Spring Cleaning in Healthcare
Spring cleaning isn't just for your home—it can also benefit your healthcare practice! As the seasons change, it's the perfect time to tidy up and refresh your healthcare processes. At Ignite Healthcare Solutions, we encourage clients to approach spring as a natural checkpoint for improving workflows, updating documentation, and optimizing system settings.
Here are some spring (or quarterly) cleaning tips that we recommend to keep your practice running smoothly:
✅Review and Update Policies and Procedures
Take this time to thoroughly review your practice’s policies and procedures. Make sure they align with current regulations, payer requirements, and best practices. Update any outdated content and communicate changes to your team.
At Ignite, we maintain an inventory of all our standard operating procedures (SOPs) and update them quarterly. If you're on athenahealth, remember to review and incorporate relevant changes from athenaNet’s release notes into your internal documentation.
💸Clean Up Your Billing Practices
Spring is a great time to assess your revenue cycle. Review your billing practices for accuracy and compliance, address any outstanding claims or denials, and consider conducting a billing audit to identify patterns or recurring issues.
We also recommend reviewing the following administrative tables in athenahealth:
Order Type and Procedure Template Mapping
Custom Rules
Local Rules (request via a case with athenahealth CSC)
A clean billing process reduces denials, shortens days in A/R, and improves your financial health.
📊Revisit Reporting Dashboards
Are your practice’s dashboards still aligned with your operational goals? Spring is a good time to evaluate the KPIs and metrics you're tracking. Look at things like:
Denial trends
Provider utilization
Appointment no-show rates
Eligibility verification issues
Use this opportunity to refine your reports and ensure leadership has visibility into key performance areas.
🧑💻Educate and Train Your Staff
If you’ve updated policies, added new workflows, or implemented new tools—make sure your staff is fully trained. This includes formal training sessions, knowledge checks, and making updated SOPs easily accessible.
Pay special attention to athenaNet release training. New platform features or changes can significantly impact day-to-day workflows, so it’s important everyone is up to speed. Spring is also a good moment to encourage professional development and cross-training.
🔐Refresh Your Data and Security Practices
Data security is essential—don’t forget to clean up your digital “dust bunnies.”
Remove access for inactive users
Review role-based permissions
Check password policies
Audit your HIPAA-compliance checklist
Ensure data storage and archiving meet current standards
These actions protect patient data and prevent unauthorized access.
💬Refresh Patient Communications
When was the last time you reviewed your automated appointment reminders or patient portal content? Spring is a great time to ensure messaging is current, accurate, and engaging. Even a simple seasonal greeting or updated contact instructions can improve patient satisfaction.
⚙️Evaluate and Improve Workflows
Look critically at your practice’s workflows—what’s working, what’s not, and where are the bottlenecks?
Ask your team for feedback. Look for inefficiencies in patient intake, documentation, or scheduling processes. Then, make adjustments that improve throughput and reduce friction—for both staff and patients.
How Ignite Healthcare Solutions Can Help
At Ignite Healthcare Solutions, we offer expert consulting services to streamline your spring cleaning efforts. Whether it’s updating policies, conducting billing audits, training staff, or optimizing athenaNet configurations—we’re here to help.
Let us take care of the cleanup so you can stay focused on what matters most: delivering outstanding patient care.
