The net-net of it all is this: running the practice one patient at a time. Focusing the entire practice and process on one John Smith at a time.
Do this exercise for fun. Take about 5-6 post-it notes and write a step of your process on each of them. Stick these post-its at different points on a string. Tie one end of the string somewhere. Now, pull the other end. What happens? Nothing dramatic but each of the post-its jiggle up and down. More slowly now…a small tug at the end of the string triggers all the post-its (processes) one after the other. That small tug is the patient call – that’s when John Smith calls your practice to schedule an appointment. The post-its are your several processes – from checking John’s insurance eligibility, doing prior authorization for services, keeping all options to collect copays and pending balance ready, medical assistants pulling up reminders, checking on drug interactions, physician preparing for his visit based on historical information, insurance callers marking the precise day to follow-up with John’s insurance company (because they know the average payment cycle from the date of service), the clinical quality check process and so on. Every one and every process is ready to focus on one John Smith at a time.
If it’s sounding overwhelming, it’s because we are seeing everything in action at once. Fix one step at a time. For example, start with verifying eligibility for all patients 3 days prior to the date of service. Then fix the next one and the next. Soon, you’ll have your string ready. Your patients will notice the difference in your practice.