Address affairs causing healthcare hiccups: Part 3
In our previous post, we prescribed solutions to the problems associated with having bad address data in the software side of healthcare. If you would like to go over those again, or if you stumbled upon Post 3 before the previous blogs, you can read Post 1 or Post 2 now.
In this third and final installment, we hope to provide even more solutions to healthcare hiccups on the SaaS side.
Software and real-time data go hand in hand
Previously, we discussed how many healthcare companies are struggling to keep up with their data storage and why it’s essential to clean up the mess.
We also highlighted some of the ways that Smarty is helping healthcare companies nationwide to resuscitate their coding address data, and how software companies offering their services to healthcare companies could improve their products (and increase its overall valuation) by integrating Smarty’s tools.
More often than should be the case, the information provided by the customer or the front desk is not standardized according to USPS or US@ formatting standards. This might not appear to be something that would cause a code red, but you’d be surprised.
In the case of US@, having a standardized address becomes a form of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) that can be used to separate two patients' records. Not having an address standardized or formatted makes this information useless in being able to do that.
With a Project US@ equipped validation tool, medical offices can have their entire address database updated and standardized with the click of a button.
If the office using your software mails reminders or other information out to their patients, they'll want a USPS standardized and validated address. There’s no better way to ensure standardization than having every one of your address fields auto-populate with valid and standardized addresses.
Integrating real-time data via an API aligns with the medical industry's growing focus on technological sophistication and improving user convenience.
Think of the telehealth aspect of healthcare. Many people may think that increasingly popular post-COVID telehealth options would make address verification less valuable, but the trend in online care actually calls for an even greater need for validation.
If the telehealth physician needs to send the patient to an in-person exam or locate a nearby pharmacy, an accurate address is extremely important. Utilizing geocoding address technology will ensure that all parties arrive at the desired destination the first time.
A homebound patient may require certain things to be mailed to them. Accurate address information is essential for ensuring that medical devices or supplies are delivered to the right address, facilitating timely remote care.
Additionally, remote healthcare means that billing and notices will need to have verified, standardized, and validated addresses to reach the intended patient.
The cost of bad address technology
Not integrating address validation into your software ends up revealing additional costs accrued by the provider.
If patient data is not standardized, not only would critical care become delayed, but expensive medical equipment can become lost in transit, returned to sender, sent to the wrong residence, and so much more. These address malpractices add up, and you can bet that the provider is the frustrated party footing the bill.
Additionally, considering which provider to utilize for real-time and accurate address data can make a large difference.
One Smarty customer stated that they'd saved upwards of $18,000 annually by utilizing the right address tools. These savings are only in the difference between providers, not to mention the shipping and mailing savings.
Smarty and addresses in healthcare
Smarty’s tools allow for immediate standardizing and validating measures to take place at the point of entry, saving everyone involved a headache.
A real-world example of this can be found through BetterHelp, the nation's largest online therapy company. They’re using Smarty's Autocomplete APIs on their intake forms, and they aren’t the only ones.
Here are some more happy, healthy customers who integrated Smarty’s tools and saw great results!
We hope you have been able to gain insight into how to code for a healthier future; we’re prescribing address validation for you. Innovative care and product design depend upon it.
If this blog series merely scratched the surface for you, feel free to download this ebook for a more surgical approach.
