Outsourcing the Health Care Paperchase

Overview: Not every healthcare provider has the resources to spend millions of dollars on IT staff, equipment and software. But this doesn’t mean one has to stick with paper or an inadequate computer-based solution. Despite the technology available in MIMS, doctors still tended to keep paper folders, often overstuffed with years of patient records. Doctors also had to follow-up on denied claims themselves. Staff members could enter some information into MIMS, but items like blood test results, diagnostic images and incoming correspondence stayed in the files. Talking about recent developments the article asserts that accounts receivable staff, receptionists who book appointments and route calls and the people who transcribe the doctor’s dictation can all work at remote locations — from home or in more affordable office space. Offices can also deal more effectively with the common insurance company practice of delaying claims based on a need for additional information. Smart relieves a medical institution’s administrative burdens by fulfilling requests for records from state agencies, doctors and insurance companies. Smart services representatives work onsite at the medical institution, copying medical records that have to stay onsite. These service representatives process and fulfill each records request, passing the formal request letter on to Smart’s headquarters along with a two- to three-page invoice filled out by the service rep.

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Format: HTML | Date: Jan 2000 | Pages: 1