The Top 10 Mistakes Medical Practices Make When Treating Medicare Advantage Patients

The Top Operational Mistakes Practices Make With Medicare Advantage Patients 

by Lilibeth Santiago, Founder of LS Consulting Services LLC

If, like me, you have been in healthcare a while, you know that managing Medicare Advantage (MA) patients is no longer a simple administrative task — it’s a strategic, operational, and financial responsibility that directly impacts a practice’s revenue, quality scores, and patient outcomes. Yet many practices still rely on outdated workflows that simply don’t match the complexity of MA populations. After years of working with primary care groups, specialists, and value‑based organizations, I’ve seen the same operational mistakes repeated across practices of all sizes. These mistakes are costly — not just in dollars, but in patient trust, compliance risk, and staff burnout. Here are the top operational pitfalls practices face with MA patients — and what you can do to fix them. 

1. Failing to close care gaps promptly!
MA plans are built on proactive care. But many practices still treat care gaps as “optional reminders” instead of required actions. If you are relying on information that is claim-based, you're likely falling behind. Claim-based data is delayed by 30 and sometimes 90 days, depending on the payor. That means 3 months before you even know what your patient needs! Create your own source of data if you have to wait on claim-based data. The NCQA and payor websites are great sources if you're not sure what's needed based on age group. Work with your electronic health record (eHR) to optimize your access and structure a process to tackle as many of those gaps from the very first office visit of the year. As an operational goal, you should be aiming to reach 60% of all your care gaps by the end of the 1st quarter of the year. I know what you're thinking! That's crazy! Trust me, work hard the first few months of the year, and you'll see the benefit at the end!
If you can ensure 80% of your care gaps are covered by the end of your 2nd quarter, you'll be in a very good place to reach 100% before the end of the year. Many practices fail to meet their goals because they wait until later in the year, and as I'm sure you've noticed, the summer months are unpredictable for medical practices, and the fall and holiday season, forget it!


2. Poor Referral Management and Follow-Through
Let me tell you why this is an issue! You can't properly manage a patient if you don't close the loop on the care they receive outside of your practice. That means ensuring they are seeing the specialists and when they do, that you are following those specialists' recommendations. I can't begin to tell you the number of patients referred, but never make it to the specialist's office, and you never know about it until their condition has worsened. Needless to say, there are the ones that do make it, but the PCP never knows the outcome of it. This leads to fragmented care, and it can be detrimental to the efforts you're making for your patients.


3. Inadequate Documentation for Risk Adjustment (HCC Coding) - Here's something to remember about MA patients: they are complex! You know it, I know it, we all know it! But do we document it? Nope. Let me give you an illustration, you know when you ask your patients if they have any chronic conditions and they tell you, no? Then you ask, Are you on any medications and they tell you they're on Metformin, Lisinopril, Simvastatin, and 20 other meds. Well, this is the equivalent! We have patients on many medications, but medical history? Empty. The lab report shows kidney failure, but medical history? Empty. Document. Document. Document.
If you are treating for it, get paid for it! You can't if you haven't documented it! I know you're tired of seeing that patient every 3 months, but have you documented the conditions this year? Diagnoses have to be reassessed annually! This is why an annual wellness visit in the first few months of the year is ideal: to provide a structured pre‑visit workflow and provider education — not just coding audits after the fact.

4. Inefficient Front‑Office Workflows I know what you're thinking: finally, it's not all on the clinician! You're right, it starts at the front. With clear SOPs, staff training, and workflow redesign, the practice can facilitate things for the clinician and the patient to be successful.

5. Lack of Cultural Competence
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I don't have to remind you that no two offices are alike, even if you operate in the same city. The patients you serve require different services, resources, and competencies to serve them. Know your patients! Find out what they need and how to best serve them. For some, it will mean satisfying their transportation needs so they can be in compliance with their treatment plan; for others, it will mean taking care of their emotional needs first. Again, you know your patients best!

6. Not Leveraging Preventive Care Opportunities
When it comes to managing MA patients, the key will be in preventing rather than reacting. Missed annual wellness visits or incomplete/rushed ones can lead to loss of revenue, missed opportunities in identifying chronic conditions, or existing ones exacerbating. These patients' conditions can change and do so fast; thus, seeing them only once a year, no matter how healthy they may seem to you now, may not be ideal!


