How to Improve Patient Access with Patient Support Services
Giving patients access to the services and medical support they require is critical to any medical practice. For over 2 decades, Unicom has efficiently connecting patients with their doctors and medical staff. A core competency of Unicom is providing medical practices patient support services. This program was designed specifically to give patients a deeper connection with the people that care for them.
The patient support services program can identify the physician, dental office, counseling center, clinic, hospital, etc. closest to the caller using the caller’s zip code or telephone number. Locations can be grouped and the search parameters can be narrowed or broadened as needed. Referrals can be rotated ensuring each possible referral is equally assigned. Unicom agents can search on criteria such as zip code, physician specialty, gender preference, type of insurance, etc. All factors, including a rotating referral cycle, can be taken into account to find the best physician to meet the callers’ needs. Detailed information can be taken from the caller for documenting the referral with statistics and reports generated of all activity for marketing purposes. Caller can also be connected directly with the physician’s office of his/her choice.
Medical practices are utilizing our patient support services to support various areas of their practice. To be successful, this service needs to seamlessly integrate with your current processes. Time needs to be taken upfront to understand the requirements scope of your processes. Once these processes are defined, a smoother and more successful implementation is possible. Below are areas we current support to medical practices.
Lab and Test Results
Patient lab and test results can be transmitted to Unicom in any chosen format by the medical provider (physician’s office, clinic, etc). Patients can be given the ability to call-in for basic test results or upon request. They can also be contacted to be inform of test or lab results. Unicom’s systems allow our agents to verify caller’s identity based upon information asked for by the agent, such as date of birth, social security number, etc. All activity is fully documented including numbers called, date& time called, etc. for further reference.
Billing and Insurance
Unicom’s systems and databases are designed to accept virtually any type of data with built-in validation to ensure accuracy. Voice recorded confirmation of all information with the caller is attached to each transaction. Agents can answer preliminary billing as well insurance questions on behalf of the practice.
Appointment Reminder and Confirmation
Appointment reminders have been proven to have a bottom-line result on revenue for medical practices. A major challenge for many practices is confirming appointments. This problem can be solved by utilizing appointment reminders. Patients are reminded of upcoming appointments tither by live agent, voice recorded message, e-mail, or fax. The call-out is automatically logged and documented for further reference.
Appointment Scheduling
Our agents can set, edit, and manage appointments for patients, schedule in-office procedures, and tests. This solution allows Unicom agents and your staff to utilize a common database simultaneously and have complete control over entire process of appointment scheduling. No more double-scheduled appointments or uncertainty about upcoming events – you receive precise and always up-to date information about your appointments.
Information and Brochure Request
When you are performing patient outreach, our system can support these campaigns by leveraging powerful database. No matter if the campaign is outbound or inbound, our agents gather the appropriate data and verify that the information properly delivered to your practice and if necessary, to the patient. Common uses of this service include brochure distribution, clinic updates, and surveys.
Prescription Renewal
Unicom is capable of quickly and precisely determining if the caller is a valid, current patient, based upon information they give. Search can be performed on available prescriptions and prescribed refill times. The prescription request can be transferred automatically to the physician’s office or to the pharmacy. Patient can also leave a complete voicemail message to request prescription renewal. The voiced message is then processed and the request is automatically transferred to the physician’s office or to the pharmacy for fulfillment.
Conclusion
Unicom’s patient support services were designed and developed to assist medical practices do what they do best, help their patients. Depending on your practice, you could benefit from one, two, or all the services we provide. What is important, is to understand your processes and identify where they can add the most value. Many of our clients started with Unicom supporting just one area of their practice and over time we grew to support multiple areas.
Speaking with our clients, they said freeing up staff to focus on their patients has been the biggest advantage of using Unicom’s patient support services.
About Unicom Teleservices
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For 25 years, Unicom has worked with companies large and small to discuss their needs. To understand their processes allows us to determine how we can deliver value.
With Unicom, simply request an answering service quote. Together we can determine if there is a good fit to manage patient phone calls.
