Here are answers to the most frequently asked questions from our Setting Up Prospective Patient Management for Your Practice webinar.
Does HIPAA compliance extend to prospective patients who fill out the website form?
All prospective patient inquiries are housed securely in Valant EHR and maintain HIPAA compliance, like patient records.
Is there a character limit in the "What is the main reason you are seeking care" text box in the inquiry form?
Yes, this field is currently limited to 100 characters.
Will uploading ID/DL be added to the inquiry form in the future?
This is a potential enhancement under consideration.
Are there reports available to run for prospective patients? E.g. how many were converted to patients, how long it took prior to conversion, how many prospective patients were declined?
The main table in Persons & Institutions | Prospective Patients can be utilized like a report. You can add and remove columns and filter by any variables, and then export the result to .CSV. Aside from that, we don't currently have any reports dedicated to prospective patient data, but we plan to add some summary reports as a potential enhancement.
Can we attach documents to prospective patient profiles?
At this time, prospective patient records do not include the ability to add attachments, but it is a potential enhancement under consideration.
Can providers see ALL prospective patient inquiries?
If providers have Persons & Institutions access, they have the ability to access the Prospective Patients page. Note that providers can access patient charts without access to Persons & Institutions. Specific permission sets that allow or disallow users to access the Prospective Patients page specifically is a potential enhancement under consideration!
Is messaging patients from this feature an option before converting the inquiry to a patient? Many of our providers request additional information prior to taking them on as a patient, and will sometimes decide not to take on a patient after clarification is given.
If you are looking to send the same message to several prospective patients, you can use the new Broadcast Message to prospective patients feature - found under the Patient Communications tools. Note that broadcast messaging is $.09 per message per prospective patient, the same as with patients. If you are looking to communicate directly with each prospective patient, you can organize and filter the database and include each inquiry's Phone Number and/or Email Address as well as Last Outreach as viewable columns through the "Select Column" function. Seeing this set of data will enable you to call/email prospective patients and track which one to contact next. If you are looking to communicate securely, you will need to convert the prospective patient to a patient and have them set up a MYIO account in order to send and receive secure messages.
Can the prospective patient check something to show their availability is flexible, or do they have to choose if that feature is turned on?
If you turn on the Availability section, the prospective patient will need to make an entry. They could simply check all days and wide time spans to indicate flexible availability. You could also choose to create a custom field in the final but optional custom section that asks if they have flexible availability.
Can we limit the options the prospective patient sees for contact preference?
No, the contact preference field options are not currently customizable.
If the patient does not come in does the patient information stay in Valant or is there a way to remove it? Just so there are not all these patients that are entered and just sitting there.
Prospective patients can be switched to "Inactive" status to filter them out of the main list.
Does this differentiate between in person and telehealth availability?
Prospective patients can note their availability for a specific facility in the "Availability" section of the inquiry form. You could elect to create a telehealth facility in your practice's facilities list in order to capture this data from prospective patients.
On Provider availability is there anywhere to select telehealth or in person? We have Providers that some days are in person some days are telehealth.
Providers can set availability according to facility. Practices often create a "telehealth" facility in order to indicate the provider will be virtually available on specific days of the week.
What is the difference between the waitlist and prospective patients list?
The prospective patients list is for managing all new prospective patients from the time they request services to the time they are converted to patients (or inactivated). The waitlist is specifically for prospective patients as well as established patients who are waiting for an appointment when there is limited availability.
Will you introduce a report that shows all of the providers' Treatment Profile information?
This is a potential enhancement under consideration.
Where can I find the form information under Persons & Institutions?
To customize your inquiry form and select which sections and fields will be included, navigate to Persons & Institutions | Practice | Prospective Patients tab.
If we include the option for the prospective patient to choose an appointment window - is the available window visible to the prospective account for both - 1) Defined total window 2) Unavailable slots because we already have some slots booked?
Yes: The Appointment Request step accounts for provider availability (as set up in Persons & Institutions | Providers | select provider from the list | Availability tab) as well as the existing appointments on the provider's calendar. It will only show times as available if they are within the provider's available hours AND do not conflict with another appointment.
Is there an update in the works for later to add a copy of their insurance card?
A feature request will be created for this, if there is not already a request in place. For now, the Secure Messaging feature within a converted patient profile is a great way to receive attachments.