| | September 20198UTLOOKHealthcare Tech IN MY OPINIONBy Carrie Rys, MBA, Assistant Vice President of Pediatric Ambulatory Operations, Larry Hollier, Jr., MD, FASC, FAAP and Angela Volk, MD, Texas Children's HospitalOPENING THE DOOR TO Patient Access and Scheduling The revenue cycle begins when a patient walks through the door, but what if that door is seemingly locked? Patient access is one of the most important areas of healthcare, but too often under prioritized. Long wait times and limited patient accessibility may lead to poor health outcomes; jeopardize the organization's reputation and financial well-being. In an era shifting to lower-cost ambulatory services, institutions must adapt to the growing systems' needs with a focus on improving a patient's ability to access care.Despite Texas Children's success in clinical care and research, tremendous demand for world-renowned programs contributed to significant access challenges ­ long appointment wait times, restrictive scheduling practices, unfilled appointment slots, complicated referral processes, unexceptional patient experience and underutilization of technology. Both administration executives and clinical leadership recognized the situation and prompted an organization-wide initiative to transform specialty access without adding clinical resources. Directed by a collaboration of revenue cycle, ambulatory operations and physician leadership, a dedicated task force challenged Texas Children's to think differently and adopt a culture of change. By embracing standardization, maintaining patient focus, communicating frequently and leveraging technology, the organization was able to improve access for specialty care areas. Embrace technology to increase patient engagement and improve the scheduling experience. Patient portal. Texas Children's put patients at the forefront of their care with online instant access to medical records, laboratory and test results and open communication with providers. New technology was implemented to make portal sign up and activation much easier for families. Now, Carrie Rys
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