855-556-4677 www.azcomp.com/it
SEPTEMBER 2020
Empowering Small Practices to Deliver the Best Care
IT
HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Patient experience means everything these days. In reality, patient experience has always meant everything, but people are quickly garnering innovative approaches to improve it. Many of these innovations are the direct result of advancing technology, but before delving into how to leverage technology to improve patient experience, it is critical to understand why patient experience is so important.
information they can, including customer reviews. These customer reviews are always based on patient experience, and technology comes full circle here. If updated technology within the practice isn’t used, it negatively affects the patients’ experiences, which causes negative reviews. Bad tech begets a bad internet presence, causing potential patients to take their business elsewhere.
THE RIGHT TECHNOLOGY
A SHIFTING WORLD
It’s all about keeping up with patient expectations. Here are some great ways you can improve patient experience via technology within your practice:
The growing trend of “patients as payers” isn’t going away. Patients in every field of medicine have started to take a more active role in their health care outcomes and controlling their health care costs as they become a larger percentage of the payers for their services. Just 10 years ago, deductibles were much lower on average than they are now. When people start paying higher costs, they become much more conscious of how and where they’re spending their money. They’re realizing that, if they’re going to be paying for it, they should start taking a more active approach in ensuring they get the best care for their money.
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Online eligibility verification
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Online self-service appointment scheduling
• Automated appointment reminders and confirmations
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Online patient intake or in-office patient kiosks
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Secure online patient messaging
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Electronic patient statements
WHERE TECH COMES IN
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Online patient payment portals
In 2019, the Trump administration signed an executive order titled Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First. It’s a mouthful, but the name does the explanation justice. The order aims to increase patient access to information that allows them to make the best health care decisions for themselves. Patients were already taking to the internet for information, and now they can do more thorough research on health providers than ever before. Resources like Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, and other platforms continue to provide massive insights when it comes time for patients to make decisions about medical care. In an age when increased access to information makes everything so much more transparent, medical providers need to recognize that technology is critical to the patient experience and key to remaining a competitive practice.
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Telehealth services
These are just the operational changes you can make to improve the technology you use to run your business. You should also educate consumers and increase your personal brand using social media. Be sure to provide assurances of your efforts to meet regulatory guidelines and protect sensitive data, too. Go above and beyond the requirements of executive orders.
THINK PERSONALLY
How have your own experiences as a customer made you feel about any business you’ve ever spent money with? I recently visited a pediatrician’s office with my kids and knew I’d owe a portion of my bill that day. But when I arrived, there was no mention of costs. We met with the doctor, who was fantastic. But after we were done, the staff member checking us out told me we were
COMING FULL CIRCLE
Potential patients use the internet to determine which medical services to spend their money on. They look at every piece of
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SEE SPACE THROUGH AN ASTRONAUT’S EYES
Google Earth Gets Out of This World
Outer space has been big news lately, and if it’s conjured some personal dreams about visiting space, exploring the International Space Station (ISS), and gazing at Earth as it floats by, then you might be in luck.
ISS” to take photos in space. They were then sent down to Earth to create 360-degree imagery of the ISS.
HERE’S HOW TO PAY THE ISS A VISIT USING GOOGLE EARTH:
1.
Google Earth, in collaboration with NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, and Casis, has been working with astronauts living inside the ISS to collect images of the station and what it’s like to look down at Earth from space. ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet recently wrote a Google blog post, saying, “The mission was the first time Street View imagery was captured beyond planet Earth and the first-time annotations — helpful little notes that pop up as you explore the ISS — have been added
Open Google Earth on your web browser.
2.
Search for “International Space Station” in the search bar in the left-hand corner.
3.
Click on “Guided Tours” in the options.
4.
Select which part of the station you would like to
tour from the table of contents.
to the imagery. They provide additional information or fun facts, like where we work out to stay physically fit, what kind of food we eat, and where we conduct scientific experiments.”
It’s that easy! The table of contents helps you navigate the different areas of the station, and it’s also where you can find facts about the different areas of the ISS, like the Columbus Research Lab or the Cupola Observation Module. Virtual technology has come so far in such a short amount of time that the feat is literally out of this world. NEED NETWORKING OR COMPUTER HELP?
He also explains a “Gravity-free method of collecting the imagery using DSLR [digital single-lens reflex] cameras and equipment on the
SPOTLIGHT ON MARK HALL In mid-July, we were excited to welcome Mark Hall to the AZCOMP team as a
support specialist. “I studied computer programming in school and have always wanted to work in IT, but most of my professional experience until now has actually been in hospitality,” Mark says. Just one month before joining our team, Mark and his girlfriend were living and working in Orlando, where Mark was a lifeguard at a Disney World
Call our direct support line: 480-730-3055 Create a support ticket via email: ithelp@azcomp.com
Learn more about how to get unlimited computer and networking support at azcomp.com/it. DOWNLOAD OUR FREE REPORT
Protect Your Data What every small business owner must know about protecting & preserving their
“What every small business owner must know about protecting and preserving their company’s critical data and computer systems!” covers the essential information you need to know to keep your network safe. If you aren’t up to date on the latest in security, then your network will be at risk.
company’s critical data & computer systems!
water park. “There were endless fun things to do at that job, but we decided it was time for a change,” Mark says. So the pair packed up their car and drove to Phoenix to start a new life in a whole new world. With a background in helping others, Mark has been a pure natural through all of his training to be an expert support specialist. Welcome to the team, Mark! We’re thrilled to have you!
If you depend on your computer network to run your business, this is one report you DON’T want to skip!
