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In behavioral healthcare, patients’ first point of contact is usually a member of an admissions team. The admissions team at a treatment facility helps verify insurance benefits, complete pre-assessments, answer any questions a patient or their family may have and gets a patient set up to start their treatment journey. However, it is also crucial for an admissions team to be able to see discharges. Luckily, with Lightning Step Technologies’ All-In-One CRM (Customer Relationship Management), EMR (Electronic Medical Record), and RCM (Revenue Cycle Management) software, the ability to see discharges is seamless.
The Importance of Seeing Discharges
There are various reasons an admissions team needs to see patient discharges, including:
Knowing Bed Availability
One of the most critical aspects of seeing patient discharges is knowing how many beds are available in a facility. If the admissions team does not know how many beds are available, they won’t know how many people they can admit at a time. If an admissions representative was unable to see patient discharges and bed availability, they could overfill a facility. For example, if all beds are full until a Tuesday, but the admissions representative sets up an intake for Monday, the incoming patient would not have a bed.
Setting Up Continuous Patient Admissions
When the admissions team can see patient discharges, they can also work toward setting up continuous patient admissions. For example, a facility may have a waitlist for treatment. When the admissions team sees discharges, they know exactly when a patient is leaving the facility. Then, they also know when to call the next patient to set up their intake and get them into treatment. For example, if an admissions representative knows a patient will be discharged on Thursday, they can call the first person on the waitlist on Wednesday to prepare them for an intake on Thursday. When the admissions team can set up admissions to be continuous, a behavioral healthcare facility can admit more patients, helping more people and creating more revenue.
Answering Family Questions
Knowing the status of patients also helps the admissions team answer any questions a family may have. Once a patient is in the facility, the admissions team is often the point of contact for family members who have consented to discuss treatment. A family may call and ask for updates, and while the information an admissions representative can give a family is often limited, they can answer attendance status questions. For example, a family member may call to see how their loved one is doing in treatment. The admissions representative can then see the status of the patient. In some cases, individuals leave treatment before their stay is complete. If this is the case, the admissions team can let the family know.
Our Bed Board
Lightning Step Technologies helps facilities collaborate because our system allows the team to stay up-to-date on the number of available beds by accessing our bed board. The team can see which beds are:
- Reserved
- Occupied
- Under maintenance
- Open
The admissions team will know how many beds are taken and how many are available, ensuring beds are not promised to people and later become unavailable.
With our system, your staff will be able to communicate effectively because the data is there and easy to access in our All-In-One system. Easy retrieval of data will allow your staff to communicate without the stress of running around the facility.
Why a Fully Integrated System Matters
A fully integrated CRM, EMR, and RCM system can run more efficiently when behavioral healthcare facilities have easy access to seeing patient discharges. Conversely, seeing patient discharges is easier than ever when a facility’s system is fully integrated. With Lightning Step Technologies, our All-In-One system can help your facility run efficiently.
Customer Relationship Management
Lightning Step’s CRM can be used by both the admissions and marketing teams. With our CRM, calls can be tracked, appointments can be set up, and sales activity can be easily managed all in one place. An effective CRM software system will help a behavioral healthcare facility maximize admissions and increase its revenue stream.
When being able to see patient discharges, it is essential for CRM to be integrated with EMR. The information entered into the EMR by staff in the facility can be transferred to the CRM; this information will include patient discharges. Likewise, crucial patient information entered into the CRM prior to a patient’s intake can be transferred to the EMR for case managers, therapists, and other staff to see.
Electronic Medical Records
Once patients are admitted into a behavioral healthcare facility, their information is processed through the EMR. Lightning Step’s EMR allows for greater accessibility because it can be viewed whenever or wherever necessary. With just a few clicks of a button, it can be accessed by administrative or clinical staff. This makes it easier than ever to keep all staff updated on patient discharges.
Revenue Cycle Management
Once it is time for billing or for a patient to be discharged, your facility can utilize Lightning Step’s built-in RCM. With an RCM fully integrated within EMR and CRM, information collected across the board is converted to one place allowing for auto-generated charges, easy-to-perform billing audits, and patient billing.
Lightning Step’s RCM ensures that the patient or insurance provider receives their bill as soon as possible and prevents missing billable days, thus revenue for your program. It also helps ensure bills are paid on time and that backlogging does not occur. In addition, this system works with outpatient treatment services and automatically bases charges upon a patient’s attendance. When patient discharges and attendance are easily viewable, the RCM can do its job.
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The admissions team is the first point of contact for people looking for treatment at a behavioral healthcare facility. An admissions team has various roles, many of which cannot be completed without the ability to see patient discharges. When admissions can see patient discharges, they can be sure of bed counts, maximize the number of admissions, and help out family members of those in treatment. At Lightning Step Technologies, we bring together the fundamentals required to operate and grow a successful treatment facility in today’s world, integrating CRM, EMR, and RCM functions into an All-In-One software system. With Lightning Step Technologies’ All-In-One CRM, EMR, and RCM system, seeing patient discharges is as easy as ever. Patient discharge information entered into the EMR can be transferred to both the CRM and RCM, where admissions and billing can see. To learn more about our system, schedule a demo today.
