Travis Schneider is Co-founder and Chief Corporate Development Officer for Tebra, a leading cloud-based healthcare technology platform. In his role, Travis oversees M&A and strategic partnerships for the organization.

In 2021, PatientPop, a leader in practice growth technology, merged with Kareo, a leader in cloud-based clinical and financial software. Travis was Co-founder and Co-CEO of PatientPop, where he oversaw all aspects of strategy, sales, and business development. He is enthusiastic about leading the integrated corporate development for Tebra.

Before co-founding the company, Travis co-founded and served as CEO of ShopNation. He also co-founded and served as CEO of StarBrand Media. The businesses were acquired by Meredith Corporation and POPSUGAR, respectively.

Travis holds an honors degree in business and economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a two-time recipient of the KPMG Enterprise Entrepreneur Award.

Travis Schneider

 of economists agree that the U.S. economy is headed for a downturn. Contrary to popular belief, the healthcare sector has never been recession-proof. 

 indicate that the healthcare industry is affected later in a recession and has a longer recovery period. Compared to other healthcare facilities, like hospitals and emergency rooms, independent practices are typically the first to see the implications of a recession.

 of Americans put off appointments for this reason. To ensure their continued operation and to provide patients with quality healthcare, independent practices must take proactive measures.

A recession usually leads to businesses cutting expenses, and the marketing budget is often the first to go. Nevertheless, businesses that continue to market during economic difficulties 

 in the long run. Since marketing is often a practice’s primary patient acquisition channel, canceling those efforts can be a significant hindrance. A practice's patient base can be retained and expanded by leveraging technology for practice growth and clinical management.

Practices can nurture patient retention with the right technology that helps patients stay engaged and in the know. Email marketing campaigns are a strategic component that helps patients stay engaged. These reminders will encourage patients to schedule follow-up visits. Providing patients with a seamless visit increases the 

 of patients remaining loyal patrons of your practice.

It is possible to achieve optimal practice management by implementing a practice growth technology. By establishing and leveraging their online presence, independent practices can leverage practice growth technology to aid patients in finding their practice before their first appointment. This will also help prospective patients to understand what makes your facility unique from similar practices. In addition, your practice can entice potential patients by allowing them to book appointments online through practice management software.

Consequently, while other practices may reduce marketing efforts during a recession, the recession-proof practice will take advantage of the situation by investing in the practice, competing more effectively as a result.

Billing software to streamline collection processes

In order to run a modern, profitable practice, there is much more to it than just providing exceptional patient care. In this regard, timely payment of patients is one of the most critical factors. The time has come to adopt billing software if your practice still distributes paper statements by mail. While 

 have a preference for paying their medical bills electronically, 

 of providers have not implemented billing software, which delays billing to patients.

It is possible to reduce the outstanding balance of an office's invoices by as much as 

 by implementing patient payment collection technology. An organization's revenue returns must be 

 in times of economic uncertainty. To lessen revenue losses, practices should take advantage of billing software to disseminate statements and send text or email reminders.

A medical billing solution allows patients to pay their bills immediately after their appointments using whatever payment method is most convenient for them. As well as sending electronic reminders to pay, an omnichannel payment collection solution can itemize the charges of a medical bill, to show patients their remaining balance after insurance coverage. Patients and practice staff alike will benefit from this process. With billing and payment software, your collection process is uncomplicated and more dependable, and you will see a greater percentage of payments collected on time.

Identifying and treating the needs of a practice

Ideally, staff should be trained to assess the welfare of their practice before the practice enters an economic decline. You can uncover opportunities to improve your practice's revenue, reputation, and website management by analyzing analytics such as website search results, patient engagement, and patient satisfaction.

 will help your practice review its website’s current strengths.

Does your practice's website drive business?

Is your online reputation positive and influential?

Would you consider your practice to be modernized?

What steps are being taken to streamline the workflow in the front office?

Are performance metrics being tracked for the business?

