The previous norms for earning and keeping patients have shifted dramatically, as outpatient volumes continue to be lower post-pandemic. Staying competitive often means getting creative to not only reduce costs – which can only be reduced so far – but doing more with your existing resources.

Luma helps your team get more results from the efforts you already implement, helping you contain costs and grow revenue. 

Here are innovative ways that peers from the Luma community are containing costs: 

1. Free up resources, then repurpose 
   • Instead of patients filling out forms in the office, Seaview Orthopedics, located in Ocean, New Jersey, implemented an automated intake process using Luma reminders. Patients are sent their intake forms via text before their visit, saving time and removing the manual process for staff. “I never thought that intake forms could be an easy process, especially because there are so many complexities in orthopedics,” said Christina Flaherty, Seaview’s Director of Project Management, “With Luma, we now can focus on next-level growth.”The Seaview team converted the now-empty waiting room space into additional physical therapy rooms, and in just five months, they earned over $765,000 ROI from increased patient volumes. 
2. Evaluate the downstream effects of a pay-per-message strategy
   • At Specialists in General Surgery in Minnesota, 3-5 full-time staff manually called patients each day to remind them of appointments or pre-op instructions. Their pay-per-message vendor made it costly to remind patients via text, which led to the necessity of daily calls. After making the switch to Luma and using text reminders instead of calls, they started saving over 20 hours of staff time each week. “Luma takes an incredible lift off our team by giving them more time to focus on patients instead of reminder calls. I didn’t realize just how much of a tremendous employee morale booster Luma would be,” said Anita Caskey, Chief Administrative Officer, Specialists in General Surgery.
3. Look for automation opportunities to save patients and staff time
   • Like Specialists in General Surgery, CommuniCare, an FQHC in San Antonio, Texas, now automates text reminders before appointments to let patients – and staff – skip the phone calls. In two months, more than half of their patients opted to confirm their appointments via text. The convenience of texting over calling is what patients expect, according to Sean Adams, VP, Chief Performance & Innovation Officer for CommuniCare. With Luma, CommuniCare saved over 3,000 hours of staff time in reminder calls, valued at $41,500 saved per month.  
4. Utilize existing schedule spots to improve outcomes and drive revenue
   • GPW Health Center, located in Manassas, VA, gained an additional $30,000 in seven months from filling open appointments using automated waitlist offers.  Previously, when patients would cancel at the last minute, those appointments would stay empty, creating a loss of expected revenue for GPW.  Now, patients who need care sooner get Luma text message offers integrated with the eClinicalWorks EHR. Schedules stay full and patients are being seen sooner, without additional manual work from GPW’s staff. 

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