For more information on our consulting services visit www.lsconsultingservices.net or call us 689-224-9789 lsantiago@lsconsultingservices.net

Why Referral Leakage Is Costing Your Practice Thousands and How to Fix it

Why Referral Management Is the Hidden Revenue Leak in Your Practice — And How to Fix It Let me ask you something that I know every practice manager feels in their gut at least once a week: You sent the referral — but did the patient actually go? Did the specialist's office receive the clinical notes? Did anyone follow up when the appointment never got confirmed? Did your provider ever find out what the specialist decided? If you hesitated on any of those questions, you are not alone — and this is not a reflection of your team's effort or dedication. This is a systemic problem that quietly drains revenue, disrupts patient care, and burns out your staff every single day. As a healthcare operations consultant who has worked inside the day-to-day reality of medical practices, I can tell you that referral management is one of the most underestimated operational challenges in medicine today — and it has a very real, very fixable solution. $150 Billion+ Lost annually by U.S. hospital systems due to referral leakage — with 55–65% of potential in-network referrals never completing the loop. That number isn't abstract. It traces directly back to individual practices — to your practice — where incomplete referral loops translate into missed revenue, patients who fall through the cracks, and a cycle of reactive scrambling that never quite gets resolved. I wrote this post to name the problem clearly, quantify what it's costing you, and show you exactly what a better way looks like. The Pain Points Every Practice Knows Too Well I've sat with front desk coordinators who are managing referrals on sticky notes between answering phones, checking patients in, and fielding billing questions. I've spoken with practice managers who genuinely didn't know how many of their referrals were going unconfirmed — not because they didn't care, but because they had no system in place to track it. Here's what the data says, and what I see in real practices every day: Referrals sent into a black hole: Faxed over, never followed up on, never confirmed. The referring team moves on to the next patient and assumes the specialist will handle it from there. Staff stretched impossibly thin: Your front desk is managing check-in, phones, scheduling, insurance verification, and chasing referral confirmations — all simultaneously. Something will always slip. Patients falling through the cracks: A referred patient who never receives a follow-up call often simply doesn't go. No reminder, no coordination, no follow-through — no visit. 68% of specialists report receiving no preliminary patient information before a referral visit. The patient arrives; the specialist is starting from scratch. Costing more for the visit than necessary as now they are having to duplicate tests or repeat examinations. 50% of referred patients never complete their subspecialty visit — a staggering dropout rate that affects outcomes and revenue equally. 25–50% of referring physicians never receive confirmation that their patient was seen by the specialist — a gap that is both a clinical risk and a communication failure. Broken PCP-to-specialist communication loops: Feedback letters arrive too late, records aren't transferred, and the referring provider is left without the specialist's clinical impression. Prior authorization delays: Auth requests submitted late or incorrectly kill referral momentum and create frustrating delays for both the patient and the specialist office. Language barriers causing patient drop-off: For Spanish-speaking patients — a growing population across Central Florida and beyond — receiving a referral in a language they're not comfortable with, from a coordinator who can't explain the process clearly, is often enough to stop the journey right there. "The referral was sent. But no one knew if the patient ever arrived. That's not a staffing failure — that's a workflow failure. And it's fixable." The Real Cost — Financial and Operational Impact I understand that operational problems can feel abstract until you put a dollar figure on them. So let's do exactly that. The financial impact of unmanaged referrals is both staggering and specific: Metric Data Point Annual revenue loss per physician (referral leakage) $821,000 – $971,000 Percentage of a practice's potential revenue drained 10–30% Annual cost of inappropriate referrals (wasted wages + co-pays) $1.9 billion Referred patients requiring re-referral due to inappropriate first referral 63% In-network referral retention rate (employed PCPs) ~55% stays in-network But the financial picture goes deeper than the headline numbers. When referrals go unmanaged, your staff spends hours on the phone chasing specialist offices — time that could have been spent on in-office patient care. Physician time gets consumed by administrative follow-up instead of clinical work. And when patients don't complete their referral journey, they often experience worse health outcomes, generating more costly interventions down the line. Key Insight Practices transitioning to value-based care models face compounding risk here: referral closure rates directly affect quality scores, HEDIS metrics, and payer contract performance. A poor referral follow-through rate isn't just a revenue issue — it's a quality reporting issue that can affect your entire reimbursement structure. And then there is the patient experience dimension. A patient who feels confused, forgotten, or lost