A Raxia survey of more than 3000 healthcare professionals nationwide reveals key challenges arising from new COVID-19 screening processes and changes to intake procedures that were created in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

BOSTON, Sept. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The US healthcare delivery system received never seen before shocks over the past four months. To welcome patients and staff back safely, medical providers and practices have suddenly been called upon to rapidly adjust processes, change attitudes, and modify existing practice management routines in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. This includes COVID-19 symptom screening, social distancing, and adjustments to scheduling and waiting room customs. As states reopen and patients seek medical care, 93% of surveyed healthcare providers ranked protecting patients and staff from possible infection as their top priority.

Raxia surveyed 3300 medical professionals nationwide to investigate how their practices interacted with their patients at intake, how they conducted their COVID-19 screening, and the effects on both patients and providers of rushing new check-in and office policies into place.

Findings showed 92% of surveyed participants have added COVID-19 symptom screening and temperature checks to their intake process. The remaining 8% of respondents delivered care only via telehealth. 74% of respondents reported that they conduct intake and COVID-19 screening in a face-to-face interview with patients. 91% of respondents reported that additional staff members and staff time were required to adhere to social distancing norms and to complete their modified intake process, including symptom screening. As a result, 75% of surveyed healthcare professionals reported that the changes made to their intake process — including the way COVID-19 symptom screening was conducted — hindered their ability to see more patients.

The survey also uncovered the control of patient flow as a new challenge arising from how and where intake and screening were conducted. 26% of the practices surveyed conducted their COVID-19 screening and intake at their reception desk. The remaining 74% of surveyed practices screened their patients outside their facility or just inside their entrance (50% and 24% respectively) requiring their patients to line up outside the facility. With the COVID-19 screening questionnaires being administered manually by staff 56% of the time and directly by the patient 9% of the time, practices reported intake can take up to ten minutes, lengthening queues and reducing overall patient volume.

To improve safety standards, 77% of surveyed respondents are seeking a contactless or touchless check-in process. To address issues related to patient flow, and to decrease the number of patients in waiting rooms, 64% of surveyed respondents desire an automated check-in process over their existing intake procedure.

About Raxia
Raxia helps healthcare organizations enhance patient communications and engagement with its suite of self-service applications designed to improve the patient experience and boost revenue cycle performance. Raxia offers contactless intake and COVID-19 screening solutions as well as a range of digital patient payment revenue cycle products.

Contact:
Scott Wilson
https://www.raxia.com
Raxia, Inc.
866-467-2942
[email protected]

SOURCE Raxia

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