Software Increases Efficiency, Revenue
Software programs often offer more challenges than solutions because of the way they are used or because the user is not familiar with the options the system can provide.
If you encounter what seems like constant inflexibility in your software package, feel overwhelmed by the basic billing functions or find yourself creating manual work to get around the software, you are in need of new strategies to help the system work for you.
Before giving up, perhaps it's time to look inside the software and see if it can provide what you need. Hopefully, you will achieve increased efficiencies and potential additional revenue with no extra expense.
Look For Shortcuts
Like most people, you may have grown accustomed to using your software in a particular way. However, because you were self-taught, you may not understand that shortcuts exist to make your job easier. For example, Susan, who is a supplier in the Northwest, says that by using the adjustment feature available through the cash application procedure, she has been able to shave hours off her day. Until recently, she thought this procedure required a two-step process. Moreover, she realized by watching someone else, she could search for all open balances rather than close and open a patient's account each time she wanted to change payers during the cash application process. Now these shortcuts give her extra time to complete her daily cash posting and help her avoid the backlog she used to encounter on a regular basis.
When you believe a feature to be cumbersome, ask the vendor if there is another method of retrieving the same data that is less cumbersome. Shortcuts can save you time and reduce frustration.
Analyze All Manual Functions
It is prudent for management to review every manual function performed by the staff. Typically, employees will state that the reason they do something manually is because that is how they were taught. Habits that perpetuate from staff member to staff member are more commonly found than new procedures initiated by an employee that will make a job more efficient.
Therefore, a management level employee should review any manual process performed by staff members to see if it can be eliminated and completed by the software. Sometimes a consultant or someone outside the company can easily detect where manual functions take control of staff.
When you believe a feature to be cumbersome, ask the vendor if there is another method of retrieving the same data that is less cumbersome. |
For example, it is common for a certificate of medical necessity (CMN) designate to use a manual tickler file. Further, once the manual tickle file is made and copies of CMNs are placed in the 1-31 file, the copies are not always discarded once the original is returned, completed and signed.
This extra copy of the CMN leaves the employee with more paper to shuffle and potentially a doctor's office to call for an alleged status check when the signed and completed document is already available. The net result is more paperwork and a public relations faux pas that is unnecessary because this feature is provided in list format by most software applications.
By simply allowing the software to generate and track necessary documentation, a report of unsigned, incomplete CMNs from which to work will be available. From this list, a doctor's staff can be called to determine the whereabouts of the document in question or answer the incomplete way in which the document was returned. The software should also be capable of printing another copy of the document (completing only sections A and C of the DMERC CMN) when necessary.
It is also quite possible that employees are utilizing both a manual and automated documentation tracking system because they may not trust the software program's capabilities. While double work occurs less frequently than it used to, it still arises from time to time and redundancy wastes time and costs too much money in the current health care climate. Therefore, evaluating each manual task to determine if the software can replace it creates more efficient operational control and overall success for your company.
Decrease Inefficiencies with Integration
Software that is not integrated and requires multiple data entry points for input of the same information can actually decrease operational effectiveness -- the direct opposite of the purpose behind automation, says David Kylen, president, Computer Applications Unlimited.
Kylen also says that integration provides the HME provider with an edge over its competition by correctly utilizing the operational data to analyze business trends, product margins and employee productivity. It can also be used to facilitate management decisions.
"Integrated systems allow completely seamless access to daily operational data, so that the information needed by management to make rational and informed decisions is accessible easily," says Kylen. "Building upon this ability to access data, managers can become more creative and feel more confident in their decision processes."
Think "How" Rather Than "If"
When choosing software, some HME providers simply ask if it has one feature or another. This can lead to trouble if the vendor says yes but does not show the purchaser how it is used.
The same is true when an existing system is used and the user fails to ask how to perform a specific function. Either it is not included in the software or the user will never figure it out on his or her own. Additional training may be required or the vendor needs to demonstrate the features more clearly.
By asking how to implement bar coding and scanning on his inventory system, Steve Knoll, president of Knoll Patient Supply, knows his "inventory is much more accurate and reduces the need for mid-year counts. The need for recounts has been eliminated." Knoll says "it takes three people a few hours instead of up to fifteen people five hours of counting with a recount crew spending another day consolidating count sheets, entering counts into the computer and recounting errors."
As a result, Knoll is an example of someone who looks for ways to create efficiencies and tracks results. By asking "how" rather than "if," advanced level control can be achieved, saving hours of time and reducing errors.
Determine New Business Ideas
John, a marketing manager in the East, knew he had to start cultivating new business and fostering existing relationships from the referrals he currently had. To do this, he made a list of what he wanted to accomplish, among which was learning more about the business he was getting and looking for ways to garner new business from existing relationships.
By interviewing his software vendor, he learned that his system could be set up to track all new referrals and could generate a report of sales by referral with as much or as little detail as he wanted. Further, he could print a report of referrals by disease state and products purchased to determine where he might add non-covered comfort items that would build additional revenue to an existing patient case.
For example, John took all of his COPD patients with semi-electric hospital beds and promoted sheets and gowns for one month and reachers/grabbers the next month. This brought him additional revenue per patient that he could also track via the software. All in all, John says he "feels a sense of accomplishment in adding revenue to the bottom line and knows where business is coming from."
Additionally, he is pleased with the results of the product promotion, something the system helped him do by printing a promotional statement on every invoice. He also had the screen prompt his customer service representatives during order intakes to inform the purchaser of the promotional item of the month if a bed was ordered.
Periodically Review the Software
By having the software vendor review the use of the software, you will learn whether you are improperly entering data and how you can utilize additional features. The vendor will know if your staff needs additional training or if you have a handle on the basics and can now take on more features. Most HME software solutions are more comprehensive than is necessary for all customers. Even so, most HME providers take advantage of no more than 50 percent of the software's value.
HME providers should realize that "spending money on services such as additional training or consulting is money well spent," says Jeff Bloom, vice president of sales and marketing at Dezine Healthcare Solutions, a subsidiary of Simione Central Holdings. Bloom also says relevant information is often missed in the transition of employees in a staff turnover situation.
HME providers can learn to optimize use of software by "reviewing your organization function by function," says Bloom. This type of review may be done by internal management and then reviewed with the software vendor to determine how the software can assist in making operations run more smoothly. A retraining session may help answer questions and improve the consistency of software use. Either way, software vendors should be able to help maximize the current value of an application.
Whether you are looking for shortcuts, trying to use reports to increase revenue or attempting to reduce errors through automation, turn to your existing software vendor. Why wait until you harbor such animosity towards your software vendor that you have to switch systems just to save face? Simply ask how your system performs certain functions. Think of your software as your best ally, not your worst enemy Ð you just might be surprised at its capabilities.
This article originally appeared in the May 1999 issue of HME Business.