3 New Ways Urgent Cares Are Managing Occ Med Relationships

COVID and remote work disrupted the norms of the office and working conditions for both urgent care clinics and their occupational medicine clients. Here are three ways we see urgent cares and other occ med providers connecting with their employers in the new world.

1. They offer electronic invoices and online payment options

Have you noticed mail delivery is slower and more inconsistent? If you're not sure where your own team might be working week-to-week, the same might be true of your employer-paid services (EPS) customers. Do you know if or when your customers are in the office to receive and review your paper invoices?

This may surprise you but most businesses want to pay their vendors on time. Switching to electronic invoices ensures your invoices are delivered immediately; and online payment ability makes it easy for the company to pay. Not only that, but more and more companies expect to be able to pay their vendors online. Vendors offering online payment options end up winning the business in the long run.

When clinics start sending electronic invoices and offering online payment options through Cowork, we typically see the clinics'​ average occ med days in A/R improve by at least 25 days within the first 90 days of implementing.

2. Employers can submit authorization requests online

When employees are working from home, in the field, or on the job-site, it can be a chore for the employer to get a printed authorization form into the employee's hands – and into your clinic. Forms are routinely forgotten, thrown away, altered, or not used at all.

When employers submit their authorization requests online, however, the employee simply needs to know where to go. The clinic receives the electronic request and already knows what to do when the employee shows up. This is a better experience for the clinic, company, and employee.

Beyond the improved delivery of auths, we have seen disputed services and charges decrease dramatically when electronic authorizations are used. Both the clinic and company have quick, easy access to time-and-date stamped records of what was requested, and by whom.

3. Visit info, records, and results are available electronically

Just as with invoices, employers and their distributed workforce need quick access to employee results.

Historically, after an occ med visit, clinics sent paper results by mail, faxed them, or repurposed cumbersome portals meant for patient use. Now that many workers aren’t in the office every day, or at all, employers need to sift through piles of mail and faxes – lots of it being junk – just to find the results they're after.

Sending records and results electronically helps close the loop after occ med visits quickly and gives both parties access to historical results. And when there are questions or concerns, gives the employer a clear way to direct their questions to the clinic.

Clinics that consolidated their occ med communication in Cowork have seen phone calls from employers decrease and requests to resend items nearly disappear.

As the competitive landscape grows and the world continues to move toward more digital solutions, clinics will need to adapt to match employers’ expectations. Occ med providers with a digital experience that matches their clients' needs will end up winning in the end.

To learn more about Cowork Health's occ med relationship platform, please visit coworkhealth.io.

COVID and remote work have disrupted the norms of the office and working conditions for both urgent care clinics and their occupational medicine clients. Here are three ways we see urgent cares and other occ med providers connecting with their employers in the new world.