Overcome Staffing Shortages with Technology
Kristi Hudson
In February 2022, it was reported that 6.6 million jobs were added in the U.S. in 2021, the most significant single-year gain in American history. Despite the growth in the job market, 52% of small-business owners stated that it had become more challenging to find qualified people to fill open positions compared to a year ago. (Thomas, 2022) Chiropractic offices around the country are feeling the pain. So how do we overcome staffing shortages and maintain patient care without burning out?
If you have an open position in your practice, it might be wise to consider investing in ways to make the practice more efficient, lighteningthe load of existing team members. The average base pay of a chiropractic assistant in the U.S. is $37,112 a year. (Glassdoor, 2021) For a fraction of that amount, any practice — large or small — can incorporate new technology to make the office run more efficiently and eliminate the pain of being short-staffed.
Appointment Scheduling
The cost of using staff members to schedule appointments manually each day is enormous. For example, if you see 400 patients a week, and each appointment takes an average of five minutes to schedule, 33 hours per week are spent booking appointments.
From the patient's perspective, reaching someone to schedule an appointment requires up to eight minutes, with 30% of the time on hold. For the millennial generation, this can be a deal-breaker. Millennials (ages 18 to 34 in 2016) have always had access to online information. However, they dislike traditional healthcare methods.
• 71% prefer to schedule online and receive digital reminders rather than a phone contact. As a result, they can be a challenging group to engage and retain without offering the convenience of online appointment booking. (Jenkins, 2019)
• 56.4% of respondents are frustrated by waiting on hold and the inconvenient office hours of scheduling appointments by phone.
• 31% of respondents would be more likely to choose a new service provider if that provider offered online booking options.
• 60% of respondents said that getting a text reminder would make them less likely to miss an appointmentthan a phone call or email reminder.
• Respondents would prefer to schedule appointments online more than any other appointment type. (Up Booking, 2020)
Patient Paperwork
Paperwork is the necessary evil of every office for the team and patients but transitioning to online paperwork submission benefits everyone.
Save time. The check-in process is a significant bottleneck within any healthcare organization. Even one or two mishaps can throw off your schedule for the rest of the day. Automating the intake process helps expand that bottleneck to allow better patient flow.
Cut costs. Paper sucks up as much as 3% of your annual revenue. That doesn't include printing costs or postage if you mail forms ahead of time. Using a digital method to gather patient information can save practices a ton of money.
Improve accuracy. 16%... I mean 61% (see what I did there?) of claim denials result from demographic or technical errors, such as inaccurate social security numbers, addresses, etc. Such manual errors cost healthcare organizations more time and money. That's a huge number! (Gooch, 2017)
Improve the patient experience. Did you know that 51% of patients prefer a doctor who lets them fill out the paperwork online? (Pai, 2015) We often don't even notice how unpleasant it is for patients to fill out paper forms. It takes up time in the waiting room (when patients may already feel a bit anxious), and it makes life a little more complicated for them. I can't tell you how many times, as a mom, I have felt overwhelmed and frustrated trying to fill out paperwork while juggling cranky kids, a diaper bag, and more. It simply makes the experience more difficult for patients. Allowing patients to take care of this task before leaving home is an incredible benefit for patients. It helps practices save time and money while improving security and the patient experience.
Automating processes can do wonders for your practice. While you'll always want to keep a personal touch, you can focus your efforts on digital spaces to draw in new patients. These efforts will enable you to interact with current patients 24/7, reducing your workload while making patients feel welcome. (Holland, 2020) This is just the beginning of improvingthe efficiency of your practice and reducing stress for you and your team!
Kristi Hudson is a certified professional compliance officer (CPCO). She serves as the Director of Business Relationships for ChiroHealthUSA where she has helped to educate DCs and CAs on establishing simple and compliant financial policies. You can contact Kristi at Kristi@chirohealthusa. com, 888-719-9990 or you can visit the ChiroHealthUSA website at www.chirohealthusa.com.