The practice needs to identify its shortcomings by comparing it to similar facilities of the same specialty. By identifying shortfalls, practices can better prepare their operations for the potential of challenging times. Get employees to share insights on the job roles they fill, workflows, operational strengths, and weaknesses. Ask your patients for their insight, they will enjoy an exceptional customer service experience if you ask them what they think.

In spite of the time required to thoroughly evaluate an independent practice's marketing efforts, collection processes, and operations, it often offers insights that help practices implement strategic improvements. In any economic climate, independent practices can thrive by taking proactive measures and enacting these strategies.

Articles

Contrary to popular belief, the healthcare sector has never been recession-proof.

Top recession-proofing strategies for independent practices

Last year, hospitals and other corporate-owned entities overtook nearly 

 independent practices nationwide. This influx in acquisitions is primarily attributed to the economic struggles independent practices were experiencing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. New data indicates that nearly 

 of doctors in the U.S. now work for hospitals and large-scale health facilities, a number that is up from 69 percent a year ago.

The benefits that stem from independent practices include access to care in rural communities, lower care costs, and better patient experiences. However, for independent practices to thrive, it will largely depend on how well they can adapt and implement emerging technology to streamline practice operations and bring patients a better overall experience.

Since the pandemic, many medical providers have faced severe burnout and strain, working around-the-clock hours under hazardous conditions. Consolidation is often forced by burnout and exhaustion of providers. Doctors went to school to provide care to patients. However, they become small business owners and face challenges of managing all operations, HR, IT, practice growth, reputation management, and revenue management.

With so many providers considering consolidation, the opportunity to receive fair and quality medical care from independent practices as opposed to large-scale hospital corporations is diminishing, dampening patient trust in the healthcare system.

The consumerization of healthcare is a broad shift from the healthcare market to individual healthcare consumers, meaning individuals are asserting more influence over their medical and wellness care. Healthcare consumers want a convenient and digitally-enabled experience from the time they submit an inquiry to the treatment and subsequent follow-ups. Convenience and customized experiences drive consumer behavior. The pandemic accelerated the adoption of consumer-centric healthcare, starting with telehealth services.

Right now, the consumerization of healthcare is one of the biggest challenges, and opportunity providers face. By adopting digital tools and software, they can easily respond, putting the focus back on patient care. To do so, practices must be willing to embrace a new model with technology that delivers the digital experience that patients encounter every day across every other industry without slowing down providers and their staff.

Digital technology is key to a thriving practice

 and customer of Tebra, left a large medical group to start his practice in a rural community. As a small practice with four employees, implementing the right technology has been imperative in building an online presence to acquire new patients, streamlining administrative tasks that detract from patient care, and having the virtual tools to treat patients who can not visit his practice in person.

“Independent practices are crucial to the healthcare ecosystem and providing accessible care to patients when and where they need it. As a provider, I want to focus on my patients, and by implementing the right technology that mimics my workflows, I have the resources I need to remain independent, so I can serve the patients who depend on me,” said Dr. Spriggs.

For practices implementing technology to meet consumer demands and provide a competitive edge, key considerations include:

 Often, providers end up with fragmented software solutions due to the complexity of the shopping experience. Disparate software solutions require duplicating workflows from scheduling and intake forms to clinical documentation and medical billing. By identifying each area of your practice that technology would benefit from, you can find the right solution to integrate into one platform. Moreover, the right solution will relieve staff from administrative tasks.

The right technology partner will provide support beyond the implementation process and evolve with the constantly changing healthcare system. As regulatory requirements often change and can significantly impact how you submit and receive reimbursements, your technology partner should provide software updates to account for such changes and provide the education you need on changing regulations.

 Technology for your practice should equally serve your patients and improve the experience and care they receive. Patients want digital touchpoints at every stage of their journey, from doctor discovery to payment and scheduling follow-ups. Ensure your technology stack serves your practice and your patient with an easy and streamlined experience.

When independent practices invest in the righttechnology, they will spend less time on operations and more time on personal, meaningful care. In addition, providers can restore work-life balance, reduce burnout and focus on why they became doctors - to deliver care.

