If your auditors’ workflow depends on email, there’s a more productive way forward.
Confession time, health plans: how much of your auditors’ workflow depends upon email? Are they working claims based upon what they were pinged about most recently? You’re not alone. In myriad industries — health payers included — email is the default business communication platform. But (and there’s always a “but”), even though very useful when used appropriately, using email for status updates and other workflow assistance is not only not the best tool for the job, it may even be unintentionally killing the productivity of your auditors.
Email: Productivity Killer, Stress Inducer
As if your staff doesn’t have enough to worry about, there’s the expectation of maintaining an email inbox which (depending on your position) may spiral into the hundreds of “unreads” each day. Email is killing productivity and increasing stress levels of the workforce.
Top of the inbox does not equal top of the priority list. But it often feels that way to employees who are trying to “quiet” the notifications and unread emails before they get out of hand. “We often feel more productive once we’ve cleaned out our email inbox, despite perhaps not accomplishing anything value-creating for our organization,” writes David Burkus. One particular problem with relying on email (especially for auditors’ workflows) is that it perpetuates data silos. The information in your email often only lives there, instead of global locations.
Created to conquer email inadequacies, chat isn’t any better. In fact, relying on it to dictate project priorities makes everyday communications feel like an emergency. While it mimics a collaborative digital environment, the reality is that chat doesn’t actually increase co-working — it just eats up productivity.
How to Use Email Appropriately
- Check email when you first arrive to work but only for a few minutes.
- Check again mid-day, limiting yourself to 10 minutes of email time. Set a timer, if needed.
- Check again mid-afternoon and at the end of the day, limiting your time to 10-15 minutes.
- Ex-Google employees offer more tips here — including the idea to actually schedule “Email Time” on your calendar!
Optimize Your Workflow
Email, spreadsheets — we’ve all used them, but they no longer stand up to the needs of complex health plan functions, like auditor workflow. Email inboxes are difficult to manage and contribute to cumbersome administrative processes that create a lot of busy work. This doesn’t get your organization any closer to its goals; it only creates a “treading water” effect which frustrates talented staff as well as health plan members.
Wondering how this activity may affect your auditors? Statistically speaking, at least 23% of your employee’s day is spent on email, with an average of 36 email checks per hour. Another report cites over 50% of employees agree that excessive email gets in the way of work. Chances are, if your workflow relies on email, your auditors struggle to remain productive.
Pareo® Increases Auditor Productivity 3x
The Workflow and Analytics functionality of Pareo® can increase auditor productivity 3x by integrating all necessary data onto a single platform. No more emailing back-and-forth or waiting on a spreadsheet to be updated. Intuitive and efficient claims validation lets your auditors audit so they can make overpayment determinations as quickly as possible with minimal clicks. Behind-the-scenes automation makes your ideal-state workflow a reality.
Here’s how Pareo® increases auditor productivity:
Query Library.
Automated Inventory Workflow.
Automate Medical Records Requests.
Audit Validation Tools.
Real-time Productivity Metrics.
Talk to ClarisHealth about how Pareo® can transform your health plan’s payment integrity operations.
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