channel appointment reminders, online bill pay, etc.

It's not the technology, it's how you use it that matters

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 by Susan Linton

A recent, somewhat controversial Stanford University study by Dr. Randall Stafford, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, found that electronic health records systems with decision support tools did not improve patient care. These tools reminded doctors of treatment guidelines for treating specific conditions.

Are the findings discouraging? I think not. Like any tool, the results achieved will vary greatly due to numerous factors including acceptance, ease of use, and training. There is no tool that is going to improve patient care for every organization, though of course some tools are better than others. The same is true for any new technology that your practice adopts.

Even if you have a great tool that's simple to learn and easy to use, you need to ensure that your staff:

understands how to use the tool, specifically how it will improve something that they care about (fill in the blank - patient care, office productivity, error reduction, cash flow, etc.),
trusts that the tool is reliable and provides useful information,
feels comfortable using the tool (thanks to training) and knows where to turn for help

When you're dealing with busy individuals, they need something that's easy to use and that they understand and perceive as useful. Training and education are necessary in most situations.

Take for example, appointment reminder software. Sending automated appointment reminders won't necessarily bring down your no show rates. Before you start sending automated appointment reminders, be sure to (1) make sure your reminder scripts are succinct, clear and useful, (2) tell your staff and your patients what to expect, (3) listen to the concerns of your staff and patients and address them.

Everyone might not be on board at first but sometimes it takes some time to use the tool before someone appreciates how useful it is. Ask for feedback and monitor adoption and satisfaction with the tool.

Improving communication with your patients

Tuesday, April 26, 2011 by Susan Linton

I recently reread an excellent article published in Family Practice Management in 1999 called Improving Patient Communication in No Time. The author provides many easy to adopt tips for being a better communicator. Many of the communication tips involve being a better listener and paying full attention to the patient during the exam. The article also includes the following intriguing paragraph:

"Use computers creatively. Some physicians are now using e-mail to answer patients' questions and avoid getting tied up in lengthy telephone conversations. "I know one doctor who even has e-mail hours," says Davis. "It's like a chat room. It keeps patients in touch with their doctors, and with managed care anything you can do to decrease the demand on a doctor's time helps." Thiedke uses her computer as a patient information tool; she'll occasionally tell patients about sites she's located on the World Wide Web that are specific to their health care needs."

The basics of good communication haven't changed since 1999 but communication technology has definitely changed a great deal since 1999. New ways to communicate with patients have emerged.

The popularity of social networking sites like Twitter, Sermo, Facebook, etc., make it easy to monitor your online reputation, contribute content, etc. For tips on managing your online reputation, see the post, Social Media Helps Doctors Manage Their Online Reputation.
Just about everyone has a cell phone with them at all times and text messaging outpaces email among teenagers. Consider how your patients communication patterns have changed over time. Has your practice adapted and kept up with the times?
Secure e-mail messaging, patient portals, econsults, patient self-service kiosks, virtual medical assistants...the list goes on. Are you using technology to provide added value to your patients, e.g., decreasing check in time, making forms easily accessible?
Patients are used to broadcast voice messaging and the quality of pre-recorded appointment reminders is better than ever. Sending appointment reminders is easier and more affordable than ever with Web-based automated appointment reminder services. Learn more about automated appointment reminders by visiting Webley.

How to increase your revenues by $180,000 per year in 3 easy steps

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 by Webley MD

Did you know that your practice could be losing up to $180,000 per year? As shocking as that seems, it is very likely to be true. Most practices suffer from a steady percentage of “no-show” rates that take great chunks out of their annual income. If your practice sees 1,000 patients a month, has a no show rate of 20% and earns $75 per visit, no shows cost your practice $180,000 a year in lost income.

It is easier than you think to get most of that money back. There are three simple steps to regaining lost revenue by reducing your no show rate:

Step 1: Get Answers

Ask your patients how they would prefer to communicate with your practice. How can your practice most effectively remind him or her of an upcoming appointment? For many patients, the most effective appointment reminder is going to be something other a call to a home number during the day or an appointment reminder card. Plus knowing how your patient would like to be reached will also come in handy when you need to reach him or her for lab test results, account balances, etc.

