Skip to main content

Focusing on Patients While Improving In-Office Technology

September 19, 2017

Diversify Medical Practice.jpegHolding the latest in medical tech is certainly a relevant short term selling point. It also helps you feel great about your office. Are you, however, looking to these improvements for egotistical reasons rather than focusing on the patients they will serve?

The most successful medical offices create a balance and a connection between tech and customer service, never taking their eyes off of the patient. Here are some of the most effective ways that you can emulate these cutting edge practices.

Do your quality improvement efforts coincide with your primary endpoints?

Identifying your patient service sticking points is essential to knowing the proper tech to invest in. There is more information than ever concerning how patients interpret health care services in general and how they interpret your services specifically. Do some preliminary research through social media before you determine that you absolutely need the lastest gadgetry. It may not apply to you at all.

Analyze your current technology

What aspects of your technology are bringing in new patients, keeping legacy accounts active, and providing coth of those segments proper service? There is a difference between customer acquisition and customer service, and you must hold the line if these two disciplines overlap. Basically, patients may be attracted to your office by a piece of equipment that actually has nothing to do with them. As tempting as it may be to play up the association, it is your duty to properly explain why that particular technology does not apply.

In the same way, take particular note of your office tech that provides the outreach and the service that your patients need. These items can be marketed with veracity. Your patients will also have the added security of knowing that you are marketing only relevant services to them.

Do not feel as though technology is a competition!

Obviously comparing the tech in your office to the tech in an unrelated specialty is less than optimal. However, you may feel the temptation to compare your office tech to a bigger office within your discipline. This can be dangerous, and you should proceed with caution.

You may have competitors that you feel are drawing patients away from your practice with a particular piece of gear. Before you invest in the same, make sure that your assessment is actually proper. Your “competitor” may service a completely different audience from you. Simply being on different sides of town may completely change the demographics of the people who prefer your medical services.

{{cta(‘fe2c2b8c-b789-4047-bdd3-999242ee9278′,’justifyleft’)}}Technology is not a competition. Invest in new pieces only if you note a real deficiency in productivity as compared to your contemporaries.

Do invest in technologies that allow for improved analysis

Sometimes you face the choice to invest in a piece of technology that does not immediately improve the productivity of a procedure. However, the updated piece may be more connected to cloud systems or databases that allow for a better analysis of patient conditions. In general, successful practices of all sizes are becoming more connected to centralized databases, and you should take a good look at this trend if you have not already.

Consider investing in new technology if that technology gives you access to a more precise pool of precedent cases or a more efficient methodology of record storage. You may find tech that increases regulatory compliance, and this may be its only advantage. However, this may be just as relevant to your patient services as your patient facing productivity.

The path forward for improving health care quality is undeniably aligned with the future of medical technology. Make sure that your office considers only the aspects of that technology that are most relevant to your patient care. Doing so will not only save you money, but will also allow you to focus that money more precisely on the needs of your specialty.

Get the Latest RCM News Delivered

Receive practical tips on medical billing and breaking news on RCM in your inbox.

Get in Touch