31 May Innovations During COVID-19 Crisis

In times of crisis, it is even more important for Health IT companies to deliver timely, effective solutions. One vendor has proven its ability to innovate in times of crisis, and the current COVID-19 pandemic is no different.

Bringing Ideas to Life

Office Practicum is well known for being an innovative leader in pediatric EHR and billing. With a strong commitment to advancing functionality in health IT, OP gives practicing pediatricians a voice in software advancement.

One of OP’s most valuable qualities is that ideas for new products and services come directly from the pediatric community. How?

Their medical director, Susan J. Kressly, MD, FAAP, is a practicing pediatrician who lives pediatrics every day. Who better to gather product ideas from?

Right now, thousands of pediatricians, office managers, and practice administrators are having incredible, meaningful conversations on OP’s online communities. New idea concepts come to life from client suggestions found on these channels.

Rolling Out New Features During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Since the COVID-19 crisis began, OP has been hard at work, developing and implementing new features that help independent pediatric practices stay successful. OP clients are already benefiting from the following innovative products.

Curbside Arrival

Pediatric patients and their families are anxious about visiting the office for appointments. Practices need a way to support social distance measures, while still providing high-quality care.

Curbside Arrival facilitates automated text communications between families and the office, seamlessly allowing patients’ parents to announce their arrival at the office and pay their copay from their cars. Patients wait in their cars until an exam room is available, eliminating having sick patients in the waiting room. From scheduling to arrival to care, everything is performed and documented in OP.

Without Curbside Arrival, patients and their families might be tempted to text the front desk staff, but that would present workflow challenges. For example, staff members would have to use personal cell phones for these interactions. Also, parents may try to use texting for things other than arrival notifications, which is not HIPAA compliant.

The benefits of this feature will continue long after the COVID-19 pandemic. If there is a separate sick entrance or portion of the practice, this space can now be freed up and used for other revenue-generating purposes, including more exam rooms or lactation appointment rooms. Plus, if there isn’t a separate area for sick patients, the need to share the space with sick and well patients – will be eliminated.

Telehealth

Office Practicum understands that children need and benefit from specialized care that isn’t often found at retail or urgent care clinics. Kids need their pediatricians, especially during times like this. Telehealth allows practices to continue providing quality care to patients while bringing in revenue. It’s ideal for routine follow-up visits, sick and well visits, and consultations during the COVID-19 crisis and after we flatten the curve.

In order to offer HIPAA-compliant telehealth immediately, OP partnered with the only pediatric-specific telemedicine solution. They devised symptom and diagnosis template packages, in addition to well visit templates, so clients have these available as they implement telehealth.

As part of the partnership, OP handles support and invoicing. There’s no need to learn new processes and procedures; clients contact OP support for telehealth just like they do currently. In addition, they’ll receive one bill for both OP and telehealth services.

This telehealth feature also has the following benefits that will continue after the COVID-19 pandemic ends:

• Reduction in no-shows and cancellations
• Successful competition with retail clinics
• Ability to see more patients
• Streamlined operations

Watch the recorded webinar “Performing Telehealth Well Visits”, presented by Sue Kressly, MD, FAAP and Chief Medical Director at Office Practicum, to learn how to implement telehealth well visits into your practice workflow.

Billing Packages

With some practices experiencing staffing limitations and every penny counting more than ever, OP RCM (their pediatric billing services) is now offering à la carte services. This flexible, short-term RCM solution is available to practices that need extra help for all or parts of the billing process.

The benefits of this feature include:

• Handling claims — They offer 90-day terms to get claims out the door, keep claims moving, and ensure cash is coming in.
• Investigating accounts receivable — They provide clean-up for the next six months on AR hiding in the database. They can collect that and turn it into revenue.
• Checking patient eligibility and statements — They automate and process eligibility to ensure patients are covered prior to service and maximize the ability to get paid fully for the patients seen.

The COVID-19 pandemic is constantly evolving — by the week, the day, and even the hour. Be sure to check out their innovations page as OP continues to debut new, innovative features, designed by pediatricians for pediatricians. They truly are committed to helping independent pediatric practices navigate COVID-19 and beyond.