Step 2: Be Flexible

Being flexible in your communication is going to reap multiple benefits for your practice. Not only will your patients be pleased with your technological savvy, but it's going to keep them from forgetting appointments, thus keeping them healthier. Plus, you will be able to count on patients coming in. You will even attract new patients who want to be able to communicate efficiently with their doctor; studies have shown that 1/3 of patients are more likely to choose a practice with electronic communication systems over one that does not offer this convenience.

But how can you increase your flexibility when it's already a challenge to make telephone calls?

Step 3: Get Technical

Automated patient notification systems make it quick and easy for you to communicate with patients using multiple channels. For example, reminder call software can handle routine appointment reminder calls for your staff. This means that your staff will have more time for other tasks around the office including spending time with patients at the practice or who require assistance over the phone. When your staff has more time for patients, your patients will be happier.

The Three C's of Effective Appointment Reminders

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 by Webley MD

An effective appointment reminder message is concise, clear and personalized. When reminder calls are made by the front office staff, the message is personalized but highly variable. Automated appointment reminders allow for easy mass customization of appointment reminders. While the core script stays the same, the message can be customized by adding the patient's name, the date and time of the appointment, the practice name, the practice phone number and other custom elements, such as special instructions for patients (e.g., arrive 15 minutes early for the appointment), the ability to confirm or cancel the appointment, etc.

When appointment reminders are effective, you will see an immediate change in your no-show rates. That's not all though. There are three other important benefits of automated appointment reminders.

Comfort

Often a trip to the doctor's office is a stressful event, especially when a patient is in poor health. It's important that a practice make efforts to put the patient at ease. The style of your waiting room, the manner of your receptionists, and even your appointment reminders can make a difference. When the personalized appointment reminder is delivered by a cheerful, professional voice rather than a tired receptionist, the patient is reassured.

Convenience

Personalized appointment reminders are no longer have to be restricted to telephone calls. Patients can also receive appointment reminders by email. For patients who desire email reminders, offering this option increases convenience and makes it more likely that the patient will receive the reminder.

Confirmation

Automated appointment reminder systems typically offer a variety of "scripts" or patient message types. One script that can increase your confidence in your patient's likelihood of showing up for the appointment is the appointment reminder with confirmation. This message is interactive. Patients can easily respond to the phone message or email by confirming or cancelling the appointment.

To learn more about automated appointment reminders, visit Webley.

Use automated patient reminder calls for a consistently professional tone

Thursday, November 4, 2010 by Webley MD

Many patients are anxious about visiting their physician. Even if the physician has a charming demeanor, the doctor's office is a stereotypically unpleasant place to be, with screaming children, sick and wheezing patients, old furniture and a scent of bleach in the air. It's a place that sick people frequent.

To practice can counteract the patient anxiety by focusing on delivering a pleasant patient experience. Phone interactions are an important part of that experience. It helps when you can count on your telephoned patient appointment reminders to be courteous and professional every single time.

The only problem is that humans who make routine calls find it hard to sound upbeat, courteous, and professional every single time. Often an exhausted, fatigued receptionist can sound bored or harried over the telephone.

Because of fatigue and boredom are natural when it comes to routine tasks, it is better to use pre-recorded voice messages for appointment reminders. These messages deliver a consistently pleasant tone, every single time. And the system takes far less time to contact your patients.

Even better, automated patient reminder calls can each be personalized according to the patient's demographics and preferences, including delivering the message in another language. Webley MD uses professional voice talent to record the messages and ensure that messages are clear and courteous. To hear a sample of our voice messages, visit Webley.

The benefits of "employing" a virtual medical receptionist

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 by Webley MD

There are many traditions in the medical field that need to be broken for the sake of efficiency.

Just because many medical practices have their front office staff make appointment reminder calls, doesn't mean that this is the best practice.
Just because manual appointment reminders are traditional doesn't mean that they are effective or cost efficient.
Just because every other doctor uses a live answering service to handle after hours calls, doesn't mean that this is in the best interest of patients.

