It’s likely one of the most demoralizing sights in a doctor’s office or hospital — the clipboard. The clipboard containing page after page of forms and information that patients are required to fill out. All too often, patients barely pay attention to what they are doing in an effort to make it look like it has been filled out so they can get out of the waiting room and into see a doctor. Staff at the intake desk may not look over the forms when that clipboard is handed back in, making sure that all the required information has been provided … legibly. Once the patient leaves, so too has the provider’s chances at making sure they are going to be able to get in touch if needed, be it to provide test results, book follow-up appointments, or collect on unpaid bills.
Is there a more important step in the process for providers than making sure they have all the information they need, just in case? Making sure you can read the patient’s email address (is that a smudge or a .?) Did the patient provide consent to be contacted on his or her cell phone?
Up to one-fifth of healthcare providers’ records can be duplicates, and inaccurate data can cost a provider as much as $5 million, according to one study.
That information is critical, especially if the account ever ends up being placed with a collection agency. Not having proper contact information severely limits the likelihood that an agency will be able to get in touch with the patient and be able to collect on that debt. The account lays around because nobody has the patient’s contact information and everyone crosses their fingers hoping that the patient comes back in the future and re-establishes contact.
A bank would not give someone a credit card without making sure it had all the information it needed. Think of everything you have to fill out and sign when you get a new cell phone. Why should a visit to the doctor’s office be taken any less seriously by the provider?
In today’s world of complex insurance rules and regulations, you never know when a patient is going to need to cover a bill on his or her own. Knowing you have all the information you need is the most important first step in establishing a chain of data that can be relied upon, just like the sound of that clipboard.