in the referral process is a patient who leaves your practice a negative review — and who may not return. In an era where patient loyalty and online reputation are competitive differentiators, letting referrals slip through the cracks has a brand cost that is difficult to recover from. Why Most Practices Are Stuck in Reactive Mode I want to be direct about something: practices that struggle with referral management are not struggling because they don't care. Every practice I have worked with cares deeply about their patients and their team. The problem is structural — and it is not your fault. Here's why even well-run practices get stuck in reactive mode: EHR systems generate referrals but don't close the loop. Your platform can produce a referral order in seconds. What it cannot do is call the specialist's office, confirm the appointment, obtain the prior auth, and route the feedback note back to the ordering provider. That requires human coordination — and most EHRs weren't built for it. No dedicated referral coordinator — or one person managing far too much. When the referral responsibility is distributed across clinical staff, front desk, and billing with no single owner, accountability evaporates. Everyone assumes someone else followed up. Inconsistent documentation practices. Without a standardized process, referral information is tracked in different ways by different team members — spreadsheets, paper logs, EHR notes — leading to gaps and duplicated effort. High staff turnover disrupting referral continuity. The one person who knew the referral workflow just left. Their institutional knowledge walked out with them. The new hire is starting from scratch with patients mid-referral. No standardized workflow or tracking system. Without a defined process from referral order to closure, every referral becomes a one-off effort rather than a repeatable system. The specialist office side of the equation. Unanswered calls, lost faxes, delayed authorization responses — the barriers don't only exist in your office. A dedicated coordinator knows how to navigate the specialist side efficiently, often reaching the right contact through relationships and persistence that an overextended front desk simply cannot sustain. How LS Consulting Services LLC Solves This This is where I get to talk about the work I genuinely love doing — because I've seen what a difference it makes when a practice finally has a real referral management system in place. At LS Consulting Services LLC, we serve as a dedicated, outsourced referral management and care coordination partner for medical practices. We don't just consult and leave you with a binder of recommendations. We work alongside your team as an operational extension of your practice — handling the referral lifecycle from start to finish so your staff can focus on what they do best: caring for patients in the office. Here's what working with us looks like in practice: End-to-end referral tracking: From the moment a referral is ordered to the day the specialist's feedback note is routed back to your provider, every step is monitored, documented, and accounted for. Proactive follow-up: We contact specialist offices, track prior authorization status, confirm patient scheduling, and flag any delays before they become dropped balls. We don't wait for problems — we prevent them. Closing the loop between PCP and specialist: We ensure that clinical documentation, imaging results, and referral notes travel with the patient — and that specialist feedback comes back to your team in a timely, usable format. Workflow optimization: We audit your existing referral processes and implement streamlined, standardized workflows tailored specifically to your EHR system and your team's structure. This isn't a generic template — it's built for your practice. Patient experience improvements: Patients receive timely updates on their referral status in their preferred language, reducing anxiety, no-shows, and dropout rates. A patient who feels informed and supported is a patient who follows through. Staff relief: Your front desk and clinical team are freed from referral chasing. That reclaimed bandwidth improves morale, reduces burnout, and creates space for higher-value in-office interactions. Scalable, flexible service: Whether you are a solo provider, a growing multi-specialty group, or a practice navigating a transition to value-based care, our services scale to meet your volume and complexity. Our Bilingual Advantage One of the strengths I bring to this work is bilingual care coordination in both English and Spanish. For practices serving Hispanic and Spanish-speaking communities — particularly across Central Florida — this is not a minor convenience. It is a meaningful clinical and operational differentiator. When a patient who is more comfortable in Spanish receives a referral call, a scheduling confirmation, and follow-up communication in their language, their likelihood of completing the referral increases substantially. Trust is built. Drop-off is reduced. And your practice demonstrates a genuine commitment to equitable, patient-centered care. Section 5: What a Well-Managed Referral Process Looks Like To make this concrete, here is what a referral looks like when the process is working the way it should — from order to closure, with nothing left to chance: Step 1 — Order & Entry: Referral is ordered in the EHR and immediately we get to work on it. Request authorization to the payor if applicable. Fax clinical documentation to the specialist. Step 2 — Specialist Outreach: The specialist's office is contacted within 24–48 hours to schedule the