How Impact Physical Therapy Got Its Time Back With Spruce

Summary

When Impact Physical Therapy opened in East Windsor, owners Chris Lang and Marc Plawner wanted to give every patient one-on-one, unrushed care, but the therapists kept stopping treatment to answer phones and texts. They ran their communication on Spruce, then paired it with a virtual assistant from Snapscale (formerly BBC Global) who works inside Spruce, so calls, scheduling, insurance, and billing questions get handled while the therapists keep their hands on patients. In one week that let them welcome 10 new patients.

Introduction

When Impact Physical Therapy opened its doors in East Windsor in June of 2021, owners and therapists Chris Lang PT, Certified MDT, DPT, SCS and Marc Plawner PT, Certified MDT prioritized high-quality, one-on-one treatment for every patient as a competitive differentiator.

One of the primary challenges they needed to overcome during the early days of the practice was the lack of front-end and back-end administration. Hiring a full-time employee was not financially feasible given the amount of potential downtime as the practice ramped up. However, if the physical therapists took a DIY approach, tasks such as fielding calls, contacting insurance companies, and setting up clients in the EMR system would take them away from patients for hours every week.

Chris and Marc decided to use the HIPAA-compliant Spruce healthcare communication platform. Spruce enables doctors and patients to interact securely and privately across popular communication channels, including business phone, fax, texting, app-based secure messaging, and video telemedicine, all through one unified, cloud-based solution.

Spruce made certain processes far more efficient, but the physical therapists were still handling all administrative tasks in addition to treating patients.

The BBC Global Healthcare Virtual Services Solution

BBC Global’s virtual services provided the dedicated human element that was missing from Impact Physical Therapy’s front-end and back-end administrative operations. Instead of having physical therapists disrupting treatment or catching up at the end of the day, BBC Global’s virtual assistant removed administrative tasks from their plate while working remotely.

BBC Global spent several weeks collaborating with the practice to create and document protocols so Welmerly, their new virtual assistant, would know what to do in every scenario. For example, the process for verifying benefits can be completely different when dealing with workman’s compensation, commercial insurance, and Medicare. In addition to making processes more efficient and improving the patient experience, these protocols would enable a new virtual assistant to pick up the ball without missing a beat should Welmerly need time off.

Within a month, Welmerly was remotely answering phones, scheduling and confirming appointments, verifying insurance, following up with patients to discuss out-of-pocket costs, and fielding billing questions. Because BBC Global’s virtual services are integrated with Spruce, the practice’s secure messaging platform, Chris and Marc have the ability to review updated EMR data and phone and text threads each day.

Results: Greater Efficiency, Better Patient Experience, Sustainable Growth

“Before we partnered with BBC, we had Spruce, but we were constantly interrupting treatment to answer phones,” Chris shared. “Having Welmerly work remotely as if she were a member of our in-house team has allowed us to remove ourselves from the front-end and back-end processes that take up so much time. We’re able to maximize our time with patients and give them the care and attention they deserve.”

Impact Physical Therapy had set a goal of adding three to four patients per week. In early January of 2022, despite the Covid surge and cold weather, they welcomed 10 new patients in one week.

“We would not be able to handle that kind of volume without BBC Global’s virtual services,” Chris admonished. “Welmerly is able to work independently and rarely has to contact us with questions. This has helped us achieve our vision for providing high-quality, unrushed care while growing our practice.”

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a virtual assistant work with Spruce?
When a virtual assistant service partners with Spruce, the assistant handles conversations inside the same platform the practice already uses, so the practice keeps visibility into what’s being said and done on their behalf, instead of that work happening in a separate tool they can’t see into.

What can a virtual assistant take off a care team’s plate?
Pretty much anything the practice wants to hand off. A virtual assistant working inside Spruce has the same access as any other teammate, so they can answer phones, schedule and confirm appointments, verify insurance, follow up on out-of-pocket costs, field billing questions, and more, whatever front-end and back-end tasks the practice chooses to delegate.

Does adding a virtual assistant mean running a second phone system?
No. The assistant works within the Spruce communication platform the practice already uses, so calls and text threads stay in one place the whole team can see rather than a separate setup.

Is Spruce HIPAA-compliant?
Spruce supports HIPAA-compliant communications across phone, texting, faxing, and telehealth. Every eligible Spruce organization automatically receives a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA) as part of the terms of service, with no separate agreement, opt-in, or additional fees required. You electronically agree to the Spruce BAA when you create an organization on Spruce, and you can review this agreement in our terms of service.

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