Key Takeaways:

1. The update includes AI tools for voice-to-text dictation, language translation, message creation, and integration with HeidiHealth’s AI medical scribe.
2. A new text messaging center enables practices to use their own phone numbers, send auto-replies, and manage patient conversations efficiently.
3. The system is designed to streamline workflows, allowing providers to act quickly on messages with features like appointment booking and follow-up assignment.

Blueprint Solutions is rolling out a significant release that introduces a range of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) features and communication tools, specifically designed to enhance practice efficiency and patient experience. 

“AI technology is one of the most time-saving innovations brought to hearing healthcare operations in years, and we are leveraging the technology for a number of tasks such as voice-to-text dictation, language translation, and message creation. We are also introducing an integration with HeidiHealth’s AI medical scribe,” says Henrik Nielsen, president of Blueprint Solutions.

The newest version of Blueprint OMS introduces an advanced text messaging center designed to streamline communication with patients, making it easier than ever to manage conversations effectively.

“The new text messaging center enables practices to utilize their own phone numbers for texting at each location. It includes a voice-to-text feature, a library for standard messages, and AI-driven auto-replies to streamline communication. All conversations are organized in a user-friendly interface, allowing providers to take immediate action on the conversations, such as booking appointments, setting reminders, or assigning follow-ups to staff members as needed,” says Bridget Fritzke, director of Business Development.

For more information about Blueprint Solutions, visit www.blueprintsolutions.us.

About Blueprint Solutions

Blueprint Solutions provides cloud-based audiology office management software for hearing healthcare professionals worldwide.

Featured image: screenshot of the new messaging center. Photo: Blueprint Solutions

Responses provided will help us assess current trends in how HCPs are using practice management software. We look forward to showcasing this survey’s results in an upcoming issue of The Hearing Review.

Take the short survey below:

Takeaways

• Sycle’s new digital tools are designed to simplify document storage and management, enable fast document searches, and allow for easy sharing.
• The digital clinic strategy will be rolled out in three stages, starting with document storage and eSignature features available in Q2 2024. Subsequent phases will introduce digital templates for essential documents and advanced clinic reporting with digital forms, aiming to support a wide range of clinical needs and operational scales.
•  Sycle’s strategy is designed to support clinics of all sizes, helping them to improve operational efficiency and patient interactions through a modernized, digital approach.

Sycle announced its digital clinic strategy to create a paperless office, which it will initiate through new document storage and e-signature features designed to save time and paper.

Helping Hearing Clinics Go Digital

Sycle’s initial “go digital” release helps clinics with the important basics of document storage and management and e-signatures for huge efficiency gains and a stronger patient experience.

Document Management

Sycle Document Management is designed to make it easier to organize, share, and archive documents. Benefits of the service will include:

• Fast, targeted document searches powered by filters and tags
• Simple file management through quick uploads or scans of different file formats
• Digital sharing with physicians and care partners

New eSignature Service

Sycle’s eSignature reduces the time-intensive process of moving documents between multiple people, the company says. It’s designed to eliminate paper shuffling and reduces expenses through:

• Document sharing between patients and providers for electronic signature
• Flexible options for when and where signing occurs – remote or in-person
• Control over the signing order, even for multiple signatures from the same contact

Further reading: Sycle and ESCO Partner on New Warranty Reminder Program for Hearing Clinics

Sycle’s Three-Stage Strategy

Sycle’s robust strategy includes three stages. 

The first stage, Sycle Document Storage and eSignature, will be available in Q2 2024. Stage two closely follows, focusing on digital document templates for key areas such as purchase agreements and physician reporting. The third stage is built around clinic reporting and digital forms. It will introduce new reporting around intake, compliance, and insurance forms and simplify collecting patient information through client history, intake, and insurance forms.

“Modern and paperless, Sycle’s digital clinic strategy provides big wins in time-saving efficiency and a smoother patient experience,” says Joel Lockwood, president, Sycle. “With the industry’s largest client base, we carefully constructed a multi-phase plan to support different clinic needs – all sizes, from the starter stage to established business.”

Auditdata’s cloud-based audiology PMS streamlines workflows, takes practices paperless, and keeps patient data organized and secure, the company says. This audiology software guides hearing specialists through every aspect of the patient journey, reducing errors, saving time, and ultimately, providing ideal care experience to individuals with hearing impairment.

“It’s so exciting for me to see the latest and greatest iteration of Auditdata Manage, which is an absolute game-changer, with improved functionality and plenty of significant benefits. But we’ll never rest on our laurels. Our future vision is to continue using innovation, data, and AI functionality to revolutionize and transform the audiology industry, optimizing and elevating the way audiology is delivered,” says Kurt Bager, CEO at Auditdata.

Manage solves key pain points for hearing clinics by streamlining their operations and enhancing patient care. This practice management software includes:

• Guided activity workflows: This core feature enhances the Best Care Experience by standardizing and optimizing all appointment activities from scheduling to invoicing.
• Unified data management: Get rid of data clutter. Auditdata’s software ensures clean, coherent data, enabling clinics to provide better individualized care.
• Automated task management: System-generated tasks make it easier for hearing clinic staff to follow up with patients, thus ensuring a continual care experience.
• Real-time messaging: Automated messaging services ensure that patients are well-informed and show up for appointments, contributing to a smoother, more reliable care process.
• A seamless integration with Noah: The software takes a comprehensive, end-user-focused approach to address the challenges faced by hearing clinics.
• Global support and security: Multilingual support, ISO certification, and hosting on Microsoft Azure provide robust support and security for hearing clinics worldwide.