patient's appointment and confirm receipt of documentation. Step 3 — Authorization & Records: Necessary clinical documentation and prior authorization requests are submitted proactively — before delays can occur. Step 4 — Patient Confirmation: The patient receives a call or message in their preferred language confirming the appointment details, what to bring, and what to expect. Step 5 — Follow-Up: If the appointment is not confirmed within 3–5 business days, a follow-up is placed with both the specialist office and the patient to resolve any barriers to scheduling. Step 6 — Feedback Loop: After the specialist visit, we retrieve the specialist's notes and clinical feedback and route them back to the ordering provider — closing the clinical communication loop. Step 7 — Closure & Reporting: The referral is formally closed, documented, and included in your practice's referral performance reporting — giving leadership full visibility into completion rates, outstanding referrals, and workflow bottlenecks. That is a system. That is what referral management looks like when it is treated as the mission-critical process it truly is — not as a secondary task distributed across an already-stretched team. Why Outsourcing Referral Management Makes Sense I know what the internal conversation often sounds like: "Could we just hire someone to do this in-house?" It's a fair question. Here's an honest comparison: Factor In-House Coordinator LS Consulting Services LLC Cost Salary + benefits + payroll taxes + recruiting costs Flexible, scalable service fee — no overhead Training & Ramp-Up Weeks to months of onboarding time Best practices from day one — no ramp-up Turnover Risk High — disrupts referral continuity None — process continuity is built in HIPAA Compliance Must be established and monitored HIPAA-compliant processes built in from day one Reporting & Visibility Depends heavily on individual coordinator Structured reporting, data, and insights included Bilingual Capability Requires specific hiring — often hard to find English and Spanish coordination included Scalability Requires additional hiring as volume grows Scales up or down based on your volume Outsourcing referral management to a specialized partner means you gain immediate expertise, reporting transparency, and operational consistency — without the HR overhead, benefits cost, or the vulnerability that comes with relying on a single employee whose departure takes the entire system with them. No Ramp-Up. We bring structured referral management expertise from day one — with HIPAA-compliant processes, bilingual coordination, and reporting built in. Who We Serve Our services are designed for practices where referral volume, patient complexity, or community diversity creates real coordination challenges. We are an ideal partner for: Primary care, internal medicine, and family medicine practices — where high outbound referral volume makes tracking and follow-through a daily challenge. Specialty practices with complex referral ecosystems — including cardiology, orthopedics, neurology, and other specialties where both inbound referral coordination and outbound sub-specialty referrals require dedicated management. Multi-provider groups managing care coordination across several providers, locations, or care teams where a centralized referral function is essential. Practices in diverse communities serving Spanish-speaking patient populations — particularly in Central Florida and similar markets — where bilingual coordination is a genuine clinical and operational differentiator. Practices transitioning to value-based care models where referral closure rates, care gap closure, and quality metrics directly affect reimbursement and contract performance. If you recognize your practice in any of these descriptions, you are exactly who we built this service for. Closing Thoughts: Referral Management Is Revenue Protection I want to leave you with this framing, because I think it changes the conversation: referral management is not an administrative task. It is a revenue protection strategy. It is a patient safety issue. And in a healthcare market where patients have more choice than ever — and where value-based care is rewarding outcomes, not just visits — a well-managed referral program is a genuine competitive differentiator. The practices that invest in getting this right are the ones that keep their patients in-network, close their care gaps, earn stronger quality scores, and build the kind of patient trust that drives long-term loyalty. The practices that treat referrals as an afterthought continue to lose thousands of dollars per physician, per month — quietly, invisibly, and entirely preventably. You have already taken the first step by reading this far. Now let's take the next one together. If your practice is ready to stop losing revenue to referral leakage and start delivering a seamless patient journey, I'd love to connect. Reach out to LS Consulting Services LLC today to schedule a complimentary consultation — and let's talk about how we can transform your referral workflow. Schedule Your Free Consultation Today → LS Consulting Services LLC | Healthcare Operations & Referral Management Consulting www.lsconsultingservices.net Bilingual (English/Spanish) | Serving Medical Practices Across Central Florida and Beyond Specialties: Referral Management · Care Coordination · Workflow Optimization · Revenue Cycle Support © 2026 LS Consulting Services LLC. All rights reserved. The statistics cited in this post are sourced from Dialog Health, Advisory Board, and MGMA research on referral leakage and healthcare revenue cycle management.

