Erianne Leatherman | Apr 18, 2017

Oregon medical group switching to electronic preregistration to boost efficiency

Asante Physician Partners Family Medicine in Grants Pass, Oregon, has redesigned patient registration to an electronic system in an effort to boost efficiency, AMA Wire said in an article.

The clinic had previously been requiring patients to complete a six-page registration packet prior to their first visit.

“Too many patients were arriving without complete registration paperwork, which delayed not only their visit but also had a trickle-down effect on the next visits on the schedule,” David Gilmore, director of operations at Asante Physician Partners, told the AMA Wire. “The care team was documenting items in the exam room that should have been covered before the patient arrived. This process created time and cost concerns for both the patients and medical practice.”

As a result of the inefficiencies, Asante redesigned its patient preregistration from the six-page paper packet to an electronic preregistration system, AMA Wire said.

An estimated 1,000 new patients could be registered within the next two years, Asante associates told the AMA Wire, adding that their practice would need two full-time employees to support the new preregistration process.

Considering the costs of keeping its paper registration, Asante said it could save $216,760 per year by moving to an electronic preregistration program, AMA Wire said. The new process would also cut down on the time medical professionals spend on gathering registration details during an appointment.

AMA’s STEPS Forward module summarizes a four-step process that outlines how medical practices can administer the improvements. The steps include designing the preregistration process, developing a preregistration script, identifying and training staff, and introducing the new process and acquiring feedback, AMA Wire said.

Asante has now brought the electronic preregistration process to over 20 of its network practices.

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