Understanding_the_Patient_Intake_Process

Understanding the Patient Intake Process Ashshanti Bryant HCR/220 April 25, 2010 Fonzette Mixon Understanding the Patient Intake Process The patient intake process is designed to retrieve patient information , new or established during the check in process at a clinic, hospital, or doctors office. It is important to maintain a efficient intake process and a strong patient flow. An important part of health care quality is patient satisfaction. The impact of patient arrival times to appointments affect the overall patient flow in the office, clinic or hospital during the course of an ambulatory visit. Patient waiting time, time spent with the physician, and time spent in the examination room, are just as important as the intake process. Unorganized patient flow processes increase waiting times and decrease patient satisfaction, which reduces the amount of patients a physician treats as well as unhappy staff members. For example, instead of a patient having to literally sign in at the front desk, the implementation of a touch screen patient entered data system for completion of intake paperwork required for all patients would help reduce time checking in. "Problems can arise at any one of several parts of the office visit, from check-in, to initial nurse intake, to the provider visit, and through check-out"(Onisuru,2007) The reduction of the amount of paper work in a clinical setting is a "must have" and can also provide efficiency as well. The capabilities of using computerized records can cut back on the time a patient spends filling out forms. This would allow the patient to be seen quicker and reduce the time spent in the office as well as reduce the amount of paper used to retrieve information and improve the overall flow of the office. Weak patient flow can create poor patient care, dissatisfied patients, frustrated employees, and the decrease of a physicians patients. Personal information such as the address, insurance information and medical history could be retrieved and already in place before the patient arrives for an appointment. This could be done by entering the patients social security number , name and birth date; therefore, making paper work as less but as much to the point as possible. Furthermore, the admittance of a patient does not need to be slowed down because of sloppy or too much paper work. In some practices, most doctors offices have already begun to adopt this method. It has proven to be very efficient in some doctors offices. Secondly, another "must have" strategy to improve patient intake efficiency is the ability for a doctor to determine what medications a patients insurance pays for as well as how much the co-pay would be when writing prescriptions. However, this can give the patient the opportunity to determine what he or she can or willing to pay for. Consequently, most doctors write prescriptions blindly, and they have no idea of what is covered by insurance companies or what is not covered by the insurance companies. In some cases, patients that do not have insurance can also benefit from this improvement. They will have a chance to determine and pick the least expensive medication needed before the physician writes the prescription. Noticeably, there are few physicians that are familiar with the cost and insurance covered medications. In some offices, a physician may carry a small handbook that contains information just for this cause. Thirdly, a "must have" in the patient intake process should be the provision for patients without health insurance should be more helpful. Never the less, the patient intake process could be improved by notifying a patient ahead of time what the cost of services are and if there is some type of payment arrangements or sliding scale fee before the patient comes to the office or clinic. Furthermore, offering financial counseling to a patient is a good approach for patients without insurance. Hence, this will insure that an uninsured patient receive the care he or she needs. Furthermore, this would avoid the waste of making appointments for patients that do not have health care and cannot pay for services. Patient flow is the key to establishing a successful practice, and effects the ability of a physician to treat his or her patients. There are several techniques that can be adopted to ensure the effectiveness of patient flow as well as the patient intake process. However, with the proper training, the staff can effectively implicate rapid office check-in, nurse intake, provider visit, and check-out; as well as the writing of prescriptions and financial assistance. References Onisuru, T.(2007). BMC Health Services. Patient flow analysis. Retrieved April 25, 2010 from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov