Cool Healthcare Technology: Phreesia

Physicians: Healthcare Technology for Your Office

Phreesia is certainly not new on the healthcare scene… but the intent of this Healthcare Tech section is not necessarily to highlight the latest start-up or the newest kid on the block.  Perhaps something slick and new will catch my eye and  I will bring it to your attention— but this section will hopefully provide you with healthcare technology options that have already proven themselves in the market and can bring a true ROI to a technology spend.

What is Phreesia:

Phreesia is a venture backed NYC company that was founded in 2005.  The concept went from a napkin to fruition with 45 million in the bank in short order… Why?

Because Phreesia replaces the traditional clipboard, pen and paper you hand out to your patients.

Here’s how it works:

• Patient arrives and is handed Phreesia.
• New patients type information directly into the device.
  • hand-writing issues-gone
  • legibility
  • intuitive and simple to use
• Returning patients verify rather than re-enter info.
• All electronic signatures are captured and insurance verified.

Probably the most critical issue  (from the physician’s perspective) that many practice managers and engaged physicians will enjoy is that the co-pay is collected through the terminal.  Many,many offices fail to collect co-pays at the time of the visit, and once the patient leaves, there is a good chance you will not capture that income, or you will spend a significant amount of money and FTE time to collect it.  With the razor thin margins that exist in healthcare today —

YOUR MARGIN IS IN THE CO-PAY ITSELF !

Not collecting $250-$500 dollars in co-pays per day adds up very rapidly.

Patients will love the phreesia too… and your front desk staff is freed up from many previous tasks (verification, copying cards, collecting co-pays) to help those who may require assistance.

Patients can simply sit comfortably and thumb through the information and be sure that it is accurate. Click, swipe their CC and return the unit.  Done.

Cool extended use… perhaps some day they will incorporate the ability for the patient to verify the accuracy of their prior encounter note or progress note that the physician dictated.

Phreesia is also theoretically gerrm-free! The phreesia pads have antimicrobial coating which helps protect against the transfer of germs from user to user.

With physicians wondering whether or not to spend money on technology because of the illusive nature of a proven ROI,  the folks at Phreesia have a technology that could theoretically pay for itself quite handsomely if it enables you to please patients, free up your front office staff, verify insurance and collect co-pays.

And… NO, I do not work for them