Compassionate Offboarding

 Laying off employees is one of the hardest things a company ever has to do — and how an organization handles that moment says everything about its values, its culture, and its long‑term reputation. The process of communicating the decision to the employees needs to be empathetic, strategic, and rooted in the real operational and human impact you understand will be caused on the countless lives impacted by your decision.

Why Companies Should Provide Professional Résumé Writing and Interview Preparation Services During Layoffs?

Layoffs are never easy — not for the employees whose lives are disrupted, but also not for the leaders who must make the decision. Even when reductions are unavoidable, companies still have a responsibility to support the people who helped build their success. One of the most effective, meaningful ways to do that is by offering professional résumé writing services as part of the offboarding process.

This single investment can dramatically ease an employee’s transition, protect your employer brand, and demonstrate that your organization values people even in difficult moments.

It Eases the Emotional and Practical Shock of Job Loss

Losing a job is overwhelming. Depending on their longevity with the organization, they may not have updated their resume in a while and may not even remember how to interview for a role. Most employees don’t immediately know how to:

• Reframe their experience for a new industry
• Update their résumé to modern standards
• Position their strengths in a competitive market
• Translate internal job titles into market‑ready language

A professional résumé writer helps employees regain confidence at a time when they need it most. It gives them a sense of direction and reduces the paralysis that often follows a layoff.

It Accelerates Their Job Search — Which Reflects Well on Your Company

A polished résumé shortens the time it takes for a displaced employee to land their next role. When former employees enter the workforce quickly, it benefits the company in several ways:

• Fewer unemployment claims
• Stronger alumni relationships
• Reduced negative sentiment online
• A reputation for treating people with dignity

In today’s transparent world, how you treat departing employees becomes part of your brand story.

It Reduces Legal and Reputational Risk

Employees who feel abandoned or unsupported during layoffs are more likely to:

• Leave negative reviews
• Share their experience publicly
• Pursue legal action
• Discourage future talent from applying
• Impact customer relations negatively

Providing résumé and interview preparation support demonstrates good‑faith effort and care. It shows that the company is committed to helping employees move forward, not simply cutting ties.

It Levels the Playing Field for Employees Who Haven’t Job‑Searched in Years

Many employees haven’t updated their résumé in a decade or more. Others may have been promoted internally and never needed to market themselves externally. A résumé writer helps them:

• Modernize formatting
• Highlight quantifiable achievements
• Align their experience with current market expectations
• Optimize for applicant tracking systems (ATS)

This ensures every employee — regardless of background — has a fair chance at securing new employment.

It Demonstrates Compassionate, People‑Centered Leadership

Layoffs are a defining moment for organizational culture. Employees who remain will watch closely to see how their colleagues are treated. Offering résumé support sends a clear message:

“We value you. We appreciate your contributions. And even though this chapter is ending, we want you to succeed in the next one.”

This strengthens trust, morale, and loyalty among the workforce that stays. I remember some time ago, a client reflecting on her situation told me that while their employer had lost an employee, they had gained a customer as a result of their compassion and empathy in the process of laying her off! 

It’s a Small Investment With a Big Impact

Compared to the cost of severance, recruitment, or turnover, résumé writing and interview preparation services are a minimal expense. Yet the return is significant:

• Faster reemployment for displaced workers
• Stronger employer brand
• Higher morale among remaining staff
• Reduced risk of negative publicity
• A more ethical, human‑centered offboarding process

It’s one of the most cost‑effective support tools a company can offer.

Finally, layoffs will never be painless, but they can be handled with empathy, professionalism, and integrity. Providing résumé writing and interview preparation services is more than a courtesy — it’s a strategic investment in people, culture, and reputation.

Companies that prioritize humane offboarding don’t just protect their brand; they build long‑term trust. And trust is the foundation of every successful organization.

 

www.lsconsultingservices.net
689-224-9789 

The Hypocrisy Behind Today's Hiring Practices

 

The modern hiring process is full of frustrations for candidates, but none are more glaring than the way some companies treat artificial intelligence. On the surface, they preach authenticity, originality, and “real human effort.” Behind the scenes, they’re automating, optimizing, and outsourcing more of the hiring pipeline than ever.

It’s a double standard that job seekers feel every day: candidates are discouraged from using AI tools, while employers rely on them at nearly every step. Now, I don't know if this is more prevalent now because more people are looking for jobs, or because more companies are using AI tools, but I hear and see the frustrating effects of these practices every day. 

Let’s  me explain a bit what I mean by these. 

First, you have companies saying “Don’t use AI to write your résumé,”… but our AI will screen it anyway

Many companies warn applicants not to use AI-generated résumés. They claim it’s dishonest, inauthentic, or somehow “unfair.” In fact, some of them will discard those who are clearly identified as having been created using AI. I don't blame them, frankly! As a hiring manager myself, I want to see the effort in it. Here’s the twist: those same companies often run every résumé through an AI-powered Applicant Tracking System (ATS) that:

• Parses your résumé
• Scores it
• Filters it
• Rejects it
• And sometimes never lets a human see it

How do I know that? More candidates, perfectly capable candidates, are rejected within minutes of submitting their applications on a daily basis. When I review their resumes, sure enough, they didn't do a good job showcasing their abilities on paper, as they have in person or verbally at least. So, candidates are told to avoid AI assistance, while employers use AI to decide whether the candidate even deserves a glance. To me, this is wrong in so many levels! 

