Virtual assistants can be extremely valuable to a wide range of people and situations. VAs can be a great help to anyone looking for a way to automate repetitive tasks, or get support with activities outside of their expertise.
Virtual assistants can be extremely valuable in a wide range of situations. Anyone looking to reduce monotonous work or get help with activities outside of their expertise can use VAs.
The Role of a Virtual Assistant in Medical Billing
A virtual medical assistant is able to support a doctor in a general practice much better than one who works alone. Anyone in the healthcare industry can use VA services. These include surgeons and specialists as well as house-call physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, veterinarians, dentists and psychiatrists.
If you are part of a team, you might want to hire a virtual medical assistant to help you with your whole operation. Even though each team member might have only minimal requirements, you could have several hours’ worth of work to give a virtual assistant. The rule is applicable to clinics, urgent-care centers, group practices, nursing homes and mental health facilities.
Virtual Medical Assistant
Virtual medical assistants can perform any tasks that don’t require specialized healthcare knowledge. You can delegate the following tasks to your VA, or you might have other unique tasks in your office that are worth outsourcing.
Administrative Tasks
You may not realize how much time you spend on administrative tasks until you total up the little jobs you can delegate to a virtual assistant. The tasks may include:
- Referrals and new patient intake.
- Setting appointments — managing cancelations, sending patient reminders, scheduling and rescheduling.
- Calendar Management — Create a schedule for appointments, meetings, and other events.
- Organizing your files within your database.
- Supplies management – keeping track of your supplies and ordering more when needed.
- Medical billing and coding.
- After appointments, follow up and check on the patient.
- Refills for prescriptions.
- Manage your email inbox by responding to emails and clearing it.
- Transforming physical forms to a digital format.
Medical Scribes and Transcription
Look for a VA who has experience with data entry for electronic medical records and electronic health records. The VA can be in your exam room with you and record the entire examination using encrypted videoconferencing software. You will have the information needed to fill out the forms.
You may also want to record your dictation before or after an office visit. This information can be entered into the patient chart by the virtual assistant.
Virtual Receptionist
Your virtual medical assistant will answer the phone just like a real receptionist. You can have your VA resolve problems, leave messages that you will respond to at a later date, or transfer only the most urgent calls to you. While waiting for calls, the same VA can do other work.
This system has many advantages. You’ll be able to answer the phone in a timely fashion. The same person is always on the other line. This helps to build relationships with your patients. It is also useful to have someone else screen your calls if you waste a lot of time answering spam calls.
You may find that patients prefer to reach you via email, live chat, or text. Virtual assistants can help you achieve all of this.
Insurance Tasks
Your virtual assistant will handle any communication between you and the insurance company of your patient. Send claims instantly and eliminate the waiting time. You can check the eligibility of patients in advance and pre-authorize treatment.
Bookkeeping
You can use a virtual assistant to send invoices, pay your bills and handle payroll. A VA can produce financial reports to help you track expenses and predict cash flow.
Marketing is essential to grow and find new patients for your medical practice. Virtual assistants can manage social media, update your site to make it more user-friendly, respond to reviews, and keep your website up to date. VA can create campaigns that target potential patients near you if you are actively searching for them.
Tech Support
If you or your patient have any problems with virtual meetings, a tech-savvy VA will be able to help. A virtual assistant will also be able to set up and train staff on new software for medical purposes.
The Benefits of Medical Virtual Assistant
It took you years to get where you are now. Spending even a little time on routine tasks or administrative work that anyone without medical training can do is wasting skills. The benefits of hiring a virtual assistant for these types of tasks are numerous.
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Spend more time with patients
You don’t need to rush through your appointments to finish the paperwork if you are given enough time. You can instead listen carefully to your patients and perform a thorough examination. You can also fit in more appointments, which will help you grow your practice.
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Better service
You can better serve your patients if you spend more time with them. Your team can concentrate on their strengths, while your virtual assistant takes care of the rest. You’ll also have happier, healthier patients who are more likely to recommend your practice to friends and relatives and write positive reviews.
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Take Care of Your Own Health
Stress can be a problem for anyone working in the medical industry. You are more stressed when you take on too many tasks. You’ll be able to relax and take fewer sick days if you have a virtual assistant to help manage your workload.
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Make Time Available for Other Activities
Life is more than work. You can spend more time with family or on hobbies if you hire a virtual assistant. Your extra time could be used to learn new skills, or to conduct research that will advance your career.
Personal Assistant Vs Medical Virtual Assistant
There are many advantages of hiring a medical billing virtual assistant as opposed to an assistant.
Saving Money
A virtual medical assistant can be less expensive to hire than a personal assistant. You only pay for the hours needed, as a VA does not work. You don’t have to adhere to a fixed number of weekly or monthly hours, so you can scale your business according to what suits you. You don’t have to pay for additional costs like insurance.
No Training Necessary
Virtual assistants must stay up-to-date on the most recent developments in their respective fields. Their employing agencies will provide them with training. You only need to decide which tasks you want to give the VA, and then provide them with onboarding that is specific to your business.
More Flexibility
Hire a second VA if your practice expands and you find that you have more work to do.
No need for office space
It may be difficult to fit a desk in your office if you have a limited room. A virtual assistant will never visit your office, so there is no need to purchase a desk.
Working virtually
Many doctors are now working from home and providing services such as telemedicine. Finding someone with virtual experience is much more beneficial than asking your personal assistant for online support.
Find Someone Immediately
Virtual assistants can begin working right away. You only need to draw up the contract and determine what you want to help with.
Do Healthcare Virtual Assistants Need Medical Training?
A medical virtual assistant is likely to be a healthcare professional. VAs, registered nurses, medical assistants and billing and coding experts can all work. Some medical VAs are healthcare professionals who have specialized in supporting doctors.
A virtual assistant working in the healthcare field should, in any event, be HIPAA-certified. It is important to know that you can trust the VA to keep patient data confidential.
Attention to detail is equally important. You must ensure that your patient’s charts, insurance data, and medical codes are error free. Minor mistakes can lead to serious problems. Most employers and agencies will use simple tests to evaluate the accuracy of virtual assistants and their other skills prior to hiring them.
