Waystar is currently working to expand and introduce resources for those in healthcare dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. In this series, we’ll explore what you can do to help support the three groups most vital to your organization: patients, providers, and your people. Check out part one here.
One of the biggest impacts coronavirus has had is the shift for many to working remotely. While physicians are exploring options to interact with or monitor patients from their homes, huge numbers of hospital administrative staff are making the transition to working from home (contrast with pre-COVID research, which recorded roughly 16% of office administrative support occupations in healthcare working at a distance).
Protect and equip your teams
As a provider, you’ve no doubt had (at least) two big adjustments to deal with. Supporting and protecting front-line staff, and ensuring teams transitioning to remote operations are properly equipped. Remote staff faces a number of new issues, from a lack of print service access to managers struggling to lead teams and measure productivity.
If you’re responsible for helping staff successfully transition to their new work environments, here are a few ways you can help them accomplish that:
1. Automate manual tasks
In the new world of social distancing, outdated manual tasks are even more of a burden than before. Automating those tasks will free up your team to focus on high-priority goals and accelerate cash flow. Specific areas you’ll want to transition include eligibility checks, secondary claim submissions, and payment posting reconciliation tasks. Focusing on those will cut down on staff phone calls, prevent denials, and increase the number of claims accepted on the first submission.
2. Use productivity monitoring software
One of the biggest challenges when your team works remotely is monitoring and improving performance. Working with your team to introduce productivity tools will help you identify and address problem areas in communication, workflows, or document handoffs. You’ll want to deploy tools that build performance reports and identify productivity bottlenecks. Ideally, those tools should include easy-to-understand visualizations and dashboards to help you and your team identify and discuss concerns.
3. Reduce printing needs
The remote working environment means your staff have reduced or no access to printing capabilities. You can minimize their printing footprint by using electronic attachments (which usually have the benefit of being automated) and a platform that offers print and mail functionality. These tools will help your team more easily process claim submissions, appeals, and patient statements.
The wrap up
The transition to our new work environments has created a whole host of issues and concerns. That’s why it’s so important you act quickly to ensure your team is equipped with the tools they need to succeed in their new setups.
With some simple solutions and adjustments, you can help make the team’s transition stress-free while improving productivity. Furthermore, you’ll be better equipped to more fully understand their concerns and the challenges they’ll face in their new day-to-day environment.
Want to learn more? Visit the Waystar COVID-19 resource center.
