Society is living longer than ever today, but this doesn’t necessarily mean we’re enjoying our senior years without medical problems. In fact, numerous studies show that this increase in longevity doesn’t correlate with an enhanced quality of life. This means that geriatrics healthcare is more important than ever. It also means that the demand in this area of healthcare is rising rapidly. This is going to cause significant problems in the future for the healthcare industry. But you can start tackling this today by employing a geriatrics virtual assistant.
A Simple Guide to How a Virtual Assistant Works
Before we get stuck into a deep dive into what a geriatrics virtual assistant can do, we’re going to take a step back and underline what a virtual assistant is.
The healthcare industry has always been an incredibly busy place to work. But it’s always been supported by a strong foundation of staff. Many of these are found in administrative roles, and without them taking care of administrative duties, clinicians would be unable to focus on patient care. These healthcare assistants have typically taken on duties such as managing emails, arranging appointments, and attending to patient queries. Also, and this is a key factor, they have always been based at their employer’s premises.
But this has all changed in the 21st century. Virtual assistants have experienced a surge in popularity and it’s all thanks to their simplicity. No longer does an employee need to travel to your practice or hospital every day. As a matter of fact, they don’t need to ever set foot in your organization’s premises, or even the same town, state, or country. All a virtual assistant needs is a high-speed internet connection, a PC, and a strong set of administrative skills. With these in place, they can integrate themselves with your IT systems and get to work as if they were sitting right next to you.
Increase Your Productivity with a Geriatrics Virtual Assistant
Any boost in productivity will benefit both your healthcare business and your patients. With a virtual assistant on board, it’s estimated that you can boost your organization’s productivity by 13%. And this will also make you more competitive. Therefore, a geriatrics virtual assistant is the perfect solution. But you’re going to want much more than one sentence to base an important business decision on. So, let’s look at what a virtual assistant can do for you and your patients:
Assist with video calls:
Ever since the Covid-19 pandemic redefined how we offer healthcare, video appointments have become more prevalent when it comes to patients connecting with clinicians. But this causes a problem when it comes to geriatric healthcare: the patients aren’t always tech savvy. Thankfully, this is where a virtual assistant can step in and lend a helping hand. Due to an enhanced set of IT and customer service skills, they can contact patients and walk them through the log in process for accessing video appointments. This reduces the number of missed appointments and makes better use of a clinician’s time.
Answering calls:
There’s no escaping the fact that doctors receive large numbers of phone calls every day. And, given the rapidly aging population which is growing sicker, geriatrics make up a large proportion of these phone calls. But the truth is that a clinician doesn’t need to deal with most of these calls. Many of them simply relate to general inquiries such as clarifying appointment times and medical billing issues. Rather than clogging up a clinician’s schedule, these calls can easily be dealt with by a virtual assistant. This will provide your patients with the answers they need and preserve your clinician’s valuable time.
Updating the EMR:
If you want world-class documentation of your patient’s care, you need to work with the very best Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems. These include solutions such as AllScripts, Cerner, and eClinicalWorks. Regardless of their remote nature, a virtual healthcare assistant can access your EMR and update records with ease. And you can rest assured that there is a virtual assistant available with full training in whichever EMR you use. This means that new data can be entered accurately, existing data extracted quickly, and patient records maintained for future reference.
Manage appointment schedules:
Virtual assistants can handle everything from scheduling appointments to rescheduling or canceling them if necessary. By taking these time-consuming tasks on, they can buy back time for your business and allow you to focus on more pressing tasks. Additionally, they can send out reminders to both patients and providers to ensure that everyone knows exactly when and where an appointment is. Overall, a remote healthcare assistant can streamline the appointment scheduling process and minimize the number of appointments that are missed.
Medical billing:
It’s crucial that healthcare professionals are given the time and space to focus on their core task: serving patients. Healthcare, however, isn’t healthcare without the all-consuming task of medical billing procedures. The problem with this task is that it can put a real drain on your clinicians’ time. Consequently, an alternative is required. And that alternative can be found in a virtual assistant. Capable of handling tasks such as verifying insurance coverage, submitting claims, and following up on outstanding balances, a virtual assistant provides the perfect delegation point.
Virtual scribe:
The demands of a clinician are tough enough without having to take notes during consultations. Not only does it detract their focus from the patient, but it also results in a set of notes which they need to transfer to your EMR. Sure, the answer is to have a scribe in the room, but this can impact on the confidential, secure environment of a doctor’s room. The remote nature of a virtual assistant, however, allows them to take notes accurately, allow the clinician to devote their full attention and, most importantly, complete all of this discreetly.
Act as a liaison:
It’s vital that patients are able to maintain clear communication channels with their families, different healthcare providers, and caregivers. Coordinating this can be difficult due to the numbers involved, but virtual assistants are trained in formulating strategies to achieve this. This allows your virtual assistant to form the backbone of timely and efficient coordination of care and communication. In turn, the patients and their families can make informed decisions about their care and benefit from the peace of mind.
How to Easily and Quickly Hire a Geriatrics Virtual Assistant
The benefits of hiring a virtual assistant are plentiful, and it’s a move that you no doubt wish you had made several years ago. The good news is that you can start benefitting from the productivity boost of a geriatrics virtual assistant today. But, just remember, you’re unlikely to have a best-in-class virtual assistant walk through your door. Or even land in your inbox. Instead, you need to know where to connect with them. And that place is Hello Rache.
We can take the hard work out of your search thanks to our strong relationships with the best virtual assistants in the business. All you have to do is click here and we can get started on matching your needs with an amazing virtual assistant.
