Like any other medical business, physical therapy offices have different areas of management. The front office (managed by physical therapists and other clinicians that work with them) and the back office (managed by those working in accounting, medical records, and other non-clinicians) are the two biggest. And while they occupy their time doing very different things, they also have common problems. If those problems are not dealt with in a common way they can lead to negative patient experiences and further misunderstandings between both office areas.
New technologies, such as new types of practice management software, can help bring those management areas together and can give front offices, back offices, and the shared clinical space a common language. Here are just a few of the ways they can use technology to align with each other.
A physical therapist may know a lot about working with patients, but be much less familiar with billing, scheduling, and other administrative details. Similarly, those that work in the back office are more familiar with billing patients than treating them. Both have the same goal (to make sure patients are cared for and improve the clinic’s overall performance) but different means of dealing with them. How can those two different knowledge bases bring their expertise together?
The best practice management system gives a common language to physical therapists, their front office, and those at the back office. The areas both can manage together include:
A successful practice cannot run without billing. Whether it’s tracking down insurance claims or finding out how long a patient takes to pay their bill, cash flow is what keeps practices afloat. However, those who work at the back office may not be familiar with particular patients while the physical therapists themselves may not have access to insurance information. If the practice management system used by all has a common source of data, it’s easier to match any given patient with their insurance.
The all-in-one system can also show all insurance details, what codes apply to the patient, and what has and hasn’t been paid. When a physical therapist wants to know anything about a patient’s billing records, they can bring the same records up to advise the patient about what may be covered for future treatments.
Communication between the front and back office as well as in the clinical space is a crucial part of physical therapy practice. This is made easier by a good practice management system. An all-in-one system – one with a single source of all data – puts all members of the practice on a common page. It will give them a clear understanding of what their various responsibilities are.
Those at the front desk can see what insurance eligibility a patient has, and a physical therapist can access SOAP notes made by a therapist who previously worked with the patient. Since the patient has one broad entry in the system, both of these tie together when the complete SOAP notes can be matched to the insurance claims so there is no delay in reimbursement. At the same time, different dashboards for different workers can ensure that the most relevant information for any given worker will come up first.
It’s not always a simple matter to tell when a practice is performing well or not. Data is one easy metric to measure, and if those data points show that goals are being met, then the practice is likely doing well. A good practice management system can easily track that data and give an objective assessment. If all those involved in a practice are able to see those data points and goals, they can focus on them and look for ways to improve.
Similarly, patient satisfaction used to be measured by the subjective reports of the patients themselves and various measures of physical impairment. Practice management systems can provide a set of variables for all patients that can give a more objective set of performance markers to measure improvement by.
Most of the best practices are the most efficient ones. They not only treat patients well, but make sure their problems are solved in cost-efficient ways. The trend towards value-based healthcare (where reimbursement rates are related to patient outcomes and not simply fees for services) means that most physical therapists and front and back office workers who are part of their practices will want to maximize clinical efficiency.
The best practice management systems allow clinicians to enter any relevant information in a specifically designated category that anyone using the system can then look up. An all-in-one system can then bring up that information to those involved with billing so they know exactly what insurance claims need to be made and any co-pays that have been made.
Modern technology and modern practice management systems can bring together many different parts of the front and back offices of any practice. That technology streamlines billing and insurance claims, lets information be accessed on an equal basis, and provides markers for both performance and efficiency. And when all those things are brought together the front and back offices, as well as the therapists themselves, can make sure they are aligned in their common practice goals.
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