It’s like telling students not to use calculators, then grading their work with a machine that only understands calculator-friendly formatting.

And once a resume has survived the ATS, guess what the companies are saying?  “Don’t use AI to prepare for interviews,”… but hiring managers do

Another common message: “Don’t rely on AI to prep for your interview. We want to see the real you.”

Meanwhile, hiring managers:

• Use AI to generate interview questions
• Use AI to summarize candidate profiles
• Use AI to create scoring rubrics
• Use AI to coach them on what to ask and what to look for

Some even use AI to analyze interview recordings and produce “candidate fit” scores.

Thus, candidates are expected to show up as pure, unassisted humans… while the people evaluating them are armed with algorithmic coaching and automated insights. Fair?  Think not! 

Companies often justify these actions by saying they want fairness. But fairness isn’t achieved by limiting candidates—it’s achieved by transparency and consistency.

If a hiring manager can use AI to prepare, why can’t a candidate?

If a company uses AI to screen résumés, why shouldn’t applicants use AI to optimize them?

If AI is part of the hiring ecosystem, then pretending it isn’t only disadvantages the people with the least power in the process.

And so what is the real issue? Control, not capability

The contradiction isn’t really about AI. It’s about who's at an advantage of being able to decide who gets to use it. 

Companies want the efficiency, speed, and cost savings AI provides—but they don’t want to deal with candidates who use the same tools to level the playing field. It’s a control dynamic disguised as a moral stance.

What companies should be saying

If organizations want to be honest, their message should be something like:

“We use AI in our hiring process. You’re welcome to use AI tools too—just make sure the information you provide is accurate and reflects your real experience.”

That’s it. Simple. Fair. Transparent.

Because the truth is, AI isn’t going away. Not for candidates. Not for employers. Not for anyone.

The future of hiring needs honesty, not hypocrisy. 

AI is now woven into the fabric of work. Companies use it to write job descriptions, evaluate applicants, train managers, and streamline interviews. Candidates use it to write résumés, practice interviews, and research companies.

Instead of pretending one side should stay “pure,” we should acknowledge the reality: AI is a tool. And tools are meant to be used by everyone. 

The hiring process will only become more equitable when both sides can use the same tools without stigma or secrecy. 

Speaking about honesty and transparency, guess who helped me write this blog? You got it! AI! 😄

www.lsconsultingservices.net
689-224-9789

Improving appointment availability for your medical practice

 Action Plan to Improve Appointment Availability and Maximize Scheduling Utilization

1. Audit Your Current No-Show Data

• Run Reports: Use the electronic health record to identify no-show trends by provider, appointment type, day/time, and patient demographics.

The industry average is about 10% if yours is higher than that, you may need to implement more of these actions than other practices to be successful. If you have less than 10% no show rate, you may not have as big an issue as you think.

2. Enhance Appointment Reminders

• Automated Reminders: The Practice will use text, email, and phone reminders via tools like Athena Appointment reminders.
• Multiple Touchpoints: Send reminders 3 days before, 2 days before, and the morning of the appointment. If the patient/caregiver has yet to confirm their appointment, the front desk will place a call.
• Two-Way Communication: The Practice will encourage patients/caregivers to confirm, cancel, or reschedule directly from the reminder issued by the electronic health record. Patients will be reminded upon checking out of the need to confirm/reschedule future appointments promptly. Some practices will go as far as to place the ‘unconfirmed’ appointments in a tentative status, where if someone else needs that slot, it can be double-booked to optimize schedule utilization.

3. Offer Flexible Scheduling – The Practice should consider flexible scheduling at the time of scheduling the patient’s next appointment.

4. Implement a No-Show Policy

• Clear Communication: The Practice should post the no-show policy in several visible and highly visited areas of the office.
• Fees or Warnings: The Practice should implement a no-show fee for those habitual offenders who can be billed for such fees. Keep in mind that Medicaid recipients cannot be billed.
• Grace Periods: The Practice should allow rescheduling within a certain window to avoid penalties.

5. Train The Staff

• Scripts for Confirmations: The Practice needs to ensure front desk staff use consistent, friendly language.
• Follow-Up Protocols: The front desk will call no-shows within 24 hours to reschedule and understand barriers.
• Empathy First: The front desk staff will approach missed appointments with understanding, not blame.

8. Monitor and Adjust – The Practice needs to monitor and prepare to respond should patterns in the no-show rates change at any given moment.

