Digital Identities for Providers and Provider Information Sources : Using IT to facilitate Information Therapy

The logical first step to creating rich Databanks of Provider Information is to create identities for Providers in the electronic world. The simplest way to do this is to Create Websites for Doctors, Clinics and Hospitals. This may not necessarily be individual websites for practices which don’t want to invest in one, but can even be simple informative single web pages to fulfill the purpose of creating an identity for them aka http://www.about.me

Such websites can be optimized to convey Services, Location and Contact Information, Medical Notes, Special Cases treated. Such optimization will help in disseminating useful provider information to people looking for the same. This isn’t advertising, it’s a service: people today face many choices and are hampered by lack of information, improving their ability to find information quickly is beneficial to them. 

For those Practices and Practioneers who decide to engage IT to create digital identities (web sites), the following guidelines must be provided: 

-- On your website, don’t only talk about you, tell the patients more about what diseases and disabilities you treat, what are the latest treatments, generic advice and maybe even help them going to right person if you weren’t involved. 

-- Use tools like interactive patient forms which can be filled before the patient arrives at the center

-- Use query forms on the website so that patients can ask you about their problems and doubts; this gives the feeling to your patients that you are available to them 24/7 without actually being there 

As was the case with Medical Information Sources, Advancements in Social Technology will provide new ways for sharing Provider Information. 

Technology Vendors must provide easier ways for Provider information to be located and searched and which is available of different types of media.

-- Create Directories of Providers based on Provider Information

-- The Directories allow for Feedback on providers in a controlled environment

This is the 3rd Article in a series of Articles on Using IT to facilitate Information Therapy by Nrip Nihalani and Aditya Patkar

EMR'S: PROVIDING INDIAN DOCTORS WITH AN EDGE: VOL 2

APPOINTMENT MANAGERS FOR EFFICIENT TIME MANAGEMENT

Managing time is a major issue for all professionals in today’s fast paced world. This is even more so for many doctors, especially those who work at multiple locations: Clinics, Hospitals and Medical centers. Workshops on effective time management are regularly organized at different financial and IT firms to help hard working professionals. Gyan is imparted on setting Alerts for Reminders, and To Dos for Task management and the importance of diaries, blackberries and calendar reminders is emphasized here. 

Physicians have a slightly bigger problem. Their schedules are majorly dependent on set appointments with patients. While they do have other areas of concern, the majority of their daily schedules are built around patient appointments. What complicates this for a consulting doctor is that every day he may have different visiting hours at different locations. This makes Time management even more crucial for Physicians. 

Effective Appointment Scheduling for Physicians thus becomes an extremely important activity, and many firms are trying to make an industry out of it alone. It makes more sense though to ensure that Appointment Scheduling is not taken up stand alone, but is an integral part of an EMR system. Add an effective Appointment Management Process to an EMR, and you have added a strong case with Physicians on adoption. 

The Appointment Management Process can be divided into 3 parts:

1.    Appointment Scheduling
2.    Scheduled Appointment Tracking
3.    Patient Visit
 

Mandatory Requirements for an Appointment Management System:

• It should allow for different mediums of Appointment Scheduling
• E.g. Via a Website, Via A Phone Call, Via SMS
• It should permit Rescheduling
• It should be able to handle Walk-In Patients
• Besides the process, the screens should be simple – Non IT friendly users should be able to easily use it
• Color Coded Entries: Pending, Completed, No Show, Bill Pending
• Point And Click with Minimum Data Entry
• Should be rigid enough to prevent Scheduling Errors
• Should Support Multiple Doctors and Multiple Specialties
• Maintain 2 Daily Calendar Views
• Appointment View for Front Desk staff, Online Portal
• Scheduled Visits View for Physicians

Appointment Management Workflow

Useful Features in an Appointment Manager which add value to the Appointment Workflow
 

A Good Appointment Manager allows appointments and available spots to be displayed across multiple locations ensuring quick coordination.
 

It has a visit calendar that showcases the status of the patient’s appointment right from the initial booking stage to the consultation and finally to the bill payments post check-up.
 

It contains Smart Customization features that help the staff and doctors to configure the appropriate time slots, visit options and default visit duration.
 

It offers Multiple Calendar Screens to View the Appointment Schedules Daily, Weekly and Month wise.
 

Sometimes patients forget appointments, which adversely affects the practice’s cash flow as well as adds Delays in the patients’ treatment. A Good Appointment Manager will offer automated appointment reminders built into the Appointment manager. This will help reduce No Shows as well as Reduce Confusions over time of Scheduled Appointments. These Reminders can be

• Email Reminders
• SMS Reminders
• Automated Phone Calls Reminding the Patients of the Scheduled Appointment

The control center of a successful medical practice is an EMR with an efficient and user-friendly scheduling system. It will help your practice run smoothly with increased productivity and optimum patient satisfaction.  

by Nrip Nihalani

Plus91 Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

http://www.plus91.in

http://www.plus91online.com

http://www.twitter.com/plus91

If you missed it here is a link to 


EMR'S: PROVIDING INDIAN DOCTORS WITH AN EDGE: Vol 1