How Going Personless at the Front Desk Reduced Costs by 50% for ProTailored Physical Therapy
“WelcomeWare, combined with a few changes to the patient intake process, has enabled us to have a ‘personless’ front desk. All patient check-ins happen at the kiosk and we’re able to provide the same great care to our patients, with significantly reduced operating costs.”
Vanessa Evans
ProTailored Physical Therapy
The Problem
Staffing expenses 20% higher than National Standards
Disproportionate workload for Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs) due to variability in patient volume by clinic
High turnover/short tenure of Patient Care Coordinators, taking up significant time and energy of staff
Increasing labor costs and decreasing insurance reimbursements
Staff scrambling due to unexpected absences
The Solution – WelcomeWare
ProTailored Physical Therapy implemented WelcomeWare’s remote front desk receptionist platform in May 2024, making the front desk at all 5 of their locations personless (no PCCs physically at the front desk). All patient check-ins happen at the kiosk. Several in-person processes are now completed before each patient visit, significantly streamlining the kiosk experience.
Change Management
The initial introduction of WelcomeWare to the Clinical Staff was challenging, as they enjoyed the front desk staff being physically in the clinic. ProTailored Physical Therapy rolled out WelcomeWare clinic by clinic, carefully working through the revised patient check-in processes to ensure everything was working properly for the patients and their entire staff.
Leadership had to check in regularly with the staff as they adjusted to the new norm and kept a close eye on the culture impact at the clinics. Ultimately, within a short period of time, everyone got on board and clearly saw the value.
“WelcomeWare has the best Customer Support that we’ve ever experienced with any program that we use at ProTailored. They listen to our questions and feedback and are incredibly responsive.”
Vanessa Evans
ProTailored Physical Therapy
WelcomeWare Kiosk Metrics
9 sec.
Average patient wait time
100%
Patient check-ins at clinic done through WelcomeWare
1:35
Average duration of check-in
The Result
Enhanced Staff Flexibility
Before WelcomeWare, ProTailored was understaffed with only 6 PCCs. As summarized in the table below, ProTailored needed 9 PCCs to cover almost 800 weekly patient check-ins across their 5 clinics.
After implementing WelcomeWare, ProTailored halved their headcount requirements and now only needs 4.5 PCCs. ProTailored reduced their operational expenses, and allowed leadership to better care for existing staff. Employee satisfaction improved with WFH flexibility and increased bandwidth.
Improved Operational Efficiencies: No longer overstaffed in their low-volume clinics, no longer understaffed in their high-volume clinics, and can leverage their Patient Care Coordinators as needed across their 5 clinics.
Increased Referral Conversion Rate: Referral conversions increased to 93%, thanks to the operational efficiencies gained with WelcomeWare that opened up the bandwidth of their Front Desk.
Drastically Reduced Cost: Now only needing 4.5 PCCs across 5 clinics (vs. 9 pre-WelcomeWare), allowing them to cut their front desk staffing needs in half, reducing operating expenses, and enabling leadership to care better for existing staff.
Eliminated Staffing Challenges: No longer experiencing high turnover/short tenure of Patient Care Coordinators, which was taking significant time and energy of staff.
Retained Exceptional Patient Experience: Continuous coverage at every clinic, no long lines for patients, and ability to connect face-to-face with Patient Care Coordinators.
“We’ve increased our Therapists by 50% in the last 6 months, and yet with WelcomeWare, we were still able to reduce our Front Desk Staff, saving $160,000 per year. In addition, the operational efficiencies gained through WelcomeWare have freed up extra time for our staff, and now 90% of our phone calls with leads are answered and 93% of them are converted into actual patients. With WelcomeWare we’ve actually decreased our costs and increased our patient volume.”
Jon Evans
Physical Therapy