Know your practice before you change it.
An interview guide for every area of your practice.
Map the work, find the pain points, build your plan.
- 01Interview
Sit down with the people who do the work, one area at a time.
- 02Map
Write down how the work happens today, step by step.
- 03Rank
Score each pain point by how often it happens and how much it costs.
- 04Plan
Pick where to start, who owns it and what success looks like.
Front desk
Who to interviewYour front desk lead and whoever answers the phones and the fax
Questions to ask
- Walk me through what happens when a new referral arrives.
- How long does a referral usually wait before someone reaches the patient?
- How do you check insurance and authorizations, and how long does it take?
- What happens when a patient cancels or doesn’t show?
- What do patients call about most often?
- Which part of your day would you hand off first if you could?
Numbers worth pulling
- New referrals a week, and how many become a first visit
- No-show and late cancellation rate last month
- Time spent on verification in one day
Clinical
Who to interviewTwo or three clinicians, including your busiest
Questions to ask
- When do you finish your notes, and how often after hours?
- What do you look up before a visit, and where?
- Which parts of the note take the longest?
- How do you know a note is ready for billing?
- How do home programs get to patients today?
- What would give you the most time back each week?
Numbers worth pulling
- Notes still open at the end of each day
- Average minutes documenting per visit
- Notes returned for corrections last month
Billing
Who to interviewYour biller or billing service
Questions to ask
- Walk me through a claim from signed note to paid.
- Where do claims get stuck or come back?
- What are your top three denial reasons?
- How do you decide which denials to work first?
- How long does payment posting and reconciliation take?
- What do you wish clinicians did differently in the note?
Numbers worth pulling
- Denial rate for the last 90 days
- Days from signed note to paid
- Claims waiting on follow-up today
Patients
Who to interviewYour front desk and two or three patients, if you can
Questions to ask
- How do patients get their home program and remember to do it?
- How do patients reschedule today?
- Where do patients drop off before finishing their plan of care?
- What questions do patients ask about their bills?
- How do you hear how a patient is doing between visits?
Numbers worth pulling
- Patients who finished their plan of care last quarter
- Average visits completed versus prescribed
- Billing calls in a typical week
Practice leadership
Who to interviewThe owner, partners or clinic directors
Questions to ask
- How do you find out how each location is doing?
- What do you check first every morning, and where?
- Which problems do you usually hear about too late?
- Where do referrals and new patients come from?
- What would you measure if it were easy?
- What has to be true for this to be worth it?
Numbers worth pulling
- Visits per provider per month
- Your top referral sources
- Hours your team spends on reports each month
Questions to ask WebPT.
Bring these to your first conversation.
The workbook has room for your answers and your own questions.
- How does setup work for a practice our size, and how long until Aera is running on real work?
- What comes over from our current system, and what do we need to prepare?
- What training does each role get, and who do we call for help?
- How do we set what Aera runs on its own and what needs our approval, and how do we change it later?
- How do we see what Aera did and why?
- Where is our patient data stored, and who can see it?
- How does Founding Member pricing apply to our practice?
- If we already use WebPT, what changes for us and what stays the same?