For independent practices to thrive, it will largely depend on how well they can adapt and implement emerging technology.

Technology empowers private practices to sustain their role in the healthcare ecosystem

Reputation management is a crucial component for independent practices to thrive. An effective reputation management strategy will drive new patient acquisition and patient retention and strengthen patient-doctor relationships. It should be no surprise to learn that healthcare practices already using technology to engage with current and prospective patients are well-positioned to build connections and provide better care.

, three out of four people have searched online for a doctor, and more than 71 percent rely on online reviews when choosing a healthcare provider. Since healthcare consumers make most of their decisions in a digital world, our online reputation and digital footprint are often the first interaction a patient will have with your practice long before they ever step into your waiting room or call to make an appointment. Try following these steps to get discovered online through search engines and improve your odds of converting new online visitors into patients.

1. Claim and optimize your practice and business profiles across the web

Make it easy for patients to find you via search engines by claiming all available business profiles. There are dozens of websites and healthcare directories that provide local listings. Google, Yelp, WebMD, Healthgrades, and Facebook are a few, with Google being the most popular. Google business listings consistently own 

 for search. When claiming your profiles, it is important to ensure the information is up-to-date and consistent across all listings, including your location(s), hours, contact information, and website. In addition, be specific with your business categories and use commonly searched terms to help patients find you. For example, “foot surgeon” is better than a podiatrist, and “eye doctor” is better than an ophthalmologist.

To boost your visibility and bring your practice to life, add photos that spotlight your practice and the patient experience you provide. The more pictures you upload, the more opportunity you have to give prospective patients a peek into your office. To differentiate yourself from competitors, use your profile to share why patients choose your practice.

2. Leverage word-of-mouth marketing and use online reviews

The best marketing will always be word-mouth because consumers trust each other over what businesses say about themselves. Online reviews are the digital version of word-mouth marketing and improve your business reputation because positive reviews signal your practice is relevant and a real place. Moz says that, of the 83 factors that affect search, two of the top 20 are related to the volume of reviews your practice receives. So the more reviews your practice has, the better position will be in search results.

Our latest research shows that about 69 percent of patients will not consider a provider with an average rating below four. To start receiving more reviews and appealing to prospective patients, a digital approach to collecting online reviews will allow you to monitor feedback at a larger scale and efficiently manage the process. When implementing an automated online review strategy, consider the three factors that have the highest impact on your online reputation, including the total number of reviews, the frequency of reviews, and the average star rating. Sending automated patient satisfaction surveys via text or email soon after the appointment will increase the likelihood of receiving feedback and reviews consistently. Not only do reviews improve your online reputation for others to see, but reviews also provide insight for you into what is going well at your practice and areas you may need to focus on more. While most incoming reviews will likely be positive, if you do receive a negative review, you have an opportunity to make changes, re-engage with that patient, and regain trust.

3. Fully optimize your healthcare website

Having a mobile-first site is extremely important. According to 

, 62 percent of those surveyed use their mobile devices to gather health-related information, outranking online banking. Because of the increased usage of smartphones, Google focuses on mobile content for both indexing and ranking purposes. By providing the value on desktop and mobile devices, you can reach patients where they are and positively impact your rankings.

In addition to a mobile-first approach, your website should provide a pleasant experience and invite users to engage and interact with your practice. By delivering relevant content and new information about your services, visitors will spend more time on your site, leading to a higher conversion rate. Your website should also include strong keywords throughout the content, sticky calls-to-action to convert visitors into patients, SEO-friendly content pages, and lightning-fast speeds.

Your online reputation and website are crucial to your practice growth strategy in today's digital-first world and should be reviewed and updated regularly. There are multiple components to an effective method for building and maintaining your online reputation. Implementing the above strategies is a great start to taking control of your digital footprint and growing your practice.

