What's New at Kareo

Telehealth. Better dashboards. Cyber security. Enhanced collection features. And solutions to COVID dilemmas. These are just a few of the latest developments at Kareo – designed to make practice management easier and more efficient, and boost profitability.

Even if you think you understand Kareo well, make sure you’re not missing out on any of our important recent enhancements. This is first of two blog articles on how Kareo has evolved in recent years. In this article, we will be discussing Telehealth, Kareo Engage, and Kareo Billing.

Telehealth: The Future Is Here

Telehealth may have seemed like a “nice idea” before 2020. Then COVID-19 hit. Suddenly, remote visits became a must-have. Everyone scrambled to cobble together a solution. But Kareo was way ahead of the pack and rolled out Kareo Telehealth long before the pandemic, giving early adopters a head start against the competition.

The solution proved to be a lifesaver during lockdowns. According to Kareo’s 2021 State of the Independent Practice Report, 80% of all independent practices offer some form of remote services, with Kareo Telehealth standing out as a clear leader in the field.

Kareo Telehealth is a next-generation video visit solution. Here is what you need to know:

• It’s fully integrated with Kareo -- simple, secure and HIPAA compliant.
• Patients say they love the convenience of remote visits, whether they choose to join on their computer or mobile device.
• Kareo Telehealth’s newest feature coming in October is the ability to have group appointments, which can be used for support groups, therapy sessions, etc. – up to 100 participants.

‘We are excited to offer the ability to have multiple patients during a telehealth visit,” says Megan Jernigan, enterprise training consultant at Kareo. “If more than one person facilitates care, or if a parent or caregiver needs to join along with the patient, it’s easy to include them in the session. The feature is native to Kareo, and fully integrated. We built it based on direct user feedback – showing how carefully we listen to our clients.”

Kareo Engage: Better Communications with Patients

If want to improve the patient experience in your practice, Kareo Engage helps you by:

• Offering the capability to send electronic communications and follow-up reminders.
• Boosting your online presence to drive new business.
• Offering built-in features that let patients request appointments from either the practice profile or the provider profile page.
• Allowing you to customize appointment reminder emails and text messages -- including details like pre-visit requirements, parking instructions or COVID protocols
• Making it easy to configure self-pay requirements during online scheduling.

“Practice-level scheduling was designed for groups like urgent care,” explains Jernigan. “Previously, appointments had to be scheduled with a specific provider, which was difficult when you have rotating staff.

Now you can schedule an appointment without allocating it to a specific resource. It makes the system a lot more flexible.”

She adds that you can now drop in your practice logo for a personalized look. “The benefit here is that patients like seeing a familiar logo when they log onto the system.  reassures them that they’re in the right place, and helps with branding the practice.”

Kareo Billing: Magic in the Details

When you’re handling billing in-house, you want as much control as possible. One of Kareo’s latest enhancements is a patient statement delivery report that tracks statements and payments. Our solution offers:

• A single click that shows you how many texts, email, and mailing-house statements have been sent.
• Verifies that patients have read and responded.
• A new feature that lets you enter National Drug Code (NDC), Unit Count (UC) and Unit of Measure (UM) information directly at the service-line level.
• The ability to exclude statements going to patients with a credit card on file, avoiding annoying and confusing duplications.

“The delivery report lets you determine the most effective way to communicate with each patient. You can make practical decisions, based on the demographic you serve,” Jernigan says.

“For instance, you know whether an individual pays online through a link, or during their office visit. The feature also helps you identify potential errors, like invalid phone numbers or emails, so you can reach out to fix them.”

Changing with the Times

It’s no secret that patients are getting more demanding. They want personalized service and more choices. And the speed and convenience they have come to expect from the Internet. That’s why 61% of independent practices now view patients as “consumers” of their services in Kareo’s latest survey on the state of independent practices.

At Kareo, we help you adapt to this new mindset with a patient-centric approach. Patients can go online to schedule their own appointments. They fill out intake forms online before even stepping foot in your office. They get automated appointment reminders, sent by text or email, to reduce no-shows. Their prescriptions and DME supplies are ordered online, reducing phone calls and wait times at pharmacies.

Kareo is better than ever in so many ways. Can you say the same about your practice? Contact a Kareo account manager to learn more at Kareo.com or call (866) 93-TEBRA (83272).