APMA News - July/August 2020 - 29

and that it may take a bit longer than usual to schedule appointments. Above all, assure patients that you are minimizing exposure at your practice. In addition, these assurances
will also help your staff feel more comfortable about returning to work.
Your practice was likely built on strong and trusted relationships among patients, your staff and yourself. It is important that any communications reflect and build on that
trust. Communications that are caring and personal (such as
by phone) will likely be better received than those that are
not. Take a few extra moments in your communications to
think about the person on the receiving end of the message
and how your message will be perceived. Don't hesitate to
invest in your staff for training on empathetic phone communication skills.

Know Your Financials
Just as you attend to the health of your patients and staff, you
must attend to the financial health of your practice. It's always
essential to monitor your cash flow carefully and apply best
practices to manage your revenue cycle. However, during
these times, you will need to meet with your practice manager weekly to know what your numbers are. You need to bill
insurance daily, whether it is Medicare or private insurers. Be
sure to follow up with insurers on contested bills to resolve
them quickly. It will be critical to keep an eye on expenses
while revenue is down. Communicate with patients with past
due accounts. If they are experiencing financial hardship due
to COVID-19, work out a payment plan with them and state
clearly what that plan is, then follow it.
You will also want to clearly document any disaster relief
loans or Medicare reimbursement monies you have received
in your financial system and track expenditures against those
funds with backup.

Scale Up Slowly
Treat your practice like a startup. If you have had to lay off
employees, don't bring them back all at one time. Have a plan
and communicate clearly with your staff about that plan. It is
important to understand that your staff may not be able to
withstand long layoffs and they may seek other opportunities.
Remember, it's going to take some time to get your patients
back. Make sure your expenses don't overrun your revenue.
You may have to delay full staffing by a number of months
until you have a healthier cash flow.

Prioritize Your Patients
Review your patients' needs and schedule accordingly. Prioritize those with the most critical requirements, such as
those with outpatient surgical needs. Many have postponed
elective surgery, so it's time to reengage with them now that
the hospitals and outpatient surgery centers have capacity.
Then, consider chronic patients who need to come in on a
regular basis. Many will be seniors who have other healthcare issues, so you will need to determine how you can mit-

igate risk for them. It is important to balance the needs of
your patients with the needs of your practice (financial and
staffing capacity).

Ramp Up Patient Outreach
You're busy-that's understandable, especially if you're working with a leaner staff. At the same time, you need to implement a strong marketing plan. How can you communicate all
the services you provide? How can you attract new revenue to
your practice? Think in terms of:
* webinars using Zoom or other video chat tools;
* short videos on self-care posted to your website or social
media, such as Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube; and
* fresh content on your website and expanded email marketing.
These steps rely on a strong database, so be sure you are
updating email addresses, phone numbers, and other key
contact information. The more you keep your lists updated,
the easier it will be to customize messages to the patients
most open to receiving the information and the method in
which they prefer to receive it. Once you go from reactive to
proactive, you will begin to notice a difference in revenue.
Strong revenue flow is the result of good clinical and business
practices.

Telehealth is the Future
As we touched on at the top of the article, telehealth is here to
stay through this crisis, and perhaps even beyond. Talk to
your insurance carriers about using telehealth to re-engage
with your patients. Not all practices are equipped with the
technology needed to support telehealth systems and workflows. Now is the time to make the change. CMS has expanded access to Medicare telehealth services for a wide range of
services. This change is effective for services that started
March 6, 2020, and throughout the COVID-19 public health
emergency. Private insurers expanded access to telehealth,
virtual care, and digital capabilities as well.
You may also need to educate your patients about the devices they can use for telehealth visits. Take time with patients
who may be in your waiting room to walk them through the
use of technology for telehealth. You may also want to capture in your database their preferred video platform (such as
FaceTime, Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, or other).
Be sure to train your office staff on this technology as well.
Find a person on your team to serve as a lead or go-to resource who can coach your entire team. This moment is a
time of learning for providers and patients to achieve the
most positive outcomes.
Do you have more questions about the impact of COVID-19
on your business? Contact David Mustin, MBA, at 440-4595755 or dave.mustin@marcumllp.com, or Maryann Czarnota,
CPA, at 847-282-6525 or maryann.czarnota@marcumllp.com.
Visit www.apma.org/covid19 and www.marcumllp.com/
coronavirus for up-to-date information.
The information in this article is accurate as of June 11 and is
subject to change. n
APMA News July/August 2020

http://www.apma.org/covid19 http://www.marcumllp.com/coronavirus http://www.marcumllp.com/coronavirus

APMA News - July/August 2020

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