bring lost patients back to your practice
DESCRIPTION
*Learn how to find lost patients in your current practice management program*Tips on how to fill your schedules*Successes other practices have had from our program*Polls with live data from call participantsSpeakers:Bill Mercier - President of OptiCall, Inc.www.opticall.comSteve Gottfredson - Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Breviumwww.brevium.comTRANSCRIPT
BoomerangTM
Generating Revenue By Bringing Back
Your “Lost” Patients
Patient Reactivation Software
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Thursday, May 27, 2010
About OptiCall?In Business Since 2002
Have worked with over 250 Ophthalmic practices in the US and Canada
Handle over 10,000 ophthalmic calls monthly
OptiCall Elective Call Handling
OptiCall ACEtm- Actual Consumer Experience
OptiCall- RefracTraktm- Web based contact management and phone scripting program
Mystery Shopping
OptiCall “Boomerang” patient re-activation services
Thursday, May 27, 2010
About Brevium
In Business since 2005
Serving ~600 Ophthalmologist nation wide.
Customers range in size from 1-50 MDs & up to 9 locations
Software solution for data mining and returning lost patients to your practice
Thursday, May 27, 2010
What We’ll Cover Today
The importance of a recall system
What are recalls worth to your office?
Tips on effective recalls
What to do when recalls fail to produce the desired results
What is Boomerang?
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Fact:
The average general ophthalmologist practice
has thousands of inactive patients
Recalls get < 50% response
Cancelations/no shows add ~8% to losses
“Recalls Revisited” Administrative Eyecare Fall 2006
Dr. IC Clearly, MD941-893-2400
Thursday, May 27, 2010
How Patients Get Lost
Slip past the front desk
Recalls aren’t entered
Recalls notices aren’t sent
Recalls notices and calls are ignored
Patients cancel
Patients no show
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Poll
What does your practice currently do to get patients back for annual exams?
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What Does Missed Opportunity Cost?
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A practice study:
Practice schedules appointments 6 months out
# of recalls typically represents 30% of their total visit volume
< 50% patients respond to recall efforts
More than 15% of their annual volume is lost to ignored recalls
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A practice study:
Practice sees 40 patients per day (1 DR. practice)
40 pts X 4 days = 160 visits/week
$125 revenue per patient= $20,000/week
15% volume lost to ignored recalls = $3000 in lost revenue/week!
$156,000 annually per doctor!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
FACT:
It costs a practice 5-6 times as much to bring in a new customer to the practice than it does to retain an existing one.
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Poll
Do you know your cancellation/no show rate on appointments?
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FACT:Based on a survey of 25 eye clinics across the US
if patients do not respond to recall notices then:
67% will send 1 additional notice
28% send 2 notices
6% send 3+ notices
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Tips for effective recalls
Keep recall notices brief-
Don’t mix practice news or new doctor introductions with recall notices
Simple reminders that it’s time for visit will be twice as effective!
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Tips for effective recalls
Send out recall notices frequently and in small batches
Big, infrequent batches may generate a spike in call volume that ties up the phones and turns patients off
Smaller batches allows for more consistent phone call volume and schedule loading
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Tips for effective recalls
Schedule appointments 12 months or more to avoid overusing recalls to fill the schedule.
Once the appointment is made, the probability of the patient returning rises significantly
Make your best effort to schedule them before they leave that day
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Follow up with patients by developing an outbound calling system
Follow up with patients that cancel or no-show for their visits
Remember- ~8% of losses are due to cancels and no-shows. At 160 visits per week this can represent $1600/week in lost revenue (12.8 visits at $125 each).
Tips for effective recalls
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Boomerang combines the powerful patient reactivation software by Breviumtm
Highly skilled and trained phone staff at OptiCalltm
Call your patients that are due or overdue for appointments and book directly into your practice management system.
What Is Boomerang?
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Why Use Boomerang?