Travis oversees all aspects of strategy, sales, and business development at PatientPop, a Tebra company. Before co-founding the company, Travis co-founded and served as the CEO of ShopNation. He also co-founded and served as the CEO of StarBrand Media. Travis holds an Honors degree in Business and Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a two-time recipient of the KPMG Enterprise Entrepreneur Award.

Maintaining your practice's online reputation can be a key to growth.

3 Ways to boost your practice’s online reputation

The Great Resignation still has momentum, presenting a complicated reality for every business. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a record-high 4.5 million Americans quit their jobs in November, followed by a still notable 

. This growing movement hit the healthcare industry particularly hard, with 

 and social assistance workers quitting in December.

Within the past couple of years, providers and staff at medical practices have experienced added stresses and pain points. For example, with new COVID-19 protocols, medical practice team members often find themselves taking patient temperatures upon their arrival and administering and collecting screening questionnaires, all while continuing to answer a flurry of patient calls and e-mails amid short-staffed shifts.

Burnout itself can take many forms. For example, both practice owners and staff may feel a “depersonalization” of their day-to-day work, increasing the likelihood of errors and feelings of disconnectedness with the practice mission, leading to cold office experiences that prompt patients to leave negative reviews.

According to an AMA study, 61 percent of physicians across all specialties reported having experienced work-related burnout, a 

 compared to a pre-pandemic report. In addition, of the healthcare workers that left their job during the pandemic, 29 percent said that burnout and being overworked ranked as primary reasons they left their job during the pandemic.

How technology can help reduce burnout for providers and staff

While delegating tasks or spreading work among more people can help reduce stress, it’s not a necessary solution. Instead, specialized software programs and functions built for medical practices can alleviate the administrative burden and free up staff to engage in more enriching patient connections. Here are some of the more notable solutions:

24/7 Online appointment scheduling and billing tools - 

The key to removing unnecessary work from practice staff is to offer patients the opportunity to manage some processes online at their convenience. Online appointment scheduling gives patients 24/7 access to check available time slots and either book or request an appointment. Ideally, this is also the place for appointment change and cancellation requests. With 

63 percent of patients preferring this method

, your practice delivers the digital convenience patients demand while freeing your staff to focus on other higher-value elements of practice management.

Similarly, giving patients the option to make payments online reduces the hassle of paper invoices, can expedite payments and removes the time and hassle required to manage manual billing systems. Although most patients do not currently receive their medical bills electronically, our research shows that 

 Move your forms online rather than maintain a manual registration and intake process with a clipboard and pen. Staff members can avoid stacks of paperwork, and patients can complete forms before their appointment at their convenience. Practices can send links to intake forms via email or text link, preferably included with the patient’s automated appointment reminder. With forms completed ahead of time, you can reduce patients’ wait times, helping to improve patient satisfaction: our survey research shows that 60 percent of patients feel frustrated if their appointment wait times exceed 20 minutes.

HIPAA-compliant text messaging now makes it easier than ever to engage in direct conversations with new and current patients, using the most dominant method of communication today. Not only does this significantly reduce your staff’s time spent on phone calls, but it’s an accessible, secure way for patients to better connect with providers and staff. So whether they want to book an appointment or have health-related questions, patients are demanding text access to practices — and forward-thinking practices are offering it.

While feelings of burnout are nothing novel to the medical profession, the past few years have made it clear that practices’ priorities need to change. With the right technology and approach to practice management, practices stand a much better chance of improving staff morale and productivity.With these systems in place, your practice will also have more opportunities to attract and maintain new employees throughout the Great Resignation

Travis oversees all aspects of strategy, sales, and business development at PatientPop. Before co-founding the company, Travis co-founded and served as the CEO of ShopNation. He also co-founded and served as the CEO of StarBrand Media. Travis holds an Honors degree in Business and Economics from Wilfrid Laurier University. He is also a two-time recipient of the KPMG Enterprise Entrepreneur Award.

The proper technological tools can help a practice survive the Great Resignation.

