Physician Associates Optimizes Operations with Self-Service Solutions from PatientPoint

Physician Associates, LLC, a 90-provider practice with 17 locations throughout central Florida, has implemented the PatientPoint™ kiosk solution to automate patient check-in and intake processes at its facilities.

“Our practice is committed to providing patients with easy access to high quality healthcare, and our use of self-service technology is one way that we are delivering on that promise,” said Christopher Jordan, COO of Physician Associates. “Since introducing the kiosks earlier this month, a majority of the patients are utilizing the kiosks daily. In addition, we’ve been able to increase time of service collections from patients by capturing co-payments and outstanding balances at the kiosk.”

Upon arrival for a medical appointment, patients check-in by swiping a credit card or driver’s license directly on the kiosk. From there, they can enter or verify demographic and insurance information, sign consent forms and pay any balances due. In addition, patients identified as members of participating pharmacy benefit management (PBM) programs will be prompted to answer questions regarding their prescription usage and presented with the opportunity to convert existing retail prescriptions to an economical mail order program administered by the PBM. This approach will ensure that patients are asked about their medication usage during each visit and enables physicians to address compliance issues as they arise.

“The paperless check-in process enhances efficiency for our staff, particularly because they no longer have to re-enter data from paper forms into our administrative and clinical IT systems,” added Jordan. “Meanwhile, patients experience shorter wait times and are able to flow through the care process much more quickly.”

Physician Associates has also signed an agreement with PatientPoint to deliver additional self-service applications to its patients via the Web, including online portal enrollment, bill payment, pre-registration, appointment requests, prescription renewal and secure messaging.

“PatientPoint continues to gain traction among physician practices nationwide as providers like Physician Associates look to obtain a competitive edge in the local market,” said Raj Toleti, chairman of PatientPoint. “In the past three months, we’ve added more than 1,500 physicians to the growing number of providers that would like to partner with PatientPoint. By the end of 2010, more than 5,000 physicians will utilize PatientPoint technology, enabling them to leverage the power of self-service for improved workflow, increased patient satisfaction and a stronger bottom line.”

About PatientPoint

PatientPoint provides interactive self-service solutions that enable payers, providers, pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical companies to engage patients at the optimal time during the episode of care for enhanced operational efficiency and increased revenue-generation opportunities. Designed to provide a single point of access for communicating with patients throughout the continuum of care, the company’s PatientPoint platform offers a variety of physician office-based applications, including patient check-in, eligibility verification, prescription adherence management and e-prescribing. For more information, visit www.patientpointkiosk.com.