How Self-Registration Can Help Multi-Specialty Practices Expedite Check-In & Collections

By Chloe From Clearwave | June 14, 2023

Patient throughput and collections are common challenges facing all healthcare facilities, yet these complexities are magnified for multi-specialty practices and health groups. When you’re seeing hundreds of patients in a day, relying on a few front office workers to manually manage patient scheduling, reminders, check-in, registration and collections can introduce bottlenecks that leave employees, patients and providers feeling equally frustrated.

Southview Medical Group faced and overcame these challenges with one, centralized solution. Seeing more than 700 patients a day across a variety of specialties, including cardiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, and endocrinology, caused efficiency bottlenecks. Even with four in-office receptionists manning the front desk, Southview struggled with patient lines out the door, busy waiting rooms and slow patient throughput – which were taking their toll on patient and employee satisfaction and providers’ schedules.

In addition, patient collections were also an issue for Southview. Receptionists often didn’t have time to ask for payment on outstanding balances and co-pays because patient check-in was time consuming. Even if they did have time, some receptionists avoided financial discussions with patients because it was uncomfortable with a long line behind patients checking in. Staff who did ask for collections had to speak loudly to be heard over the noise in the crowded waiting room, which often leaves patients feeling embarrassed. All of these challenges impacted their collection rate.

To address these issues and get the practice running more efficiently, Southview’s leaders knew they needed to find a technology solution that would help them expedite check-in, reduce wait times, keep providers’ schedules on track and increase collections. See how they solved all of these challenges with one patient revenue platform.

The Transformative Power of Patient Self-Registration

With self-service registration kiosks and pre-check-in links, Southview improved efficiency throughout its patient workflows and billing processes, despite high-patient demand. Patient reminders have helped Southview drastically reduce the patient no-show rate, infusing the practice’s cash flow. By sending pre-registration links in advance, via reminders, they have significantly expedited the check-in process while removing registration burdens from front office staff. Additionally, with registration taken care of by the patient at home, they no longer have to arrive 20-30 minutes ahead of their appointment, shortening wait times, making reception areas less crowded and maximizing patient throughput. In fact, Southview has achieved an average check-in time of under two minutes, which is significant considering they see hundreds of patients a day.

The Immediate Impact on a Multi-Specialty Practice:

During a recent webinar, Daniel Chattom, Clinical Systems Manager at Southview, discussed how Clearwave helped the multi-specialty health group expedite check-in, reduce long lines, decrease patient wait times and prevent crowded waiting rooms. You may find value in what he had to share:

Boosting Cash Flow:

From a cash flow standpoint, with digital patient self-registration and check-in, Southview has seen an immediate increase in the payment of past due balances and co-pays, because patients no longer delay payment but take care of it when prompted discreetly at the kiosk. In fact, Southview now enjoys an 86% patient collection rate, while they collect 91% of co-pays at check in via self-registration. Chattom discusses how Clearwave has helped Southview maximize collections and drive revenue in this video:

Simple & Easy Implementation:

Today, Southview provides a superior patient experience that drives satisfaction, while keeping employee workloads manageable, provider schedules filled and collections coming in. It started with a strong and well-supported implementation approach. In this interview snippet, Chattom discusses how the multi-specialty health system implemented self-registration into their complex registration workflows with ease:

If you’re leading a multi-specialty practice on the path to rapid growth, with as few roadblocks as possible, learn more about Southview Medical Groups’ story and take similar action to drive revenue results. Watch the full webinar conversation on, “How to Unlock Hidden Revenue During Patient Check-In.”

Patient Revenue Results for Multi-Specialty Practices

Long check-in times and busy waiting rooms have a tangible impact on patient satisfaction and collections. For most multi-specialty practices, this impact is significant and hinders ongoing growth, especially in a changing economic climate. Patient-led registration solutions (such as mobile pre-check links and self-registration kiosks) have been shown to drive:

• 112% increase in point-of-service collections
• 2x increase in premium service revenue
• 90% reduction in wait times
• 20% decrease in rejected insurance claims

Clearwave Core is the patient revenue platform™ for high-growth practices. See why multi-specialty practice leaders trust Clearwave to help them enhance the patient, provider and staff experience while driving revenue. Request a demo today.