In this episode

The patient’s healthcare journey starts long before they walk through the door – and their readiness for care can determine how successful they are in getting what they need. Chris Dallaire, BSN, CRHCP, RH-CBS, formerly clinic director at Permian Regional Medical Center and an experienced technologist with a clinical perspective, discusses how to incorporate patient readiness into your outreach strategy. His recommendations are:

1. Give patients a convenient way to prepare for care before the visit, when it’s convenient for them.
2. Bi-directional integration is a must-have so staff don’t spend time manually transcribing patients’ information.
3. Ensure that new processes are easy and convenient for both patients and staff.

“Make it as easy and convenient as possible for your patient to provide information. And make it easier for staff to do their job – because they’re more willing to do it successfully if it’s not so convoluted and complex to do.”

– Chris Dallaire

 

Key takeaways

Give patients a convenient way to prepare for care before the visit, when it’s convenient for them.

“It’s extremely important for patients to be prepared for their appointments prior to coming to the clinic,” said Dallaire. “Their medical history, their med list, sometimes it’s really extensive. [They can fill that out,] gather their insurance information before they come so they’re not fumbling around and trying to find their insurancecard when they get here, accurately capture their current symptoms so they can explain it to their doctor correctly.”

Without a process for allowing patients to prepare for care, Dallaire said, patients could “feel rushed when they get here. When we hand them a packet of paper and say, ‘Fill this out in fifteen minutes,’ they’re racking their brain thinking, ‘When was that surgery? I know my mom had diabetes, but was she on insulin?’”

He noted that allowing patients to provide this information “in the own words, from the privacy of their home” is not only more convenient, but more likely to fully represent what the patient needs from their care. “I’m likely to be more honest about what’s going on if I can think about it sitting on my couch versus in an office with 15 other people around,” Dallaire admitted.

Bi-directional integration and ease of use are must-haves.

“When I came to Permian Regional MedicalCenter, there were so many processes that were still captured manually, either on paper or by phone calls. And it’s just inefficient to do it that way. It takes so much time,” said Dallaire. “We were doing manual insurance verification still. Like, manually, picking up the phone or going onto the payer website.”

To improve the efficiency of getting patients ready for care, the process needed to be easy for both patients and staff to use. First, the organization evaluated vendors with an eye to reducing manual work, and prioritized eliminating manual documentation. “A big piece of [evaluating vendors] was was looking for the right vendor that did the bidirectional, communication with our EHR,” Dallaire said.

Next, “we worked really hard to debunk the myth [that patients wouldn’t use self-service options] and have been very pleased with the adoption of our texting platform,” said Dallaire.

Dallaire recommends: “Make it as easy and convenient for your patient as possible to get the information that you need to for the visit. And make it easier for the staff to do their job because they’re more willing to to do it successfully if it’s not so convoluted and complex to do.”