The Issue – How to get test information to patients?
Each day, your practice receives test results that must be communicated to your patients – meaning countless hours spent by your staff in order to do this. Multiple phone calls are made to answering machines in which you cannot leave detailed results – thanks to HIPAA regulations.
When the patient finally gets the message, they often call at inopportune times or after business hours – frustration builds for staff and patient as telephone tag continues. Clinical work is interrupted trying to relay this information.
Through this whole process, all results and instructions to patients must be tracked and documented. Noncompliance needs to be monitored and addressed – meaning patients who do not follow-up as ordered must be reminded in writing, often with a certified letter.
You must do all of this – perfectly – on the average of 4,000 tests and referrals generated by a doctor each year. If just one test ends up injuring a patient, you risk a malpractice suit, which could conceivably close your practice! Remember, “no news is good news” is a liability nightmare.
How can you possibly accomplish this in a cost-effective manner in today’s medical climate?
One Non-Practical Solution – Add Staff
You could manage these tasks by hiring a new staff member with the following job description:
- Record all tests and referrals generated in the practice
- Send email and voice messages to remind patients when tests have not been done as ordered
- Record and send test result messages in the physician’s own words using easy to set up templates
- Notify patients that test results are in
- Send reminders when messages are not retrieved
- Track all tests and leave a daily alert for all staff members and MD’s listing all tests not completed in a timely manner and all messages not received
- Record and save all correspondence including voice message files in case of medico-legal issues
- Work nights and weekends—never take a vacation or time off!
SecuReach Systems does this for you and much more at a fraction of the cost! | 