In fact, if you are looking for a way to help out your receptionist, we recommend you look into a virtual medical receptionist. Bringing her on board will allow your human receptionist to work on non-routine tasks. “Hiring” a virtual medical receptionist is one of the easiest cost-cutting and stress-relieving routes you can take. She is the way to a new, easier, cost-effective future.

Your virtual medical receptionist can be programmed to make reminder calls and take messages after hours, alert on-call physicians to emergencies, greet patients when your live receptionist cannot, and so much more.

Your virtual receptionist takes a few minutes to make your hundreds of appointment reminder calls – or send out individual reminder emails, depending on your patient's preference. Plus, your new virtual assistant will be saving you money not only on reminder calls, but on after hours care as well.

There are so many deep-seated benefits to “hiring” a new virtual assistant that we strongly recommend getting started today. Look deeper into what a virtual medical assistant can do for your practice at Webley MD.

New at Webley MD: Refer & Earn $100

Monday, October 18, 2010 by Susan Linton

We're officially launching the Webley MD Refer & Earn Program! Webley MD Refer & Earn is a program that lets you refer medical professionals to Webley MD. Each time one of your qualified referrals becomes a new Webley MD customer, you'll earn $100.

It's open to adults in the U.S. and Canada (no, you don't have to be a Webley MD customer) and we've made it really easy to start referring and earning. Just about everyone knows a couple of doctors, dentists, chiropractors, and even some vets - and you likely know which ones aren't using automated patient notifications and answering services. Or even if they are using one or both automated services, they could be unhappy with their current services.

Help us spread the word - Webley MD offers the best way to communicate with patients.

Our award-winning Webley MD Reminders service can send automated notifications for appointment reminders, account balance due reminders, lab test results, vaccines, and health screenings. Pay only for the calls, the email notifications are free.

Tired of dealing with live answering service operators? Webley MD After Hours helps you be there for your patients. Webley MD After Hours is more accurate than an answering service and more reliable and feature rich than an answering machine.

You'll improve your chances to earn if you talk to the person you're referring about Webley MD. Go to our website to print out our brochures, white papers and case studies.

Start referring and earning today. Learn more and find the referral form here.

"Hire" a virtual receptionist for a helping hand around the office

Wednesday, September 15, 2010 by Webley MD

For your medical office to run smoothly, it takes a lot of hard work, organization, and multi-tasking from some very talented people. Yet no matter how your office staff excels at their jobs, they could probably still use some extra help.

The solution is to "hire" a virtual office receptionist, a on-demand software application that simplifies your office routines and saves you money every day. She's not Rosie from The Jetsons, so she can't serve coffee, but she can help with the tasks that need the most labor and require unusual working hours: appointment reminder calls and the after hours call coverage.

Here are three ways that a virtual office receptionist can benefit your practice:

1. She takes over time-consuming appointment reminders

Your receptionist probably spends countless hours on the phone making routine phone calls. The virtual office receptionist is not just an automatic phone dialer, she leaves messages and tracks responses too. Plus, she can email patients. Snazzy, eh?

2. She takes care of patients after hours

Providing after hours care for your patients can be stressful. You don't have the money to hire a second receptionist, your on-call physicians can't take all the calls, and the call center that you hired just isn't cutting it. Your virtual office receptionist will answer phones after hours with a cordial greeting, then direct your patients to the service that they need. If they need to reach the on-call physician, she'll notify the doctor on call right away.

3. She is the ultimate office receptionist

She never stops working and can make those reminder calls when your office is closed and your patients are more likely to be home. She is always available to make your staff's jobs easier, and for a fraction of the cost that you would pay people to do the same work. Use or don't use her as you wish, she can be there for you whenever you want.

To “hire” your own virtual receptionist, please visit Webley online today.

Delegate appointment reminder calls to an outside service to save time

Wednesday, September 1, 2010 by Webley MD

The all-important appointment reminder call is many things to many people. It is essential to a medical practice because, without it, no-shows would escalate. It is essential to patients because, without it, their health could suffer from missing appointments. However, despite its importance, the appointment reminder call tends to be one of the most difficult tasks for medical office staff to complete every week.

