After facing a long shutdown, many medical practices are finally getting back to work and are facing new challenges.
Physicians and medical staff are getting caught up on missed surgeries and preventive health appointments now that COVID-19 cases are dropping and vaccinations are becoming more available. For many of us, it may seem as though every healthcare worker is on the front lines fighting COVID-19; however, many medical professionals were at home waiting to get back to work like millions of other Americans.
Many hospitals and health systems are scheduling elective services again after a long shutdown. Since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, total visits to hospitals nationwide have declined up to 60% compared with overall pre-coronavirus volumes, according to an analysis from TransUnion Healthcare of over 500 U.S. hospitals.
Robert Gabriel, president/CEO of Microwize Technology Inc., stated that for surgical patients, it usually takes about a month to get through the process leading up to the surgery itself. Patients typically need to complete pre-op appointments and testing to make sure they’re healthy enough to undergo surgery. Due to the backlog and potential ongoing coronavirus treatments, these pre-op procedures may also be delayed, further extending the surgical timeline. This might result in extra back-office preparation and authorizations, which mean additional labor demands for an industry that’s already running thin on medical and back-office staff.
Microwize Technology, a privately held company in Paramus, New Jersey, is extending the offer for “Remote Employee” service to help physicians, medical practices, surgery centers, and hospitals with temporary or ongoing staffing needs to help with everything from medical billing to pre-authorizations to appointment scheduling and more. Mr. Gabriel also stated that delaying patients’ elective procedures puts the patients at medical risk, and increases the financial impact that most physicians, medical practices, and surgery centers will experience. Microwize has HIPAA-trained and software-certified staff to supplement offices without any out-of-pocket cost to the physicians and practices. The healthcare unemployment rate is one of the lowest across all industries, and post-COVID it is getting even harder to find trained staff for multiple reasons, including early retirements for qualified older staff as they’re afraid to go back to work, stimulus funds flooding some households, and of course the extra demands of labor that post-COVID is causing to the healthcare industry.
Regardless of whether it’s a permanent position or temporary, Microwize is offering full-time remote employees. Medical practices don’t have to worry about hiring/firing, unemployment, disability, workers compensation, medical/dental/life insurance, 401(k), or vacation or sick time. Microwize covers all of the benefits for one flat fee of $500/week for a full-time (40 hours per week) employee.