Offset recent Medicare reimbursements cuts
Offset Refractive Surgery market slump
Fill schedules
Increase Surgical Volume
Improve Patient Outcomes
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Boomerang Acts As A Patient Safety Net
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Boomerang Does Not Replace
Mailing Recall notices
Rescheduling before patients leave
Appointment Reminder calls
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Step 1: Find Lost Patients By Reading from Practice Management System DB
Looks for ignored recalls
Looks at the billing data
Last date seen
Diagnosis & Procedure Codes
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Step 2: YOU determine what WE want to focus on to schedule
Problem - We have a lot of available appointments to fill.
Solution - Mine for everything. Brevium can help you determine how much call time to apply.
Problem - Our clinic is full, but our physicians would love to be doing more surgery.
Solution - Follow up on surgical candidates: cataract checks, cataract post-ops for YAGs, refractive consults that didn’t produce surgery.
Problem - We’re very concerned about following up on high risk patients.
Solution - Focus on high-risk patients: glaucoma, diabetes, macular degeneration, pediatric amblyopia.
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Step 3: OptiCall’s staff calls the overdue patients and makes the attempt to book
Trained on YOUR practice management system
Schedule live into your available appointments
Make attempts to fill gaps in schedules
Work within your parameters and guidance for the type of appointment and doctor’s schedule you wish to fill
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Boomerang Staff Caller: Expected Results
Average practice adds 100+ incremental appointments per month
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Actual Results
1788 patients brought back (over 13 months)
2776 incremental visits
$432,300 incremental revenue collected
8X Return on Investment (receipts/labor + fees)
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Actual Results
New MD used to fill empty schedules
700 patients brought back (over 5 months)
$122,500 incremental revenue collected
8.1X Return on Investment (receipts/labor + fees)
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FAQ’sWhy can’t my staff do this manually?
Recalls are something that needs to be done regularly and consistently
Every call is documented and tracked to report success and revenue generated
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FAQ’sWhy do I need special software for this?
The Brevium software used for the system allows OUR team to focus on YOUR specific goals for each doctor, whether increasing surgical volume, reducing liability or filling schedules.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Software system helps avoid embarrassing situations
Highlights special alerts – such as patients in collections
So you don’t bring back non-payers
Protects referring relationships
So you don’t bring back patients for conditions the referring doctor would like to follow
Checks & rechecks the schedule
So you don’t call people who recently scheduled
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Software system helps avoid embarrassing situations
Pt initials Hidden issues
1. JM: Patient is in collections2. GH: Patient was seen 2 years ago for a contact lens fitting but last
therapeutic exam was 3 years ago3. KB: Patient has glaucoma & should be seen every 6 months (not
every 24 months)4. GY: Patient was referred by OD who will be mad if I call them5. JH: List was run May 1 and in between the time the list was run
and the call was made its now May 26 and the patient got on the schedule May15th.
6. PP: Patient has an insurance we don’t accept7. FT: There is another patient in the household who was last seen 25
months ago and didn’t hit the list8. PT: Patient was just in to pick up glasses yesterday. Do you want
the staff calling tomorrow to come back in?9. YY: Patient was dismissed10. TY: Patient is deceased
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Administration Function:Configure conditions to recall and expected return intervals
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FAQ’sWhy not just use an auto-dialer?
People don’t like machine calls!
The personal touch has 2-3 times the effectiveness of a machine
Our team can focus in on WHY they need an appointment
If a patient refuses care, we can document why. Machines can’t!
Thursday, May 27, 2010
FAQ’sWhat systems are we currently working with?
Allscripts
Cerner PowerWorks
Compulink
GE Centricity
ManagementPlus
McKesson
MDoffice
MedEvolve
Medflow
Medical Manager
MediSoft
MedInformatix
MicroMD
Misys Tiger
NextGen
Origin (SSIMed)
QSI
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Questions?
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Contacts
Dylan Kemna 303-875-8338 cell
Steve Gottfredson 801-440-1188 cell
Bill Mercier 941-893-2400 ext 2
Thursday, May 27, 2010