Technology Is crucial for staff retention

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, providers must be even more creative and resourceful when helping their patients. Telehealth represents a prime opportunity for physicians to do just this. Through telehealth, doctors can treat patients through synchronous audio-video telecommunications systems carried out from separate locations.

Telehealth usage has risen sharply during the pandemic and is unlikely to go away after it ends. Our 2021 Patient Perspective Survey found that roughly half of all patients participated in telehealth during 2020, increasing satisfaction levels as more people experience a virtual visit. Therefore, your practice should consider incorporating telehealth into your patient care plans if you haven’t already. Here is how to best implement telehealth to satisfy patient needs and further grow your practice.

Determine how to incorporate telehealth into your practice

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which governs Medicare policies and influences commercial plan protocols, has overhauled many pre-pandemic restrictions to make telehealth more attractive to patients and providers. Under revised CMS guidelines, practitioners can now bill for telehealth and be reimbursed as they would for an in-person visit. Eligible visit types include initial patient visits, ongoing healthcare management, and therapeutic procedures, including therapeutic exercise, neuromuscular reeducation, gait training, and ADL instruction.

Just because the CMS proposes new codes does not mean that Medicare is necessarily bound to all of them when reviewing and paying out claims in day-to-day practice.Supplemental or secondary insurance typically kicks in to cover what Medicare does not.However, CMS guidance often serves as an influential springboard for commercial healthcare insurance carriers to build off the CMS’s suggestions and cover more robust treatment options in their policies. Your practice's strategies for leveraging telehealth will depend on your specialty, patients, and your patient's insurance carrier policies. Collecting patient feedback — in person and via patient surveys — can help guide your practice toward the best ways to implement telehealth technology at your practice.

Physicians have to be careful when billing for telehealth services, as not all codes addressing electronically administered care can be sufficiently specific to the format of visits that take place via technology. . Codes 99441-99443, for example, cover telephone calls only.

Conducting telehealth visits with your patients is similar to holding live patient-provider meetings, albeit through encrypted, synchronous video-audio connections. Therefore, doctors can bill out telehealth as E&M or therapy treatment.

While you should always consult the updated CMS guides and commercial carrier telehealth policies for detailed information, you can consider the following options when billing for telehealth services:

If you are billing out an E&M visit, use codes 99202-99205 for new patients and 99212-99215 for established patients, along with POS 2 and modifier 95

.
The E&M code you use will depend on the duration of the treatment, the severity of the injury, and the complexity of the medical decision-making involved. Regardless, you will need to use place of service (POS) code 2 to indicate you are using telehealth, along with modifier 95 to show you conducted the treatment in real-time using a synchronous audio-video system. While using modifier 95 is optional when billing E&M visits, you should include it nonetheless due to varying carrier billing requirements.

If you are billing for telehealth-based therapy treatment, use the telehealth billing code appropriate for that therapy along with POS 11 and modifier 95

.
When billing for therapy treatment, your place of service code will need to reflect where the patient’s therapy would usually take place if held in person. Therefore, you will likely use POS 11 as it encompasses in-office treatments. Although modifier 95 is optional with E&M, carriers require this modifier with therapy entries.

If a carrier you bill does not acknowledge modifier 95, use modifier GT instead

. While uncommon, some commercial insurers may reject claims using modifier 95. If this is the case, use modifier GT instead to indicate you used interactive audio and video telecommunications to administer care.

Not all video- or audio-based treatments qualify for telehealth reimbursement. For example, insurers will not reimburse pre-taped videos and training programs since they do not involve interactive, synchronous two-way video and audio communication. Additionally, telehealth visits are subject to identical information and time recordkeeping requirements, utilization management policies, payment audit programs, and medical necessity requirements for face-to-face treatment.

