Patient Scheduling & Prior Authorizations Services

Improve Access and Patient Confidence in Your Imaging Program with Patient Scheduling and Prior Authorization Services

Patient Scheduling and Prior Authorizations Services

Exceptional Imaging Hinges on Patient Confidence and Access

To compete in an era when patients increasingly seek safe and trustworthy healthcare, you need to give your patients streamlined information and access to the right services at the right time. Because imaging services often serve as the “front door” for the health system or hospital, patient accessibility to imaging services is critical to your overall growth strategy now more than ever. Alliance Radiology supports patient communication and comfort, and can help implement smooth and comprehensive end-to-end prescreening, phone and online scheduling, prior authorizations, registration, screening and preparation processes that helps to maximize scan capacity, retain volume, increase patient satisfaction and protect the downstream care continuum.

Prior Authorizations

Prior Authorizations

The Perennial Struggle

As imaging programs increasingly assume the prior authorizations process from referring providers, the struggle to successfully obtain authorizations also increases due to lack of dedicated team members responsible for thoroughly reviewing and understanding hundreds of possible clinical exams and insurance payor nuances, leading to multiple risks for delays, denials and duplicate work. In a recent study, 65% of imaging programs reported ownership of the process, with only 34% successfully obtaining 50% or more authorizations.1

Compare this to Alliance Radiology’s unpaid claims rate of less than 2%.2 With over 35 years of experience serving over 1 million patients per year, we know the pitfalls, challenges and solutions to ensure you maximize your scan volume while providing patients with a more seamless, efficient and comfortable process.

How Alliance Radiology Helps Partners with Patient Scheduling

As a partner to over 1,100 hospitals and healthcare systems, Alliance Radiology has a centralized sea of experience to share and ensure partners and patients receive streamlined experiences, grounded in over 35 years of expertise and an unwavering commitment to value, reliability and compassionate care. With an optimized scheduling and prior authorization system that is fully integrated into your existing process, your imaging program can realize benefits such as:

  • Improved patient comfort and satisfaction
  • Improved referring physician satisfaction
  • Increased referral volumes
  • Optimized capacity on day of service
  • Increased revenue captured
  • More efficient revenue cycle, with cash flow improvement and lowered labor costs

Patient Preparation – Often Overlooked

We raise the standard for patient preparation within the scheduling and prior authorization process. With COVID-19-related access and throughput issues that loom for providers today, we help partners overcome these challenges through enhanced patient communication and support and comprehensive screening, registration and preparation processes that enable highly accessible and trustworthy scheduling.

Patient Preparation - Often OverlookedAn optimized patient scheduling and prior authorization process includes many steps, as outlined below.
Reminder call prior to the appointment

Reminder call made prior to appointment

Patient’s preferred appointment time and location

Patient’s preferred appointment time and location is received

Prescreening questions

Prescreening questions are completed

Ensuring order compliance

Order compliance is confirmed

Modality specific patient preparation instructions for successful scan completion

Modality-specific patient preparation instructions for successful scan completion are provided

Clinical documents supporting diagnosis, signs and symptoms

Clinical documents supporting diagnosis, signs and symptoms are reviewed

Medical necessity confirmation

Medical necessity is confirmed

Insurance eligibility & prior authorization

Insurance eligibility & prior authorization is confirmed

Proper patient preparation improves patient comfort and satisfaction, increases exam completion rates and lowers the number of no-shows.

Impacts to Referring Physician Relationships

The Referring Physician Impact
Your scheduling and prior authorizations services can directly impact a physician’s decision to refer. The prior authorization process impacts referring physician satisfaction with your services and their future willingness to refer to you. A scheduling and prior authorizations team that is familiar with the needs of both patients and referring physician offices is critical to maximizing your success. We create a seamless cooperation between the imaging center’s front desk and processing department and the Alliance Radiology prior authorizations team to ensure the best patient and customer experience.

Talk to us today about how to best optimize your services to increase patient comfort and access, physician referrals and revenue captured.

Request a consult to explore partnering with Alliance Radiology for your Scheduling and Prior Authorizations operations.
“Alliance Radiology’s prior authorization services help us reduce the time required for prior authorizations, improve customer service to our referring providers, and compete successfully with other area imaging providers.”

– Operations Manager Imaging Center in Northeastern U.S.

See what others are saying about us

1. “Seven steps to take control of imaging prior authorization,” The Advisory Board Company, Imaging Performance Partnership.

2. Unpaid claims rates are based on data collected from Alliance Radiology’s retail business partners.