When the founders of Anytime Pediatrics started the telehealth platform, their mission was to ensure that children would receive the best care — with the right provider, at the right place, at the right time. That goal is still at the forefront of the business today as new features are added to allow you to serve families, all while helping your pediatric practice thrive financially.
One of these innovative solutions is after-hours nurse triage. Did you know that 80% of after-hours calls stem from parental worry and most of their children do not need immediate physician attention? That’s why access to your pediatric practice and a reliable nurse triage service is crucial.
Now, thanks to Anytime Pediatrics, we are revolutionizing after-hours nurse triage, offering patients the ability to upload images. In addition, the triage nurses can invite patients into a video visit if a phone call alone is not sufficient. These options have the potential to affect your office’s financial health in a good way. Are you wondering how? Read on to discover how after-hours nurse triage can improve the patient experience and your practice’s bottom line.
The Positive Effects of After-Hours Nurse Triage
When a parent is worried about a child’s health during the evening hours and on weekends and holidays, they want reassurance quickly. With a traditional medical answering service, there is a substantial delay between the time the parent first leaves a message and when the provider-on-call contacts the family. Sometimes, parents get tired of waiting, while other times, they don’t even bother calling in the first place. In both cases, the parent takes the child to urgent care or the emergency department. The result? Your practice loses revenue, and health outcomes suffer.
With our after-hours nurse triage service, your patients can speak to a highly qualified RN with at least five years of ER and phone triage experience. And thanks to integration with the Anytime Pediatrics telehealth platform, patients’ parents can upload photos. For example, when a child has a rash, a caregiver can upload an image of the rash from today and one of the rash from yesterday. This is a great way for the nurse to gauge if the patient needs to be seen right away. In addition, the nurse can convert the phone call into a video visit to better assess the patient’s needs.
It’s clear that providing a reliable after-hours service is helpful for high-quality patient care. But, the benefits don’t stop there. Here are three ways the Anytime Pediatrics after-hours nurse triage solution positively impacts your practice’s bottom line.
Prevents Leakage
Every pediatric practice is losing patients to urgent cares, retail clinics, and emergency departments. However, when you’re available to your patients and their families through an after-hours nurse triage platform, you can decrease that leakage.
Staying connected with your patients maximizes the efficiency of not only you, the physician, but also your office. After-hours nurse triage is a powerful solution for your practice, and it helps to lessen physician burnout.
Increases Revenue
When doing phone triage, the nurses use Schmitt-Thompson protocols to determine the best course of action for the patient. About 20% of the time, the triage nurse decides that the patient needs immediate physician guidance, so they can route the call to the on-call provider for a billable telehealth visit.
Meanwhile, about 50% of after-hours patient calls get scheduled for next-day, in-office visits. With an estimated per-visit fee of $75, these two options result in considerable revenue for your practice.
Improves the Patient Experience
When your patients’ parents make after-hours calls to your office, they know they are talking with a trained healthcare professional who can help them quickly and direct them to the appropriate care. Families trust you and your practice, so they’re likely to reach out to your office, rather than going to urgent care or the emergency department.
This type of positive healthcare experience encourages families to stay in the medical home — and your practice — every time. They’re also more likely to recommend your practice to other families. Both of these scenarios lead to long-term, positive impacts on your bottom line.
At Anytime Pediatrics, we firmly believe that the best care for your patients is from you, their pediatrician. After-hours nurse triage can help you serve families in the evenings and on weekends and holidays — times when parents of sick children need reassurance. To find out how the Anytime Pediatrics after-hours nurse triage can benefit your practice, contact us today!
