Reducing Administrative Burden: How to Increase Efficiency in Sleep Medicine Practices

Whether running a large or small practice, juggling all administrative tasks can become overwhelming. Trying to do everything yourself will only lead to problems for you and your medical staff.

Therefore, reducing administrative burdens is crucial to improving patients’ sleep health and overall well-being. The question is, how can you avoid them? 

This blog will discuss why reducing the administrative burden in sleep medicine practices is imperative and provide tips to increase workflow efficiency.

Understanding the Administrative Burden in Sleep Medicine Practices 

The American Medical Association (AMA) reports that administrative burdens in healthcare place an unnecessary strain on doctor-patient relationships. A recent study showed up to 42 percent of doctors suffer from burnout due to excessive administrative work and long work hours. 

In particular, experts say sleep medicine specialists face unique administrative challenges that hinder productivity. For example, complying with regulatory requirements, scheduling appointments, processing insurance claims, and managing patient records can be too much to handle. 

The core focus of your work is delivering quality patient care. However, these administrative duties often obstruct progress. 

Thus, it is essential to understand these healthcare administrative burdens and identify opportunities for streamlining processes, implementing automation tools, and enhancing staff training in your sleep medicine practice. 

5 Tips to Increase Efficiency in Sleep Medicine Practices

Consider these five best strategies for improving your practice’s administrative efficiency:

1. Simplify Patient Registration and Data Collection With Digital Health Forms

Digital health forms can simplify the check-in process for patients and save administrators time compared to manually entering data from paper forms. Using this technology, you can send patients links to registration and payment forms via text or email before their appointment. You can also enjoy the following benefits:

• Replace clipboards and pens with a contactless check-in process.

• Allow patients to input data at their own pace instead of rushing through forms to improve the accuracy of their information.
• Speed up data collection through a digital self-check-in kiosk.

2. Implement Electronic Health Record (EHR) Systems for Efficient Documentation

EHRs offer specific advantages that cater to your sleep medicine practice’s unique needs. One key benefit is eliminating paper-based records, which reduces the risk of errors, loss, and duplication. Compared to paper-based systems, our Specific Sleep Medicine EHR Software also requires less administrative staff to manage. 

Furthermore, this technology offers additional advantages, including:

• Centralized platforms for storing and accessing patient data related to sleep studies, diagnoses, treatments, and follow-up care. Having everything accessible from one location facilitates informed decisions and personalized care plans by allowing you to access and review comprehensive patient information. 
• Seamless communication between sleep medicine professionals, which ensures all parties involved in a patient’s care have access to the most recent information.
• Custom templates and forms that eliminate excessive data entry. Upgrading to a high-quality EHR also eliminates IT problems, increases efficiency, and removes common documentation hurdles altogether.

3. Utilize Online Patient Portals for Streamlined Communication and Information Exchange

Using patient portals is an effective way to stay in touch with your patients and keep them up to date about their treatment progress. You can also offer your patients the option to message you securely, inquire about sleep study results, and make appointments online. 

The best thing about patient portals is that they are highly effective in minimizing administrative burdens by reducing the need for excessive calls and paperwork. Therefore, you can allocate your resources wisely while enhancing patient comfort through convenient self-service. Imagine how much less your team will have to work when patients can access their personal records online. After making the switch, you’ll be able to allocate your resources more wisely while enhancing patient comfort through convenient self-service.

4. Provide Staff With Comprehensive Training on Software and Technology Solutions

As a sleep medicine provider, we understand your unique challenges and the need for innovative solutions. But to make the most of the latest technology, it is crucial to offer specialized training to your staff to ensure they can effectively utilize it.

Your staff can make better use of sleep monitoring software by being trained on the use of your sleep medicine EMR software. In this way, your sleep medicine practice will stay on top of its game and improve its efficiency.

5. Integrate Electronic Billing Systems for Accurate and Timely Claims Submission

Integrating billing and EHRs allows for a quick submission of charges and diagnoses and automatic reimbursement to payers. This system will enable you to complete electronic claims forms using coding and documentation directly from patient records. In contrast to paper superbills or HL7 interfaces, it is far more efficient and eliminates typos and other errors. This system reduces the amount of time it takes to enter data manually.