• Monthly Review: Track no-show rates and interventions.
• Provider Dashboards: Share performance metrics with clinicians.
• Continuous Improvement: Test new strategies and refine based on results.

 

One thing to consider here is if you have a high no-show rate and have already implemented all these actions, you may need to consider over-scheduling or double booking to compensate for those appointments you’re missing out on. To do this, you can reduce the appointment types to 10-15 minutes instead of 20-30 minutes. This way, if someone does a no-show, you’re not dealing with a whole ½ slot that’s left empty, but a 10 or 15-minute one instead.

9. Offer walk-in hours – The practice should set aside an hour in the morning and one in the afternoon for patients without appointments but needing to be seen that same day.

·       Publish the times throughout the practice and on the website if available.

·       Notify patients of these times as they establish care with the practice.

·       Remind patients by posting regularly on social media.

10. Never turn patients away! – The practice will accommodate patients who present for services.

·       A patient who presents in person for an appointment should leave after being seen.

·       Never allow a patient to leave without being seen, regardless of what time or day they come in. I know they don’t always show up at the most opportune of times, but if increasing your numbers is what you want to do, you’re going to have to be flexible.

 

 

Improving the patient experience at your medical practice

 

Patient Experience Improvement Plan

At least twice a year your medical practice should obtain feedback from your patients/caregivers in the form of online reviews, comment cards and/or patient satisfaction surveys. Upon reviewing and analyzing the data obtained, the practice will act upon the findings by implementing the necessary strategies to ensure the patients’ satisfaction.

1. Streamline Appointment Scheduling

• Flexible Booking: Your medical practice should consider opening at least one Saturday a month to create more flexible scheduling options for the patients or opening extended hour one day during the week.
• Same-Day Access: Your medical practice should consider continuing to inform patients of the slots reserved for urgent visits or last-minute needs.
• Appointment Reminders: Use automated texts, emails, and calls to reduce confusion and no-shows.

2. Enhance Front Desk Interactions

• Warm Welcome: Train staff to greet patients/caregivers by name with a smile.
• Efficient Check-In: Your medical practice should consider enhancing the check-in process by verifying eligibility and coverage well in advance to the patients’ arrival.
• Clear Signage: Make navigation easy with visible, friendly signs.

3. Improve Wait Times and Comfort

• Monitor Wait Times: Track and address delays proactively.
• Comfortable Environment: Provide clean appropriate seating, water, Wi-Fi, and entertainment.
• Transparency: Inform patients/caregivers of delays and offer options to reschedule if needed.

4. Deliver Compassionate Clinical Care

• Active Listening: Encourage providers to listen attentively and validate patient concerns.
• Shared Decision-Making: Involve patients/caregivers in treatment choices.
• Clear Communication: Use plain language and visual aids to explain diagnoses and treatments.

5. Personalize the Experience

• Know Your Patients/caregivers: Use EHR notes to remember preferences, birthdays, or family details.
• Cultural Sensitivity: Train staff in inclusive care practices.

6. Empower Patients/caregivers Digitally

• Patient Portal Access: Your medical practice should consider encouraging patients to use the digital options available to patients/caregivers to view results, message providers, and manage appointments.
• Mobile App Integration: Increase the use of tools like patient portal for seamless engagement.
• Educational Content: Your medical practice has uploaded and shared videos, articles, and FAQs tailored to their patients/caregivers’ conditions and concerns.

7. Collect and Act on Feedback

• Comment cards: The patients/caregivers have an option to complete a suggestion/comment card anonymously to provide feedback on their visit. Those are reviewed weekly.
• On line rating: Your medical practice should consider monitoring the online ratings monthly for trends or  areas needing improvement.
• Close the Loop: Let patients/caregivers know how their feedback led to changes.

8. Monitor Progress

• All sources of feedback from patients/caregivers will be monitored on a monthly basis. Key Performance Indicator metrics such as, patient satisfaction scores, wait times, and portal usage will be monitored as well to ensure we are maximizing it’s use.

 

No hay nada de malo en querer más

 No hay nada de malo en querer más…

¡Esa es una mentira que el mundo quiere que creas!
Hay mucho de malo en la codicia. De hecho, Juan nos dice que Judas quería más, y solía “apropiarse del dinero de la bolsa.” (Juan 12:6).
Estaba reflexionando sobre esto mientras conducía al trabajo esta mañana después de dejar a mi hija en la escuela.
¿Te lo puedes imaginar? Quédate conmigo un momento mientras te comparto una experiencia personal.

