A virtual assistant is only as good as what they check before they act. These three cases show what that looks like inside real medical practices.
Key Takeaways
- Three practices, three EHRs, three different problems: a forms backlog, an MRI scheduling queue, and a solo cardiologist with no time to spare.
- In every case, the virtual assistant checked the chart before acting and caught problems that a fast copy-and-paste approach would have sent out the door.
- None of these engagements started big. Each began with one assistant or one task and grew as the practice saw results.
Every practice we talk to has some version of the same problem. The work isn’t hard. There is just too much of it, and it lands on staff who already have full days.
A virtual medical assistant can take that work off the desk. But speed alone doesn’t help if the work goes out wrong. A form that contradicts the chart comes back. An MRI booked without a complete safety screening gets stopped at the scanner. A procedure scheduled without an approved authorization gets postponed.
Across the three engagements in this series, our team brought a backlog of about 100 forms to current date in four days, cut a queue of more than 250 MRI orders to about two days, and gave a solo cardiologist one part-time assistant who now covers nearly every administrative task he needs.
Source: DataMatrix Medical internal data, from the three engagements in this series.
Here are the three virtual assistant case studies, what each practice was up against, and what changed.
The three cases
Forms Completion | Orthopedics
From a month behind to current date in four days
Practice: 60-plus provider orthopedic group, ModMed EHR
What was at stake: About 100 FMLA, disability and workers’ comp forms waiting, some for more than a month.
Patients were waiting more than 10 days for completed forms. Our team cleared the backlog in four days while 25 to 30 new forms arrived daily, and now completes most forms the same day.
MRI Scheduling | Orthopedics
250 MRI orders waiting, and patients walking away
Practice: 30-plus provider orthopedic group, two locations, TouchWorks EHR
What was at stake: More than 250 MRI orders waiting to be scheduled, some for more than 20 days.
Unreached patients were taking their care elsewhere. One dedicated virtual assistant brought the queue to about two days, checking every order before calling and booking the follow-up visit in the same call.
Office Admin Support | Cardiology
One cardiologist, one part-time assistant, everything covered
Practice: Solo private cardiology practice, NextGen EHR
What was at stake: A small staff stretched thin, with requests arriving by phone, through the EHR and by text message.
The engagement started with appointment reminders. One part-time virtual assistant now handles scheduling, records, referrals, device tracking reports and time-sensitive procedure coordination.
What the three cases have in common
Different specialties, different EHRs, different work. The same three habits made the difference in each one.
- Check the chart before acting. Every form, order and procedure is checked against the record before anything goes out or anyone is called.
- Chase the gap instead of passing it along. When something is wrong or missing, the virtual assistant sends it to the provider’s team, gets an answer and finishes the job.
- Close the loop. Forms are signed and faxed, follow-up visits are booked in the same call, and authorizations are chased until the patient is scheduled.
How each engagement started
None of these practices handed us a full job description on day one.
- The orthopedic forms group started with a pilot: one virtual assistant completing about 10 forms a day. The team is now three, completing 35 to 40 forms a day.
- The MRI scheduling engagement started with one dedicated virtual assistant and a trained backup for emergency coverage.
- The cardiology practice started with appointment reminders only. The scope grew as trust did.
Starting with one queue or one task lets a practice see the work before committing to more.
Inside the EHR you already use
The three practices run on three different systems: ModMed, TouchWorks and NextGen. In each case, our virtual assistants worked inside the practice’s own EHR, so there was no new platform for the practice to learn.
A question for your team
Which task at your practice is always a week behind?
Want virtual assistants who check the chart before they act? Talk with DataMatrix Medical.
These cases are drawn from real engagements our virtual assistant team supports, and the examples from real requests we handled. We removed identifying details to protect client and patient privacy. Workflows, payer and facility policies vary, so the same steps will not produce the same result in every case. This article is educational and is not legal, billing, or clinical advice.
Nathaniel Smathers is the VP of Client Education and Marketing. He is also a long time contributor of the DataMatrix Medical blog and has a background in healthcare content creation for over a decade. Nathaniel is passionate about exploring the intersections of healthcare, data analysis, and digital innovation.
