Consider Adjusting Portal to Accept Summer Camp Forms
Question: Spring can be stressful for our office, in part because we are suddenly inundated with summer camp forms! Parents tend to forget about them until the last moment, and then we’re all hustling to get the information together and the forms signed on time. Are there any other options to calm this annual scramble? Massachusetts Subscriber Answer: Many camps offer ways for parents to safely and securely upload necessary information about their campers directly into camper portals, but parents often still bring the printed-out paper health form to doctors’ offices. Parents are probably scrambling in other areas of their lives and don’t or can’t remember to make a trip to the doctor’s office specifically to drop off a form. If your office already uses a secure patient portal, you can make sure it has the capability to upload/submit forms like for school and camp, and then advertise that option in wellness visits, when scheduling appointments, via posters on waiting room walls, as an announcement in the portal itself, etc. Parents would probably be very grateful to both eliminate a trip and to be able to send the form over whenever they think of it, like at 6 a.m. or the middle of the night! This option may also make it easier for providers to work on the forms as they find time, instead of on a quick turnaround schedule. Concerning payment: Filling out the forms obviously involves actual work for providers, and there isn’t a CPT® code specific to filling out simple forms like camp health forms. If the form comes in during a child’s wellness visit, it’s generally included in the evaluation and management (E/M) service. If a form comes in outside a patient visit and you want to charge a fee for it, your office can establish a policy and advertise the cost patients/parents/guardians will incur. However, such a policy may annoy patients and their families and tank patient satisfaction, so you may want to proceed with caution. Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Production Editor, AAPC
