During the past several months, many therapy practices have been hit hard by COVID-19 and the recession, resulting in clinics nationwide shutting down and furloughing of employees due to a significant decline in caseload. At HelloNote, we wanted to help provide the following suggestions to help your healthcare practice to stay afloat during these rapidly and ever changing times.
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- Prevent an increase in cancellations and no-shows: With everything going on in the world and all of the precautionary measures related to COVID, many people are trying to avoid going out to public places resulting in an all-time high of cancellations and no-shows. But there are 3 easy ways to prevent your appointments from being canceled:
- Provide your patients with access to an easy to use portal so that they can log in to check on their upcoming appointments.
- Ensure you’ve created email and text message reminders about your patient’s upcoming appointments.
- Finally, when patients do attend their appointments, encourage them to schedule future appointments before they leave so that you can address any current concerns they have and provide them with a printout of their updated schedule to take home with them.
- Communicate precautionary measures your clinic is taking to keep patients safe: Right now it is safe to say that many patients may feel they will be exposed to other patients and/or other scenarios that might place them at a higher risk for catching COVID. The best way to ensure patient’s continue attending their sessions while easing their concerns is to make sure you are communicating your current safety measures. Mention safety measures, such as less patients in the clinic at one time, only scheduling appointments on the hour to limit exposure, wearing a mask at all times, and social distancing of equipment within the clinic. The simplest way to address someone’s fears and concerns is to be honest and open with them making communication a key factor in maintaining your interpersonal relationship with your patients.
- Start offering virtual therapy appointments: Telehealth therapy has been an up and coming phenomenon over the past couple of years and it is safe to say that right now, there are definitely patients who prefer telehealth appointments compared to in-person visits, especially those individuals who are high risk or live with someone who is high risk for contracting COVID. Now is the perfect time to start offering telehealth therapy sessions, if you are not already, to better serve your patient population.
- Continue marketing your practice through offering online informational materials: One of the biggest shifts COVID has caused is the amount of the workforce that now works from home, the majority, if not all of the time. While it might be tough to have formal marketing right now due to costs and decreased revenue, one simple way to effectively continue marketing your business is through offering videos and/or graphics that provide useful information relating to pain points workers are currently experiencing.
For instance, one video could provide tips for setting up an appropriate ergonomic workspace for improved seated posture to prevent increased low back/shoulder pain, when sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day. Another idea is to address the importance and health benefits of moving every hour or a certain number of times throughout the day. - Focus on your team, at a personal level: Sometimes we forget that our employees and co-workers are human too. Many people have had a decline in their mental health due to increased isolation from businesses being shut down to children attending virtual school. And no two people are experiencing the same challenges. While we may not fully understand what others are going through, it is important that you discuss what your team members and co-workers need at this time. For some, that might be a more flexible schedule or increased time off and for others, it might be increased precautionary measures. By individually discussing what each person needs, you will have a better understanding of ways to keep your team happy and working cohesively, as one unit, to better serve your patients.
- Prevent an increase in cancellations and no-shows: With everything going on in the world and all of the precautionary measures related to COVID, many people are trying to avoid going out to public places resulting in an all-time high of cancellations and no-shows. But there are 3 easy ways to prevent your appointments from being canceled:
The most important thing right now is to focus on the things you can control which includes your patient’s experiences and the way you and your staff interact with patients. Regardless of what is going on in the world, the most important thing is taking care of your patients and helping them return to a life they love.
HelloNote has created rehabilitation documentation and integrated billing software that helps ensure that you can keep your clinic up and running. In addition to documentation and billing, we have a HIPAA compliant patient portal, appointment reminders and tele-health software. We’d love to show you a free demo here: https://hellonote.com/.