When you think about it, your receptionist is just as busy as a doctor. There is an unending list of tasks every week, including the long list of appointment reminder calls that need to be made. Some days she just doesn't have the time to make all those reminder calls.

What if we told you your receptionist could work her normal hours, take a lunch break every day, and get all her tasks completed, without having to make a single reminder call?

With an automated communications system, all she has to send the appointment information to the appointment reminders service. The system then generates personalized messages and sends out the reminders. The system can also track the recipients' responses, making your receptionist's life even easier.

Imagine how much more your staff could get done if they didn't have to call hundreds of people every week and leave messages. Think about it for a moment. Efficiency is all about using the time of your best people wisely. Making hundreds of calls that an automated service could easily take care of is not a wise use of time.

To learn more about the benefits of Webley's automated appointment reminder calls, please visit us online today.

Three key benefits of automating patient notifications

Thursday, July 29, 2010 by Webley MD

How would you feel if you had happier patients, happier staff, and extra income in your pocket? Our guess is you'd feel fantastic. With everyone happy and satisfied, you'll likely attract more patients and be able to invest in your practice's future.

These are the benefits that your practice can experience by updating your current communication system to an automated notifications system. Something as simple as automating your appointment reminders can increase patient satisfaction, increase staff satisfaction and increase revenues.

Increase patient satisfaction: For years, patients have been longing for email communications with their doctor's office. Upwards of 70% of patients want email notifications, such as appointment reminders. Giving your patients the form of contact they most desire will leave them satisfied.

Increase staff satisfaction: An automated notifications system will provide your staff with a satisfying work experience. There are few people who enjoy spending several hours a week making reminder calls and leaving messages on answering machines. With automated appointment reminders, your staff will finally have time to perform other important tasks.

Increase owner satisfaction: One of the major long term benefits of automation is saving hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Automated appointment reminders are proven to reduce no-shows by 30%. If you could see 30% more of your patients per month, imagine how much money that could save your practice. Let's say that you see 1,000 patients in a month and charge $75 per visit, but you lose 20% of that revenue to no-shows. That's $15,000 a month. By using automated reminders, you can recover up to $180,000 per year in patient revenue.

Tell us again why you haven't switched to automated appointment reminders yet?

Automation: Not, "Why?" but "Why not?"

Monday, July 26, 2010 by Webley MD

The largest practices are known for using the latest medical technologies. Many studies have shown that larger practices are ahead of the curve when it comes to adopting technology. For example, a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found an EMR adoption rate of 46.5% for ambulatory care practices with more than 11 physicians, compared to 24% for the solo practitioner (Hing, Hall & Ashman, 2010). Recent data posted on www.medicineandtechnology.com shows that 36.5% of physicians are using EMR in their practices; the adoption rate is 70% for practices with over 26 physicians (Kim, 2010).

Today's patient have cried out for their doctors to evolve along with the times, and the best have responded with automation. The question is no longer, "Why do top medical practices use automation?" The question is, "Why on earth wouldn't they?"

Here are just 4 of the many reasons why top medical practices use automation, and why your practice should too:

The patients want it. Millions of patients have email addresses and send and receive emails daily. In one survey, 77% of adults responded that they “would appreciate” contact from their doctors through email. Top medical practices use automated communication technologies, such as automated appointment reminders, because patients want it.
The staff loves it. With all the time that automated appointment reminders can save, there is no reason not to upgrade. Lorraine Laurio, a medical assistant at Springhill Dermatology Clinic in Mobile, Alabama, affirms it. “I can’t imagine why any practice wouldn’t have a system like this,” she says.
It saves money. A practice with 3 physicians that schedules 75 appointments a day can earn an extra $18,000 per year by using automated reminders. There is no need to hire part-time staff to make those phone calls. Automated reminders are proven to reduce no-show rates by 30% or more. This extra revenue is what allows better practices to boost salaries and purchase new equipment.
It attracts new patients. When only 25% of doctors use automated email communications and 77% of adults want it, who do you think is going to receive all the business? It's the practice that is responsive to patients' desires.