The first group of e-mail or text message communications went out to active hearing aid wearers and within a week, 146 patients initiated HIPAA-compliant E-visit communications with the practice.

The patient responses were prioritized and fit into the following categories: (1) I’m fine, thanks for giving me a way to connect, (2) I need supplies or batteries, (3) My hearing aids seem broken, (4) I would like to buy new hearing aids, and (5) I have an illness/condition requiring a physician evaluation.

Although audiology cannot bill for an E-visit under the CMS guidelines, the use of the patient-initiated, E-visit technology is proving to be very positive in expanding the practice’s ability to communicate, provide care, and drive excellent patient outcomes.

Within three weeks, the practice collected $18,000 through their newly created remote service delivery channels. The provider team scheduled and is working on completing the 256 additional follow-up visits between the audiologists and physicians at a direct value $25,000. Medium term follow-up revenue is expected to generate a minimum of $32,000.

Overall, ENT Hearing Associates of Florida E-visit program is estimated to generate $75,000. And it is just a beginning.

“The results of E-visits are real. We are proving that we can improve hearing aid patients’ lives while generating revenue through virtual delivery channel,” Ramos said.

ENT Hearing Associates of Florida continues to evaluate the results of the initial efforts and is developing plans for how to better implement virtual visits.

“In the last six weeks, clinics have rushed to address patient and business needs,” said James Benson, President and Founder of QM2 Solutions. “The new normal requires providers to focus on quality to thrive in the future by focusing on the right patient, the right intervention, at the right time, and now, the right communication channel,” Benson said.

As providers continue to implement virtual visits, we will work with clients to share results.

To request a demonstration of these and other QM2 Solutions services, click this link: www.qm2solutions/evisits.

A five (5) doctor practice, with four mid-level providers, practices in a metro area of a Midwestern city.  They are generally happy with their group, and report feeling good about the quality of service they provide.  

Three of the physicians are over 55, while the group successfully recruited a physician, who is now 2 years out of training.  The busy doctors have seen their incomes stay steady, on average, over the last few years, as they compensate for insurance changes, through expanded ancillary services, and new in-office procedures.  

The Challenge:

The group has concerns about the future as they continue to struggle with the ever increasing demands on their time.The physicians’ mean professional production, plus ancillary service revenue is $1.8M per year with each physician seeing 2250 distinct patients per year. Their practice has some competition as there are 60 Providers within a 40-mile radius of their main practice location.  While most of their competition are physician owned practices, there is a university training program in their market, and there are two community based hospitals/multi-specialty groups that also employ their own physicians.

One-third of the patient appointment slots are set aside for new patients, the group spends marketing dollars on yellow page ads, and recently updated their website. To track their marketing results, their administrator has started Google analytics and word accounts. Through these sites they now know that they see about 170 searches per month.Each of the doctors have ratings on Healthgrades (and or other rating sites). Two of the three senior physicians have 3-star ratings averaging 5 responses with one having 2.4 stars.  The youngest physician has 15 responses and an average star ranking of 4.5/5.  Cumulatively the practice has a practice average of just under 3.2 stars.  

While each of the doctors have at least one 5 star rating, due to the low numbers, negative reviews have a significant effect on their averages.  Sixty percent (60%) of the 60 physicians within their market have equal or better on-line ratings.  

The clinic has done experience surveys in the clinics, but it has been off and on and the doctors are not really aware of any effect.  They have not had any discussion with payers about experience scores.

Before SEngage®? If we are conservative and only 20% of shopping patients select another provider due to suffering in comparison to their completion, they are losing up to $30K per month in potential business.

Read More about SEngage Implementation

One-hundred and twenty (120) delighted patients link automatically through SEngage®, and complete ratings on Healthgrades, and Vitals. The new ratings make the physicians among the most reviewed physicians in the market and the overall star ranking average for the group goes from 3.2 to 4.4 stars.  The net marketing affect would be $130K per year!

After 6 months, the practice has over 1000 ratings collected.  SEngage® satisfaction rating system demonstrates that the practice average is 4.5 stars and shows that the top box score for the group is in the 80th percentile as compared to CMS data. 

This knowledge empowers the group, who begin contract negotiations with their four largest commercial payers.  (50% of the net revenue) The practice begins by offering to share their group’s satisfaction information.  In exchange for the information, they agree that if they maintain a mean score within the upper two quartiles, the payer would provide a 2.5% bonus.  Working with one payer at a time, the group successfully secures agreements with three of the four companies that make up $4M in annual revenue.  

Experience Bonus Pool Earned:  $100,000

Finally, their new payer agreements identify that if they maintain high ranking for two consecutive quarters, they earn “preferred” provider status.  Preferred status means additional patient referrals from a large self-insured employer in their area.  

This agreement creates an additional 10 new patients per month.  

Preferred provider status:  $9K per month, or $108K per year.  All total, a focus on contracting nets the group an additional $208K in additional annual revenue.  Through managing reputation on their own site, on commercial rating sites and contract negotiations, a five doctor practice could see over $300K per year!