Introduction

When Impact Physical Therapy opened its doors in East Windsor, NJ in June of 2021, owners and therapists Chris Lang PT, Cert. MDT, DPT, SCS and Marc Plawner PT, Cert. MDT. prioritized high-quality, one-on-one treatment for every patient as a competitive differentiator.

One of the primary challenges they needed to overcome during the early days of the practice was the lack of frontend and backend administration. Hiring a full-time employee was not financially feasible given the amount of potential downtime as the practice ramped up.

As a result, the physical therapists were handling all administrative tasks, such as fielding calls, contacting insurance companies, and setting up clients in the EMR system. They needed a solution that would allow them to focus on patients without interruption and achieve their original vision for the practice.

Healthcare Virtual Assistants Solution

snapscale's virtual services provided the dedicated human element that was missing from Impact Physical Therapy's frontend and backend administrative operations. Instead of allowing phone calls to interrupt treatment and spending hours on paperwork, these administrative tasks shifted to snapscale's virtual assistant, who works remotely.

snapscale spent several weeks collaborating with the practice to create and document protocols so Welmerly, their new virtual assistant, would know what to do in every scenario. For example, the process for verifying benefits can be completely different when dealing with workman's compensation, commercial insurance, and Medicare.

In addition to making processes more efficient and improving the patient experience, these protocols would enable a new virtual assistant to pick up the ball without missing a beat should Welmerly need time off.

Within a month, Welmerly was remotely answering phones, scheduling and confirming appointments, verifying insurance, following up with patients to discuss out-of-pocket costs, and fielding billing questions. Because snapscale's virtual services were integrated with Spruce, the practice's HIPAA-compliant communication platform, Chris Lang PT, Cert. MDT, DPT, SCS and Marc Plawner PT, Cert. MDT. have the ability to review updated EMR data and phone and text threads each day.

Results

Greater Efficiency, Better Patient Experience, Sustainable Growth

"Before we partnered with snapscale, we had Spruce, but we were constantly interrupting treatment to answer phones," Chris Lang PT, Cert. MDT, DPT, SCS said. "Having Welmerly work remotely as if she were a member of our in-house team has allowed us to remove ourselves from the frontend and backend processes that take up so much time. We're able to maximize our time with patients and give them the care and attention they deserve."

Impact Physical Therapy had set a goal of adding three to four patients per week. In early January of 2022, despite the Covid surge and cold weather, they welcomed 10 new patients in one week.

"We would not be able to handle that kind of volume without snapscale's virtual services," Chris Lang PT, Cert. MDT, DPT, SCS said. "Welmerly is able to work independently and rarely has to contact us with questions. This has helped us achieve our vision for providing high-quality, unrushed care while growing our practice."

Find out more

Find out more about Virtual Assistants (VAs) and Healthcare Virtual Assistants (HVAs) on our Virtual Assistant Services page.