A December 2019 Medscape survey asks readers, “Do you always follow clinical guidelines?” The survey stems from a 2017 case where an oncologist treated a patient based on guidelines provided at the time, which were later shown to not be effective in improving outcomes. While the survey doesn’t call out a specific kind of guideline or protocol, it does reveal some important insights about how healthcare professionals think about using evidence-based protocols to tre...

People across the country are learning how to manage the difficult weeks ahead, and many have already been told to shelter in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Patients with chronic medical conditions appear to also be heeding the warnings, ensuring they have the necessary medications on hand so as not to have any disruption to their treatment during this time. As the leader in prescription renewal workflow solutions, healthfinch regularly monitors customers’ prescription re...

At healthfinch, we talk a lot about optimizing the prescription renewal workflow. After all, it’s what we do best! There are many benefits to having a streamlined workflow, most notably being improved productivity, enhanced patient and provider satisfaction, and cost savings for the health system. When organizations implement our prescription renewal delegation solution, Charlie, they’ve taken the first step towards improved workflow efficiency. But, it doesn’t stop there. O...

Creating prescription renewal protocols can be difficult, but maintaining them is an even bigger challenge. As medicine evolves, guidelines change. Unless you have staffing devoted to monitoring the latest recommendations, it’s likely any renewal protocols you have in place will quickly become outdated, which can result in poor quality patient care. Additionally, communication about safety alerts is inconsistent, which makes it even harder to ensure protocols are maintained properly. A ...

At healthfinch, we’ve seen health systems process prescription renewal requests in all kinds of ways. Some have providers reviewing all their patients’ renewals, others have a clinical team that triages them for providers, and some have written protocols and workflows for staff to follow. Evidence shows the most efficient way to process prescription renewals is to have a centralized renewal team dedicated to completing these tasks on behalf of providers. Doing so, however, require...

Many organizations are turning towards a delegation model in which some of their providers’ more routine tasks are processed by a centralized team rather than in the clinic. Doing so offers the best opportunity for ensuring quality, efficiency, and improved revenues - not to mention a reduction in provider burnout caused by excess administrative work. One of the most common tasks that gets delegated to a centralized team is prescription renewal requests because they can be protocolized and...

Healthcare organizations have started adopting a team-based approach to patient care, in which two or more healthcare professionals work collaboratively to accomplish shared goals and high-quality care. With this approach, many organizations see improved patient outcomes and happier staff. A report from the National Academy of Medicine states that to succeed in a team-based care work environment, staff must have shared goals, clear roles, mutual trust, effective communication, and meas...

Office visits and elective surgeries may be postponed or conducted virtually now due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are some things that haven’t changed in healthcare delivery. Prescription renewal requests continue to flood providers’ inboxes regardless of the pandemic’s hold on the U.S and the rest of the world. In fact, in March, prescription renewal volumes even increased, as patients prepared for the long road ahead. Renewal requests can easily get backed up w...