This report is available for free at azcomp.com/protect. Download it today to ensure your computer systems are as secure as possible. With this report, you will have peace of mind and can spend time enjoying the start of summer without worrying about the safety of your network and data.
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CAPTURE THE PERFECT PHOTO With the Goodband Pocket Tripod
If you’re a modern shutterbug — meaning you like to snap snazzy pictures using the incredible photo technology that many smartphones are equipped with these days — then you likely know the frustration of finding a way to set up your phone just right for that perfect shot. Well, the Goodband Pocket Tripod has found a way and then some.
“Fake news” is a term we hear all too often. A 2018 study published by the journal Science analyzed millions of tweets sent between 2006 and 2017 to find that every single category of information is impacted by this phenomenon. No surprise, it particularly impacts political news. It’s easy for social media users to fall prey to fake stories, and for the average person, fake accounts are hard to detect. Twitter especially has a long history of problems with “bot accounts” controlled by large organizations, some with unsavory affiliations whose propaganda they attempt to push. They tweet malevolent or inflammatory statements that rile up real users who are none-the-wiser about who — or what — they’re communicating with. That’s why two young college dropouts have made it their mission to help Twitter users wade through misleading news and information. Ash Bhat and Rohan Phadte are the cofounders of RoBhat Labs, the tech startup behind Botcheck.me, a Google Chrome browser extension that uses algorithms to analyze the legitimacy of Twitter accounts. The extension is available to the general public and is free to download. Using machine learning and artificial intelligence, it evaluates exactly how information on an account is produced and disseminated because most bots share certain tendencies, like tweeting every few minutes, retweeting fake news, obtaining followers quickly, and retweeting similar accounts. If an account is found to be a bot, it’s clearly labeled as such for the Twitter user. Bhat and Phadte have shared their confusion about why Twitter hasn’t created such a useful tool on its own. It only took these former UC Berkeley computer science students six weeks to build the extension, which leads them to believe that with their vast resources, Twitter could have easily implemented something similar long ago. But without potentially propagating further fake news, the two can’t speculate on the reasons why. Instead, they’re happy to put the power of knowledge back in consumer hands themselves. BOTCHECK FIGHTS FAKE NEWS SO INTERNET USERS DON’T HAVE TO
...CONTINUED FROM COVER free to go. There was no explanation of costs or coverage or any mention of anything else needed from me. I even volunteered to pay my portion of the cost but they stated they would bill my insurance and request my portion later. This might seem typical, but what came next made it difficult for me to continue taking the practice seriously. I received a paper statement in the mail with no option but to pay my portion by either writing in my credit card information or mailing a paper check. There are so many options for improvement here: price transparency before services are rendered, an option to pay before leaving the practice, an emailed statement, online payment options, or even secure payment by phone. Instead, their lack of updated technology led to a poor patient experience for me. It’s clear the practice doesn’t invest in new technology, which leads me to question them in other ways. Even though the doctor provided great care, the experience surrounding that care is causing me to rethink who I’ll take my kids to in the future. Your practice’s technology affects your patient experience, and your patient experience determines what’s shared on the internet and how others view your practice. So, it’s time to start exploring the new technologies that can give your patients the best experience possible. Regular camera tripods can be cumbersome to haul around but are vastly useful when the time comes for a great photo. That’s why Goodband has created the Pocket Tripod, a durable and versatile miniature tripod that easily slips into your pocket or slides into a compartment of your wallet. It’s the first phone stand that can transform from credit card shape and size into a fully articulated tripod that adjusts to hold any smartphone securely. It’s designed for maximum functionality and portability, meaning the tripod can fully adjust the angle of your phone continuously and even move from portrait to landscape. With a handy tool that fits anywhere and can capture practically any angle, you’ll never miss that perfect photo opp again.
–Byron Adams Technology Director, AZCOMP Technologies
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How Technology Can Improve Patient Experience PAGE 1 Take a Virtual Tour of the International Space Station AZCOMP Employee Spotlight PAGE 2 Weed Out Fake News With Botcheck A Smartphone Tripod That Fits in Your Wallet PAGE 3 Learning to Think Outside Ourselves PAGE 4
By Erica PUTTING OTHERS FIRST
It’s true that sometimes, two of our core values can be hard to implement: “We Check Egos at the Door” and “We Exercise Real Communication.” It’s very human to want to focus solely on yourself and your own actions, and it’s also very hard to be open with communication all the time, especially when it comes to personal or emotional scenarios. But part of the reason AZCOMP is such an incredible place to work that makes these values easier to pay attention to is because of the atmosphere it provides the moment you walk through the door. 2020 has been a rough year for everyone in one form or another. It’s easy to look at the world and start obsessing over your own fears and land yourself in a dark place. But a common quote that often surfaces during times like this is “Forget yourself and go to work.” Instead of thinking about this quote as a way to ignore the world’s problems, I like to think of it as a way to bring useful meaning
to the chaos we feel. And AZCOMP has truly helped with that.
For two decades, this company has built a closeness and camaraderie between its team members that you don’t often find. The work we do with and for each other prompts us to be better employees and better friends, and that’s all thanks to what AZCOMP poses as most important: helping people. Whether it’s doing our own work for a client or helping a teammate get through their work, we give back by remembering the legacy of thinking outside ourselves that AZCOMP has worked so hard to build. It’s not always easy to think about others, and it’s even harder to open up and talk about why that is. But AZCOMP makes it possible to “Check Our Egos at the Door” and “Exercise Real Communication” because this company has done that all along.
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