Eyeworld

112 | EYEWORLD | SPRING 2025 P RACTICE MANAGEMENT by William Rabourn Jr. About the author William Rabourn Jr. Managing Principal Medical Consulting Group Springfield, Missouri Streamlining administrative tasks Administrative tasks can take up a significant portion of a clinic's time and resources, often pulling staff away from patient care. AI-driven tools can help automate and simplify many of these processes, allowing teams to focus more on their patients. One of the most time-consuming jobs at any practice is patient scheduling. An intelligent AI system could book patient appointments by calculating the time each visit should take based on their medical needs and treatment complexity. Using this information, it could then efficiently book appointments around a doctor's availability. This more precise scheduling lowers wait times without sacrificing doctor/patient interaction. In addition, AI scheduling tools can send automated appointment reminders to reduce no-shows and eliminate manual calling by staff. O ver the past several years, arti- ficial intelligence (AI) has been the subject of much speculation surrounding how it might be used to help diagnose and treat various conditions in ophthalmology. Although there are many exciting possibilities, something that hasn't gained as much attention is how AI might be used to reshape the business side of running a practice. There are many possible uses of AI technol- ogy that can help maximize practice operations to provide an even stronger foundation for qual- ity patient care. These AI technologies generally fall into three broad categories: data analysis, administrative support, and communication enhancements. Here's a closer look at how these applications could be used to reshape practices in the future. Smarter data analysis for better decision making The ability of AI to gather and analyze large amounts of data can help practice owners and administrators gain insights and make better informed decisions. This is especially true when tracking or developing key performance indi- cators (KPIs). For example, AI could monitor metrics such as patient satisfaction, revenue per patient, or staff productivity to identify trends or areas of improvement. It can then forecast future trends and outcomes to provide decision makers with important information to develop new KPIs and identify new areas of opportunity that were previously unrecognized. Another way AI can assist the practice is with financial administration. Instead of man- ually sifting through insurance claims, patient billing, and financial statements, AI-powered tools can extract and analyze information to reduce errors associated with manual data entry for accountants. Additionally, AI can enhance revenue cycle management by reviewing claims for accuracy before submission, helping prac- tices avoid costly denials and delays in addition to many other possible uses in this area. Predic- tive financial modeling can also offer a clearer picture of profitability, enabling practices to optimize costs and forecast revenue with greater accuracy. Transforming ophthalmic business practices with AI Contact Rabourn: brabourn@medcgroup.com For a deeper understanding of this topic, be sure to attend "Practical AI Tools That Can Enhance Your Practice Today," Friday, April 25, 12:00–1:00 p.m. at the 2025 ASCRS Annual Meeting. This product-focused symposium, presented by the ASCRS Digital Clinical Committee, will cover specific and diverse AI-based technologies that are designed to make life better for doctors, staff, and patients. Physicians will share what products they have used and describe their experiences with them. "Much confusion and sometimes fear surrounds the use of the term AI, but a number of new technologies available now can use machine learning to help doctors be more efficient and take better care of their patients. This symposium will highlight some of these promising technologies and how practices have put them to work," said John Hovanesian, MD, chair of the ASCRS Digital Clinical Committee. ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING P R E V I E W

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