How to optimize your practice for telehealth

While the HHS Office of Civil Rights’ (OCR) temporary telehealth guidelines are relatively open regarding the types of video-audio communication tools doctors can use, this will likely not be the case for post-pandemic requirements. To ensure utmost HIPAA compliance and security, physicians should work with HIPAA-compliant telehealth providers that can enter into HIPAA business associate agreements (BAAs). They should also carefully consider the technical capabilities of the video-audio platforms they choose. At a minimum, your telehealth platform should support the following:

HD two-way video communication for optimal picture quality and clear diagnosis of symptoms

Patient digital registration capabilities that allow for seamless and secure intake processes

Integrations with your existing practice management software for secure payments, document uploads, patient scheduling, and appointment reminders

From there, your practice must market and integrate your telehealth technology into your day-to-day services. Dedicated informational website pages, FAQ sections, blog posts, and email blasts can all help promote and define your telehealth services to patients and potential referral sources. Finally, as you determine the best ways to integrate the technology into your care plans, be sure to consult with other doctors and staff at your practice.

Travis Schneider, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of PatientPop, the industry’s most complete all-in-one practice growth platform is known for his revenue growth strategies and visionary leadership.

While most insurance plans now accommodate telehealth, you should still know how to bill it properly to avoid unpaid claims. 

How doctors can leverage telehealth to help their patients and their practices

It is essential to know your key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify areas for growth and determine where to make adjustments. KPIs are “any metric of measurement that illustrates the status or progress of a particular operation or effort.” These are important numbers to keep an eye on.

KPIs can reflect financial growth, patient acquisition and retention numbers for today’s private healthcare practices, and marketing gains for particular channels (such as the practice website) or campaigns. While other practices will identify success using some of the same metrics, it’s essential to choose the KPIs that matter most to your unique business and align with your specific goals. Regardless of which KPIs a practice selects, having 

 to track all of those relevant KPIs is a tremendous advantage.

Below are three prime KPIs that can help spell success for your practice.

Relying exclusively on new patient growth is short-sighted. Managing a well-run practice is also essential for good business; while operating an efficient practice can go far in reducing costs, practitioners should also measure that efficiency.

Evaluating the four operational KPIs below and 

 at your office can improve performance by saving staff time, reducing no-shows, and making it easy for patients to book or reschedule appointments. Consider the following measurements to help ensure your practice is a well-oiled, efficient machine:

Staffing metrics (patient-to-staff ratio and provider-to-staff ratio)

No-show rate/Number of missed appointments

Percentage of patients who don’t book follow-up appointments

Patient acquisition and retention metrics

In addition to maintaining your established patient base, the surest way to operate a thriving practice is by attracting new patients and making sure they keep coming back. With an eye on patient volume, lead conversion, new patients, and overall patient satisfaction, you can get a clear line of sight to how you're performing (and meeting growth goals) if you consider the following:

Total number of patients (year-over-year)

New patient appointments (by the total number, per location, or per-provider-per-month)

Number of return patient appointments per month

Percentage of website visitors who convert into a new patient appointment

Marketing metrics will help grow a practice

Most medical marketing strategies are designed to drive new patient volume. However, as detailed above, a keen eye on overall practice success also supports patient retention. Both require tracking the effectiveness and return on investment for your various marketing strategies. These five KPIs focus on marketing initiatives and help set the stage for growth:

Social media metrics (including the number of followers and number and type of engagements for each social media channel)

Website performance (page views, demographics, conversion rates)

Website traffic (including the number of new and returning visitors)

Patient review volume, frequency, and average star rating

How a practice growth platform can help improve KPIs

Consistent patient growth is a neon sign of a thriving healthcare practice, but the question remains: How do you get there? Once you decide which KPIs to track, you can create a 

 to record and monitor how you are tracking against your goals.

An easier and more insightful option is accessing a practice growth dashboard, an integral aspect of a practice growth platform. All critical metric information is collected and monitored in one easy-to-use platform—incoming patient leads, new patient conversion rates, website performance, search engine optimization (SEO), or online reputation insights. With this convenient access, healthcare practices can make smarter operational and marketing decisions. Remember, you're in the business of healing and healthcare—but you are running a business.

Properly employing key performance indicators can give your practice an edge over the competition.