Life Gets Much Easier For A Practice And Their Patients In Managing Patient Assistance Programs

We are back for the third and final round of our series covering Patient Assistance Programs! I’m your blog host and physician practice technologist Michael Patrick. Today’s post (a 5 minute read) focuses on the story of a practice achieving better results in facilitating Patient Assistance Programs using the power of automation and integration harnessed within Systeem Connect™.

In the event you missed last week’s post that covered 5 Tips For Creating The Right Policy For Managing PAPs (Patient Assistance Programs), it included a downloadable sample policy. Keep in mind that the policy was designed for practices not using Systeem Connect™.

Today, the spotlight deservedly shines on Lindsay Eaton, Associate Director of Operations and her practice Retina Vitreous Associates. Lindsay and her team struggled with the manual processing involved with managing Patient Assistance Programs described in the first post of this series.

“Before Systeem Connect™, the process was very manual and involved lots of steps, paperwork, ensuring paperwork got to the proper place at the proper time, following up on paperwork to make sure next steps are taking place, re-sending lost paperwork, and on and on,” shared Lindsay.

We asked Lindsay if she could shed more light on the impact to patients and physicians in using a manual approach to Patient Assistance Program management. She shared one example that impacted both.

“There had been times in the past when a patient did not sign an enrollment form. While seemingly simple, in the hustle of managing the many details of processing a person through the business side of a clinical visit, details like that can get overlooked. The result is a patient gets a bill they weren’t expecting and couldn’t afford before we could address the cost of medication and available assistance..”

Lindsay then shared how things were different since they started using Systeem Connect™.

“Systeem Connect™ has completely changed the way we approach enrollment in Patient Assistance Programs. Now our process is completely digital and paper-free. The previous 7+ step, very manual and lengthy process has been cut down to 2-3 steps involving a few clicks on a tablet and a digital signature from the patient. The patient is enrolled digitally and Systeem Connect™ alerts the clinic if additional paperwork is required. It’s all digital.”

Lindsay went on to share the impact to patients and physicians.

“The patient is now aware of the cost of the medication and has more instantaneous feedback on their eligibility for assistance programs. This gives them peace of mind and a better experience with the clinic. Because the paperwork is all digital, the issue of lost paperwork is a thing of the past. Patients aren’t required to come in and re-sign a form. They don’t have to wait several days for treatment while the administrative wheel turns. With respect to physicians, the reduction in administrative work frees up the clinical team to focus more on supporting the physicians. And they no longer worry about reimbursement or whether their patients will be able to afford the treatment they need.”

On her experience working with Systeem, Lindsay shared, “They are really easy to work with. They’re innovative, forward-thinking, and truly helping clinicians achieve goals that matter. These are things not often seen in the healthcare tech space, and certainly not in the retina space. One of the things we like most is that they proactively reach out to us for feedback on ideas to find out if they would actually be helpful, or to see how they can improve things.”

I want to thank Lindsay and the entire team at RVA for their willingness to allow us in for a conversation about their experience with Systeem Connect™. If you would like to learn more about Systeem Connect™, check out the video or give us a call at 940-484-0850.

The next blog series is in the works. So, until next time, this is Michael Patrick, signing off!

Find this content usable for your practice and want to spread the value? Share this story with your network on LinkedIn and Twitter! As always, feedback and questions are always welcome in the comments section below!

Michael Patrick, President at Systeem

With more than 20 years of technology and technology sales experience, Michael has led Systeem’s operations since day one, connecting our clients with technology, processes and ideas that make their lives easier and happier.