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Improve Access to Your Imaging Program with Patient Scheduling and Prior Authorization Services
Exceptional Imaging Hinges on Patient Access
To compete in an environment where patients play a large role in their healthcare decisions, you need to give your patients access to the right services at the right time. Because imaging services often serve as the “front door” for the health system or hospital, access to imaging services is critical to your overall growth strategy. Improve your patient access by enhancing your scheduling and prior authorizations process. Alliance HealthCare Radiology can help implement smooth and comprehensive phone scheduling, online scheduling options, and a comprehensive and accurate pre authorizations process. These efforts can maximize patient satisfaction, scan capacity, and revenue.
Prior Authorizations
The Perennial Struggle
Common Issues
- Often radiology scheduling services are done by office staff (such as medical assistants or referral coordinators), who are typically overworked and experience high turnover
- Many imaging orders contain errors or missing information which renders them non-compliant
- Physician offices are often forced to do their own prior authorizations, costing them significant time and hassle
- Some schedulers struggle with the complexity of the exam request, and need to call technologists to get clarification on the appointment
Impact on Imaging Programs
- Referral volumes are redirected to the imaging provider who provides easy scheduling and prior authorization services
- Frequent denials of prior authorization requests and rework of prior authorizations
- Need to reschedule the patient and/or the patient chooses a different imaging provider
- Dissatisfied patients, no-shows, patients who do not return again
- Disrupted scan schedule
- Loss of patient volume and revenue
- Delay in diagnosis
How Alliance Helps You with Patient Scheduling
There are many steps from the pre-scan through post-scan. Alliance has experience with all these steps. We manage this process in its entirety at our own imaging sites, as well as many of our joint venture partner locations. If not performed properly, the steps required for patient scheduling and pre-authorization can have a negative impact on nearly every other step in the patient imaging process flow. In most radiology programs, there are opportunities to improve the performance of patient scheduling and prior authorizations. With an optimized scheduling and prior authorization system that is fully integrated into your existing process, your imaging operation can realize benefits such as:- Improved referring physician satisfaction
- Improved patient satisfaction
- Increases in referral volumes
- Increased captured revenue
- Optimized capacity on the day of service
- More efficient revenue cycle, such as cash flow improvement and lower labor costs
“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.
Patient Preparation – Often Overlooked
We raise the standard for patient preparation within the scheduling and prior authorization process flow. Alliance Radiology performs hundreds of thousands of scans a year. We’ve proven that successful patient preparation and scheduling is a critical component of patient satisfaction and volume growth, and results from a coordinated effort.
An optimized patent scheduling and prior authorization process includes many steps, as shown in the graphics below.
Reminder call prior to the appointment
Patient’s preferred appointment time and location
Prescreening questions
Ensuring order compliance
Modality specific patient preparation instructions for successful scan completion
Clinical documents supporting diagnosis, signs and symptoms
Medical necessity confirmation
Insurance eligibility & prior authorization
Proper patient preparation improves patient satisfaction, increases exam completion rates, and lowers the number of no-shows. Part of Alliance Radiology’s Scheduling services includes the patient preparation components shown in the graphic above.
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. In the referral process, there is the possibility of the appointment being scheduled by the referring office or by the patient.
A scheduling and prior authorizations team that is familiar with the needs of both the patients as well as the 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 customer service.