WelcomeWare vs. Phreesia Healthcare: Which Is The Better Solution For You?

An empty front desk can significantly impede the patient experience in an outpatient clinic. One of the growing solutions is to automate your front desk operations and patient check-in through a solution like Phreesia Healthcare. It aims to consolidate front office functions by automating those front office functions using an all-software, zero-staff approach.

However, is this approach effective as an outpatient front desk solution? And, is Phreesia Healthcare a better solution for you than WelcomeWare?

Read more to find out:

Overview of WelcomeWare

WelcomeWare is a live remote receptionist platform that enables outpatient healthcare practices to eliminate front desk challenges. It will reduce your headcount, optimize your front desk operations and improve your patient experience.

It empowers your outpatient healthcare clinic by leveraging your current in-person receptionists across your multiple locations. Lowering headcount and reducing the need to frequently hire new front desk staff. In addition, clinics can now hire from a wider candidate pool, accessing talented individuals who may have been previously ineligible.

Features of WelcomeWare include:

• Complete hardware, software, and people solution – WelcomeWare provides both software and hardware components to ensure an optimal check-in experience
• Always available front desk – With WelcomeWare, your receptionists are always on hand to greet your patients with a friendly smile
• Remote reception – Receptionists can check-in patients from anywhere at any time, improving your front desk coverage
• Contactless intake – WelcomeWare enables a safer check-in experience for patients by minimizing the physical headcount of staff in the clinic
• Administrative capabilities – Through the use of WelcomeWare kiosks all aspects of the patient check-in are covered. Remote receptionists assist patients with intake forms, scan documents, process insurance verification, schedule future appointments, and collect payment

What is Phreesia Healthcare?

Phreesia Healthcare is a patient intake solution that aims to automate various front office and revenue cycle functions in medical practices. One of its primary goals is to eliminate staffing issues through software as a solution (SaaS).

Phreesia Healthcare leaves the patient journey in the hands of the patients themselves, enabling healthcare practices to leverage “zero-contact intake” through a zero front desk staff solution.

Some of their key features include:

• Full software solution – Phreesia offers various software solutions like Phreesia Mobile to automate front office processes
• Patient-centered intake – Phreesia leaves the check-in process, intake workflow, payment collection, and insurance verification in the hands of the patients
• Zero staff required – Clinics no longer need to hire dedicated front desk staff to facilitate check in
• Automated payment collection and eligibility and insurance verification – Phreesia aims to augment revenue cycle processes through automation

Similarities And Differences

WelcomeWare and Phreesia Healthcare have the same goal of optimizing clinical efficiency. Outpatient practices often face pain points such as:

• No receptionists – Whether it’s due to paid time off (PTO), sick leaves, personal emergencies, or simply lacking access to quality receptionists, clinics struggle with having an empty front desk
• Inconsistent patient experience – Without an effective front desk strategy, patients will be dissatisfied with their experiences at the clinic and less likely to return for future appointments
• Worse provider performance – Providers are assigned administrative functions which take their attention away from providing healthcare services to their patients. This results in lower quality care, unbilled appointments, and lower patient satisfaction
• No-shows – Patients may be absent from their appointments without being reminded by the clinic

Both WelcomeWare and Phreesia address these issues by targeting various aspects of the front office. However, their approach is fundamentally different.

WelcomeWare uses a holistic approach that harnesses software, hardware, and people. It enhances the standard model of front desk operations through an empathetic approach where the receptionist is the center by enabling a remote work setup that empowers the receptionists while resolving staffing issues.

Phreesia Healthcare attempts to reimagine front desk operations through automation by leaving them in the hands of the patients. It resolves front desk staffing issues by completely removing human staff.

WelcomeWare Or Phreesia Healthcare?

WelcomeWare and Phreesia Healthcare offer radically different approaches to achieving the same goal.

But which one is better for enhancing your clinic’s front desk operations?

Phreesia Healthcare’s full automation, zero-staff approach may seem to be more effective at resolving staffing issues. However, it neglects one of the most vital aspects of the patient experience: human interaction.

Without a dedicated receptionist to greet and help them, patients feel significantly less accommodated. Checking in and scheduling their own appointments may seem to offer more flexibility and efficiency. However, when patients are confused or may need to ask a question, it helps to have a live smiling receptionist on hand.

WelcomeWare retains the human touch and ensures that patients are accompanied at any time. It still places the focus on receptionists to empower the front desk. In addition, it also resolves many common outpatient clinic issues.

Choose A Patient Intake Solution That Really Works For You

Automation may be a vital component in solving front desk issues and improving operational efficiency. However, achieving convenience must not come at the expense of the human touch. While WelcomeWare incorporates automation, it still puts receptionists at the center of the front desk by empowering them to do much more for your clinic’s productivity and bottom line.

Contact us to learn more about how WelcomeWare can elevate the patient experience of your clinic.