The patient is the center of an OB/GYN practice, yet obstetricians face overwhelming administrative and compliance burdens that interfere with running a practice. From technology, cyber security, and billing to managing credentialing, pre-authorizations, and staffing, it’s hard to focus on the patients. This is where a management services organization (MSO) can help.
An MSO is a partner in medical practice management. With modern, intuitive technology and a team of experts, an MSO shifts OB/GYN practices from a business focus to the whole point of the practice: patient care.
OB/GYN practices are demanding, fast-paced, and multifaceted. Doctors are almost always on call for delivery or surgery and have a full, busy patient schedule. There is very little time to worry about administrative tasks like reminding patients to book appointments or submitting licensure documents to a new insurance company.
While staff can take over some of these tasks, there are a lot of highly technical administrative responsibilities and a smaller practices can’t justify a full time expert employee to deal with them. A management services organization can be a cost effective solution to unload some burdens of practice management to keep the business functioning profitably.
Payor enrollment and credentialing is a complex process. It can take months for the enrollment step alone, followed by verification of credentials. Practices can’t file claims or revenue until this process is complete and any missed documents mean a longer wait time.
Each payor needs a copy of multiple documents and many have different rules on how to submit those documents. A partner MSO company can submit documents, manage status with payors, and ensure a smooth credentialing process.
Gynecology and obstetrics patients need regular appointments, whether they are to manage prescriptions, have preventive screenings, or for pregnancy care. With an MSO’s intuitive technology, practices can send automated appointment prompts to encourage patients to stay current with their healthcare.
Patients can also receive automated reminders of upcoming appointments. These features save staff and physicians time spent recontacting patients by telephone.
An MSO can provide practice management technology that makes daily administration easier for staff. They can also act as the human resources department. Recruiting, onboarding, and training new staff takes time that OB/GYN clinics don’t have. MSOs can manage hiring and terminations and provide regular staff training.
Each practice needs the right medical supplies with the right documentation to ensure patient safety and to lower liability risk. Properly tracking inventory within a practice lowers ordering errors, overstock, supply shortages, or unnecessary supply wastage, all of which lowers overhead costs. An MSO can help streamline supply ordering and tracking specific to OB/GYN practices and analyze trends and expected costs with a centralized database.
One of the most important parts of an OB/GYN practice is the medical billing department, and the more efficient the billing process, the healthier the practice. MSOs offer complete billing software solutions to simplify payments, plus a tenacious team of experts to manage collections.
The rise of high-deductible health plans (HDHP) mean patients are paying for medical care more than ever before. A great MSO partner helps patients view and understand their medical bills as well as pay them online with a credit card or over the phone. Some MSOs even manage check deposits for their practices.
Practices can help patients plan their healthcare and medical bills. Financial navigation tools allow patients to set up payment plans before treatment starts so they can pay large bills over time and make their healthcare more affordable.
Collecting on claims can be overwhelming and stressful. Practices can hand tough cases over to an MSO’s collection team and let them follow up on overdue accounts. With assertive policies, they’ll collect on every hard-earned dollar and complete claims faster.
Thankfully, gone are the days of paper files and faxed EMR copies, but now doctors have to deal with complicated EMR technology. An MSO like TRIARQ provides an easy-to-use, cloud-based EMR that cuts out the high, unpredictable costs of local servers, redundancy systems, and in-house IT teams.
With a computer or mobile device and access to the web, obstetricians can view and manage patient records and lab results from one place. With EMR templates and packaged antepartum records, obstetricians can view an organized set of patient data from pregnancy through to childbirth.
Speed up the patient intake process with a mobile app. New patients can log in to their portal and upload documents and patient information prior to their first appointment. Busy obstetricians can also log in anywhere, anytime, and review lab results, patient history, and their personal notes. They can stay up to date with patients even while outside the clinic.
Whether it’s gynecology or pregnancy care, patients require many tests, exams, and procedures. But insurance companies usually dictate which ones can be done. An OB/GYN management services organization combines billing technology with an expert billing team who can analyze data and give insight on where to maximize coding and care.
Performance experts monitor accounts and mine data for ways to improve the entire practice, from patient experience to billing cycle management. For example, they might suggest communicating with patients via reminders and newsletter tools to encourage better patient retention. Teams also stay current on healthcare trends and provide training to doctors and support staff.
Obstetricians and gynecologists need quality, easy-to-use tools to securely handle patient care and practice profitability. A management services organization partners with practices and takes on the business management so that doctors can get back to medicine.
TRIARQ Health offers complete solutions to relieve the administrative burden, simplify billing, and streamline EMR and treatment planning. Learn more about how TRIARQ Health can modernize independent practices.