The monotony of going to the doctor’s office has stayed the same for the last few decades. The same staff, the ordinary procedure of signing in and manually updating your insurance and lifestyle information, then waiting. Seeing the doctor, finding out what dietary and other adjustments you need to follow, then being on your way. Lately though, after COVID-19, it’s been a little different. Sign-in has been digitized, sometimes you’re sent a PDF with items requiring your attention and updates a day before so that you electronically submit it prior to your arrival. They’ve also retained your payment information and will electronically charge your copay. Have you noticed? It seems painless as the patient when we describe it that way. Less waiting, more automation. Yes, you have to save the doctor’s office phone number so you can call to be told to wait or walk in from your car, in case of too many appointments. These new “conveniences” are coming with a price: a massive labor shortage reverberating through the healthcare industry, most especially in front-end patient-facing and payment processing positions. This tier of staff is becoming extremely difficult to hire and retain. Then if you find them turnover has become inevitable, meaning we need to learn to do more with less.
As it stands the numbers don’t look great in the next eight to nine years, as the World Health Organization expects to see a net shortage of 15 million workers in healthcare worldwide. Within the United States we’ll see a physician shortage of nearly 122,000 by 2032, according to the AAMC. As with all things, the population’s age is a factor as an older general population has higher medical needs, and with the flux of baby boomers or 57-to-75-year-olds retiring and becoming the largest elderly population the world has ever seen, we’re really going to need medical professionals and their services. Being impeded by shortages in front-end staff can be helped in many ways by the technology mentioned above, automation, and digitization. To process your payments, you’re going to want the consistency of a partner with years of experience who submits clean claims and follows up to ensure payment, Gables Medical Billing (GMB) can help with mitigating the fallout and impact of this healthcare worker exodus. We can handle the complexity and details of your payment processing, with the complete access and oversight of your staff. This is also a big deal in the upcoming holiday rush, as most professions slow down to end the year, but practitioners and doctors’ years don’t wind down and a partner, like GMB, understands that slowing down is a non-option and is with you every step of the way.