On the other hand, the American Association of Family Physicians (AAFP) suggests that you aim for an average accounts receivable timeframe of 50 days or less for all patients and payers.

A comprehensive, integrated system can help you achieve this benchmark.

How to Reduce Healthcare Costs?

It is essential for you, as a sleep medicine professional, to provide high-quality patient care while managing your practice’s finances. The more ways you find to reduce healthcare costs, the more beneficial it will be for your practice’s administrative burdens and your patients.

Here are three effective strategies to help you lower healthcare costs without compromising patient care.

• Retain Staff

Hiring new employees takes your administrative team time and effort. Why not focus on staff satisfaction and creating a positive work environment? By building a practice that great employees are excited to work at, you can reduce costs while also combating turnover.

Additionally, monitoring things like overtime will prevent staff from burnout. Conduct an engagement survey to find out how your practice can improve staff engagement. Work towards retaining your staff and save costs in the long run.

• Optimize Medication Management

By carefully managing medications, you can ensure appropriate and cost-effective treatment plans for patients. This involves prescribing generic alternatives when available, which are often more affordable than brand-name drugs. Additionally, focusing on medication adherence programs can enhance patient compliance, preventing unnecessary complications and reducing the need for expensive interventions. Your sleep medicine practice can control med-related costs while providing high-quality care through these measures.

• Enhance Care Coordination

With efficient care coordination, you can better manage patient treatments, eliminating unnecessary spending and wasted efforts. At the same time, you can coordinate a patient’s care with other healthcare providers. Here are two practical ways:

• Using EHRs is a beneficial practice. It allows you to access and update a patient’s medical history on a shared platform. You can also communicate with patients through an electronic app.
• Another helpful approach is joining an Accountable Care Organization (ACO). ACOs involve doctors, hospitals, and healthcare professionals working to provide coordinated, high-quality care. The goal is to improve your practice’s health outcomes and effectively manage costs. 

Healthcare Tools That Save Time & Money

The ever-changing healthcare environment has made these innovative solutions invaluable in managing time and reducing administrative costs. Moreover, 1st Providers Choice is trusted to offer these vital healthcare tools by practices everywhere!

• Patient Appointment Scheduling Software

By streamlining patient appointment scheduling, you can save money and time on administrative tasks. Reminders and prompt filling of time slots reduce the possibility of missed appointments, so you won’t lose money.

This online booking system has the option to pay online, which reduces A/Rs. Suppose you want patients to use the scheduling services more frequently. In that case, you can offer discounts or complimentary consultations after their initial appointment.

• IMS Chat

IMS Chat is a time and cost-saving tool for sleep medicine providers. This real-time messaging software streamlines communication, saving valuable time and eliminating the need for lengthy phone calls or face-to-face interactions. 

With secure messaging capabilities, providers can efficiently address patient inquiries, share test results, and discuss treatment plans. IMS Chat ensures patient confidentiality and enables remote and urgent communication.

• IMS EasySign

Using IMS EasySign, you can eliminate the need for printing, scanning, and manual signatures. Documents can be created, signed, and managed efficiently, saving time and money. In addition, IMS EasySign integrates seamlessly with your Android or iOS device. As soon as the application is launched, it automatically pins to your device’s screen, making it easy to access whenever you need it. 

Providing you with the Best

As a healthcare provider, you must always deal with increasing administrative tasks. But if you can’t handle these activities properly, you are less likely to provide timely or appropriate patient care.

While administrative tasks will always be a part of your job as a healthcare provider, you can use the five tips provided to help you manage these tasks, reorganize patient data, and reduce admin work for better workflows in your sleep medicine practice.

Choose only the best for your sleep medicine practice!

At 1st Providers Choice, we understand our client’s needs and expectations for higher billing and EMR software performance. That’s why we only offer the top-tailored medical billing system and EHR with features that allow your practice to operate at its optimum potential, save time, and double your revenue.

Call us at (480) 782-1116 for immediate assistance or schedule a free demo with our experts TODAY.