As the nation’s leading technology-driven HME billing and pharmacy reimbursement company, Prochant is dedicated to helping providers simplify their businesses. Last week, Prochant’s Chief Revenue Officer Joey Graham went through the first office workflow solution in our series: decision support systems. An area that home-based care providers should look into next for patient ease and better workflow management is patient portals.
Why are patient portals important?
Patient portals are secure web and smart-phone applications that allow patients access to their health information 24/7. “It’s said that healthcare is about 10 years behind every other industry,” Joey said. “Patients want self service, they want an app and a website to be able to check on everything. They don’t want to have to call providers.”
Patient portals offer better communication between providers and patients, as well as a better chance at re-orders and self-service. “Many patients want to be able to do things themselves without talking to a person, like checking their order status.
Think about the Domino’s pizza tracker - initially it revolutionized the online ordering experience; however, now it has been adopted by nearly all online food ordering platforms, such as Uber Eats and DoorDash. It’s become expected, and new restaurants stand out if they lack this functionality. Like it or not, you are competing with your patient’s last best experience and the proliferation of this technology has raised the bar on consumer expectations. Your patients want to be able to track their orders, see who’s coming to their home, and when they’re expected to arrive.” Home-based care patient-facing technology needs to evolve to this point.
Patient portals already exist in the physician & hospital space.
Users have 24/7 access to their accounts. “There is a web portal, an app in the app store, and patients can send messages to their care team. Patients are able to register themselves into the doctor’s office and the system sometimes tells them what they need to bring ahead of time.” They can also schedule appointments, look at their statements, and more.
Some movement is underway in the HME industry.
Some of the major billing systems have created, or are in the process of creating, a patient portal that offers some of the features that standard physician patient portals offer. However, the home-based care industry as a whole is very much behind in this area and needs to focus on what can be done to make things easier on patients, and in turn, their own office workflow systems. As a result, many providers find themselves forced to develop their own technology, integrating it via APIs to their core billing system. Regardless of the path forward, having a patient portal is one of many solutions providers should focus on to streamline the patient experience and reduce labor-intensive manual processes by allowing for self-service.
Stay up-to-date on our blog for more on workflow management. Want to explore modern billing and reimbursement solutions now? Reach out to Joey directly at (980) 999-4293 or email joeyg@prochant.com to see how Prochant can help simplify your business.
Prochant has DME/HME and pharmacy clients from all over the country and handles front-end and back-end billing functions. Our scalable solutions, years of experience, and advanced technology provide best-in-class results to the healthcare community. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, our client base includes national HME and pharmacy providers and health systems.