Published: Feb 5, 2023
by Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead
In Small Business News
0
There is new technology in the form of AI-enabled insurance card scans, plus optical character recognition (OCR) and verification, that promises to help doctors reduce office costs.
How Technology is Helping Doctors Reduce Office Costs
Orbit Healthcare have conducted some eye-opening research into how this technology can help doctors reduce their administrative costs, which design agency Nowsourcing have turned into an excellent infographic.
Let’s look at some of the highlights from Orbit Healthcare research.
Inefficient and Error-Prone Manual Processes
Manually processing insurance details is a significant drain on both financial and personnel resources. There are many data entry errors either in capturing or keying-in patient intake information, or simply wrong insurance information captures. Other issues include lapsed coverage, incorrect payer information and inaccurate patient and payer details.
These combined issues are causing 25% of healthcare expenditures in the United States to be administrative overheads. This could be greatly reduced with automated scanning, OCR and verification.
In total, the US healthcare system currently wastes up to $850 billion every year on errors and inefficiency, with bad insurance data a contributing factor.
The Cost of Unverified Insurance
The research reveals that insurance claim errors directly waste $17 billion every year, while global healthcare providers lose around $30 billion per year through fraudulent or error-ridden work. With the correct technology, both healthcare providers and patients could benefit from total savings of over $16 billion.
A quarter of all spending on payment processing in the healthcare sector is currently being wasted by the likes of pricing failures and administrative complexities. It is clear to see that huge improvements need to be made.
New Challenges of Telehealth Providers
Telehealth involves the administration and distribution of health services and information via electronic information and telecommunication technologies. It differs from standard medical facilities in that telehealth providers often don’t have front office staff to help verify insurance details.
With Orbit Healthcare discovering that 74% of US patients are interested in using telehealth services, such providers will be increasingly dependant on reliable automated technology for insurance verification.
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Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a professional freelance writer and journalist based in the United Kingdom. Since 2006, Gabrielle has been writing articles, blogs and news pieces for a diverse range of publications and sites. You can read “Gabrielle’s blog here.”.
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For years, doctors have relied on traditional office practices as a way to reduce costs. However, doctors are now realizing that technology can be used as a viable option to help reduce office costs and increase efficiency.
First of all, advances in medical technology are allowing doctors to reduce office costs by reducing the amount of time and resources needed to manage medical paperwork. Electronic medical records are becoming increasingly common in offices, allowing doctors and their staff to access case files and health records quickly and easily. This can help reduce paperwork and the need for additional employees.
Second, doctors are leveraging technologies such as telemedicine and remote health monitoring to help reduce costs. In the past, doctors would often have to make many office visits to determine if a patient was suffering from an illness. Now, with the use of telemedicine, doctors can monitor and diagnose patients online. This can save time and money, as well as reduce the need for additional staff.
Finally, doctors are using mobile technology to provide more patient access. By providing patients access to their medical records via their smartphones, doctors are able to reduce wait times and increase the efficiency of their office practices. Additionally, by utilizing apps and mobile technologies, doctors can reduce paperwork and improve accuracy of data.
Overall, technology is proving a valuable tool for doctors who want to reduce costs and increase efficiency. By leveraging electronic medical records, telemedicine, and mobile technologies, doctors are able to significantly reduce office costs. By embracing technology, doctors can improve patient care and cut costs.