Recientemente he pasado por un proceso que ha puesto a prueba mi fe de una manera que nunca antes había experimentado. Durante los últimos 8 meses, Dios me ha pedido que le entregue mi situación, pero como alguien que ha tenido que defenderse emocionalmente desde los 7 años (algún día compartiré mi testimonio), tengo un serio problema al permitir que alguien más tenga control sobre mi corazón.

Ha sido un constante ir y venir entre nosotros—Él pidiéndome que le entregue las cosas, y yo diciendo “ok,” pero luego queriendo decirle cómo hacerlo, cuándo hacerlo y qué debe hacer. Bueno, sabemos que eso no es realmente entregarlo todo, ¿verdad?

Hace un par de semanas, me encontré nuevamente en mi carro, que parece ser el único lugar donde tengo algo de tiempo a solas últimamente, y sentí al Espíritu Santo preguntarme: “¿De qué tienes miedo?” No sabía cómo responder, pero claro, Él lo sabe, así que preguntó: “¿Tienes miedo de que no pueda proveer para ti?”
Yo dije, bueno, supongo, sabiendo que eso es parte, pero no todo.
Él dijo: “Mira a tu alrededor, todo me pertenece.”
No dije nada, pero pensé: en realidad, las personas cuyos nombres están en las escrituras de propiedad son los dueños, y Él dijo: “No, ellos solo administran eso para mí. Yo soy dueño de todo lo que está bajo los cielos.” (Deuteronomio 10:14).

Unos días después, volvió a preguntar: “¿De qué tienes miedo?”
“No sé,” respondí, sabiendo que Él ya lo sabe.
Él dijo: “¿Tienes miedo de enfermarte y que no pueda sanarte? Tengo el plano de tu cuerpo en los agujeros de mis manos.”
Inmediatamente tuve una imagen mental de los clavos en sus manos, y la palabra en Isaías: “Por sus heridas fuimos sanados.” (Isaías 53:5).
Pensé, qué tonto puede sonar pensar que quien creó mi cuerpo no tenga la capacidad de sanarlo.
Luego recordé a las personas por las que he orado para que fueran sanadas y murieron, y sentí en mi espíritu que tal vez murieron, pero debería considerarlo como que llegaron al cielo antes que yo.

Finalmente, durante un momento de oración, Dios volvió a preguntar: “¿De qué tienes miedo? ¿Tienes miedo de estar sola?”
Y, una vez más, Él me conoce mejor que yo misma, así que no necesitaba responder, pero me recordó que Él es amor (1 Juan 4:8), y que no nos deja ni nos abandona (Deuteronomio 31:6).

Él es mi fortaleza (Efesios 6:10).

Sabiendo eso, hoy mientras conducía al trabajo, estoy contemplando cómo Judas tenía a Jesús con él. ¿Qué más podía querer?
Si quería amor, Jesús es amor.
Si quería fortaleza, Él es la fuente de sabiduría y fuerza.
Si quería dinero, toda la plata y el oro son suyos (Hageo 2:8).
Si quería creatividad, Génesis está lleno de ejemplos de cuán creativo puede ser Dios.
Si quería verdad, Jesús es la fuente de la verdad (Juan 14:6).
Si quería atención, caminaba con aquel que las multitudes se reunían para ver.

El tan esperado Mesías estaba allí con él, y Judas lo sabía, lo había visto hacer milagros.
Pero Judas quería más.

El mundo le hizo pensar que debía tenerlo. Que podía tenerlo.
La codicia lo cegó, y sin saberlo, ya lo había matado espiritualmente mucho antes de decidir quitarse la vida (Mateo 27:5).

Eso es a lo que lleva la apatía espiritual: a una muerte espiritual.

La codicia lo cegó, y sin saberlo, ya lo había matado espiritualmente mucho antes de decidir quitarse la vida (Mateo 27:5).

Eso es a lo que lleva la apatía espiritual: a una muerte espiritual.
Una mala decisión pequeña tras otra.
Una pequeña mentira aquí y allá, sin importancia, ¿verdad?
Un pequeño paso en la dirección equivocada aquí, otro allá, y lo siguiente que sabes es que estás en un camino de destrucción.

Judas no se despertó un día y decidió traicionar a Jesús; fue un pequeño paso tras otro, una moneda aquí y otra allá.
Un pensamiento que entretuvo por demasiado tiempo se convirtió en una emoción que lo llevó a la acción final, y luego vinieron las consecuencias que no pudo revertir.

Eso es lo que el mundo no te dice.
Hay mucho de malo en querer más cuando ya lo tienes todo, cuando tienes a Jesús.