How Physical Therapy Scheduling Software Boosts Your Revenue

If you’re searching for physical therapy scheduling software, the way you currently manage patient appointments probably isn’t working for you. Perhaps:

• You’re using a generic scheduling software, when you need something specific to your PT needs. For instance, your current solution might lack features that make life easier, such as patient intake forms or recurring appointments. 

• Your scheduling tool doesn’t link to your other PT software. For example, if you’re using scheduling software alongside a separate EMR and a billing system, you’ll likely have to spend time entering data into each individual platform. Meanwhile, the bills for different tools add up. 

• Perhaps you’re not using a scheduling tool at all. Instead, you could still be using an app like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook to handle your appointments and working schedules.

In every one of these scenarios, there’s something else you’re missing out on. You’re not linking your scheduling processes with your revenue.

But what does this actually mean?

While scheduling might seem like a dry operational task, it’s actually an integral part of protecting and growing your practice revenue. Get it wrong and you’ll end up with canceled appointments and denied billing claims. But with the right physical therapy software, you’ll improve reimbursement rates, fill your schedule, and boost your practice’s profits. 

In this post, we’ll show you how our PT platform, StrataEMR, helps you boost your bottom-line revenue through more effective scheduling.

How to increase your revenue with the right scheduling tools

We built StrataEMR to be a platform that puts billing and revenue at the heart of everything your clinic does. From the moment a patient schedules an appointment or walks into your practice, our platform—and the StrataPT billing team—is working to get you paid. 

No other scheduling software does this. That’s why PT clinics often see more than 20% of their revenues go uncollected. 

In contrast, at StrataPT, we make sure our clients achieve a reimbursement rate of higher than 99%—and we help them grow their revenue, too. On average, our clients see a 20-30% increase in revenue after switching to us. 

Here’s how you can achieve similar results with our physical therapy scheduling software:

1. Reduce cancellations and keep your schedule full with appointment reminders and improved patient satisfaction

One of the biggest nuisances for physical therapists is canceled or missed appointments. These are a huge drain on revenue, too. According to one research study, missed appointments are responsible for over half of revenue loss. 

In fact, before coming to us, many PT practices will see no-shows affecting as many as 20% of their therapy appointments. That’s why reducing missed appointments is a fundamental part of increasing clinic revenue.

The StrataEMR platform can help you streamline appointment scheduling for both clinicians and patients in four key ways:

1. Create a smooth online booking experience for patients. Patients can simply select a time that works for them. Then, as the appointment approaches, they’ll receive an automatic reminder. This reduces the chance they’ll miss their slot. 
   
2. Minimize cancellations by asking why patients want to cancel. Clients have found this feature alone has reduced cancellations by as much as 35%. Typically, patients will just reschedule for a time that better suits them. 
   
3. Automatically sync patient appointments with your schedule. Appointments appear in real-time in the clinician’s calendar—and can be viewed from any device. You can receive a notification before the appointment too, to ensure you’re ready to deliver the best patient care. (Plus, if you’re visiting patients at home, StrataEMR provides estimated driving times and GPS navigation). 
   

4. Ask patients how you did. Request feedback so that you can improve the patient experience in future. StrataEMR automates the whole feedback process, so you can collect patient satisfaction data without lifting a finger. 

2. Put billing at the heart of scheduling and documentation

Alongside appointment cancelations, medical billing is one of the biggest struggles for PTs (and other healthcare providers). That’s because billing is often treated as something that’s separate to your other processes, such as scheduling, documentation, or intake.

This means physical therapy practices often schedule appointments and treat patients, only to consider billing later on. This results in inaccurate or incomplete reimbursement claims—and consequently, more payer denials. 

StrataEMR does billing differently. By putting billing and RCM at the heart of all your clinic’s processes—from scheduling to task management—you’ll ensure your documentation  complies with insurers’ regulations. This means you get reimbursed for the work you do. 

Here’s how you benefit:

• Make patient intake a seamless part of your scheduling. When patients schedule an appointment, they’ll have a unique online patient portal. Here, they can download all the documents they need and fill everything out before their therapy. 
  
  This way, you’ll have all the patient information you need to deliver the best care possible (and comply with insurers’ rules), while saving everyone time.

• Auto-populate your documentation so it’s clean and compliant. The information you’ve collected during scheduling and intake will be automatically transferred into your clinical documentation. That means easy, compliant documentation—with fewer reimbursement denials and less time chasing denied claims. 

• Let us handle any denials, so you can focus on your busy schedule. Thanks to our documentation system, clinics using StrataEMR typically see 85% of their claims paid within 30 days without a hitch. But our billing team will chase every single remaining unpaid claim too, so all you need to do is focus on patient care. 

Brenton Hanes of Genesis Physical Therapy experienced the benefits of this:

Now in our 15th year in business, having StrataPT on our team has made our practice so much more streamlined. The EMR is simple and easy to use. The screens flow well and have cut our documentation time down by at least 30%. The billing side has increased profits by 20% as well. By having StrataPT help, we have freed up more space in our office so we can focus on the quality of care we provide to our patients. I am very glad we found StrataPT when we did, we can’t imagine working without them!

3. Save time and reduce admin with better appointment and workflow management

Many physical therapy practices are struggling under the weight of too many tools. Some have an EMR software to handle clinical documentation, a practice management software for workflows and schedules, and a separate tool to handle their medical billing and RCM. 

As a result, key information gets lost, processes get muddled, and you’re paying for multiple software platforms.

You’ve already seen how StrataEMR brings all these functions together, connecting your therapy appointments with your patient records and your billing. But our platform also gives you the control room where you manage all the tasks and data in your practice. 

• Get live visibility over your entire practice. With StrataEMR, you can see the appointments scheduled for the day, which patients have arrived in the clinic for check-in, and which appointments are already underway. This way, everyone in your physical therapy clinic can stay on top of the most urgent tasks. 

• Automate your task management. A clinician’s schedule doesn’t just consist of appointments. They also have to spend time on documentation, updating clinical credentials, and managing various other tasks.
  
  StrataEMR’s workflow management interface ensures everyone in your clinic is up-to-speed with the tasks that are relevant to them. When one task is complete, the people responsible for the next task will be notified. Nothing slips through the cracks. 

• Keep business-critical data all in one place. Whether it’s patient satisfaction data,  information on reimbursement rates, appointment cancellations, or financial metrics, your clinic can use data to make better decisions and grow your revenue. 
  
  StrataEMR’s Clarity Panel keeps all of this information at your fingertips. For example, simply pull up which therapists are most struggling with cancellations, or see a line by line account of reimbursements, broken down by patient or insurer. 

Having a system that encompasses everything from scheduling to billing to patient intake to documentation has made our practice be more productive and it has made it a more well-rounded and complete business.

– Sonia M. (Co-Owner & Director of Operations | PT Doctors of Florida)

StrataEMR: Physical therapy scheduling software built with revenue in mind

The right scheduling software will help you reduce cancelations, improve your patients’ experience at your clinic, and grow your revenue. 

We built StrataEMR to do exactly that and give it away for free. With our platform, you’ll put billing at the heart of everything you do and ensure clean and compliant reimbursement claims. Plus, our billing team will be there to chase any denied claims, so you can focus on your patients. 

Speak to an expert to find out more.