“Manage is a modern system that streamlines clinics’ workflows while also using data to help them prepare for oncoming challenges. Our decision to focus on open standards of connectivity and global partnerships allows us to be able to react quickly to changing audiology market conditions. When your software can be more of an assistant and less of a tool, you can spend more time with your patients and that’s what Manage continually delivers,”  says Sean Shoffstall, chief product officer at Auditdata.

Auditdata also provides a robust onboarding program that includes e-learning courses, certification programs, and one-on-one meetings to ensure smooth adoption and maximum utility.

“Auditdata is not just about software; it’s about creating the Best Care Experience for both hearing care providers and individuals with hearing impairments. We tap into every stage of the hearing care lifecycle, harnessing the power of data to enhance clinic services,” Shoffstall added. “Whether it’s reducing waiting times, improving first-fit accuracy, or boosting hearing aid usage, our solutions empower providers to offer the exceptional care that every patient deserves.”

Further reading: R&D Tax Credits: A Potential Tax Tool for Hearing Care Practices Branching into New Areas 

Photo: Auditdata

Healthcare technology startup, Suno, announces the launch of its AI-powered practice management software. According to the company the new software is designed to help hearing healthcare providers streamline their operations.

The software reportedly uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technology to automate and optimize various aspects of practice management, including appointment scheduling, report writing, patient engagement, medical billing and claims management, and inventory management

“Our engineering team worked tirelessly alongside audiology professionals to develop a software platform that not only meets the needs of providers, but also leverages the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning technology,” shared Krish Mohan, Chief Technical Officer at Suno. “We believe that this software has the potential to transform the way hearing providers operate, and we’re excited to see the positive impact it will have on patient care.”

Some of the key features of the software include: automated appointment scheduling, patient intake and reminder system with text replies; medical billing and claims management functionality to streamline reimbursement processes; AI assisted physician reporting to minimize clicks and reduce the time required to generate detailed and accurate reports.

“We are thrilled to be the first ones to leverage AI and I am sure that our practice management software will help healthcare providers deliver better patient care, increase efficiency, and improve their bottom line,” commented Omar Kiyani, CEO at Suno. “We are committed to supporting healthcare providers in their mission to improve the health and wellbeing of their patients.”

The company says it is now accepting new customers for its AI-powered practice management software.

To learn more, visit www.suno.tech

Source: Suno

Images: Suno

Jim Feinstein, ENT Partners CEO, said, “ENT Partners is committed to helping doctors provide comprehensive ENT patient care and growing practices. With Lynx MD, we can take advantage of our expanded data insights to give our practices, physicians, and patients access to cutting-edge technology to improve care and outcomes for our patients. The Lynx platform makes it easy to upload, share, and access identified and de-identified real-world data from diverse sources, allowing providers to collaborate on current patient care pathways and enabling data analysts to extract insights that can help transform the future of patient care.” 

ENT Partners provides the opportunity to improve outcomes for ENT patients globally, according to the companies’ announcement. The Lynx platform provides “advanced firewall algorithms and the application of medical-grade cybersecurity protection protocols, enabling partners to securely collaborate with de-identified, real-world data to drive ENT research.” Healthcare organizations, like ENT Partners, reportedly “maintain full control of what data is anonymized and when and with whom data is shared.” The actual data never leaves the ENT Partners’ private cloud environment, the company says.

“Streamlining real-world data access for research and innovation is the lifeblood for technological advancements in medicine. From using medical images to detect risk factors, to leveraging longitudinal medical records to design effective clinical trials, and conduct large-scale population-level analyses, health data has the power to transform people’s lives. However, innovative medical research and development requires expansive datasets,” said Lynx MD CEO and Co-Founder Omer Dror. “With Lynx, healthcare providers, Medtech and life sciences researchers and data analysts can securely collaborate and accelerate diagnostic and therapeutic solutions that can help improve patient outcomes. Partnering with ENT Partners contributes to our mission to deliver the largest secure, privacy-compliant, real-world ENT dataset for researchers around the world.”

Source: Lynx.MD, ENT Partners

Images: Lynx.MD, ENT Partners

Introducing The Hearing Portal

If you have a patient who is motivated and ready to move forward with hearing aids, they can now connect with a physician in real-time with The Hearing Portal, according to an announcement from the company. Using The Hearing Portal video telehealth platform, patients gain “immediate clearance from a medical care provider during their visit with you.”

How The Hearing Portal Works

First, healthcare practitioners will perform their evaluations and, using the equipment provided by Medical Hearing Consultants, take pictures of the patient’s ear, ear canal, and of their audiogram. 

Then, using Medical Hearing Consultants’ hearing aid portal, they will fill out the patient’s information and upload all the images taken during the examination. The patient will then have a brief telehealth consultation with a medical physician where they are screened for hearing disorders and, when medically indicated, given immediate medical clearance for hearing aids, according to the company’s announcement.

If you’re ready to see more patients, dispense more units, and help even more people experience better hearing, visit MedicalHearingConsultants.com to register for The Hearing Portal today. 

Source: Medical Hearing Consultants

Q:  Joel, I’ve worked with you at Sycle for years when you served as VP of Marketing and Communications, and you were recently named company president in March. For those who have not met you, can you tell us a little about your background and career?

A: Happy to, Karl. I’ve been in the software industry for over 30 years, and have leadership and executive experience in the technology sector, guiding teams across functional areas focused on delivering products and services to customers. I’ve managed in enterprise, start-up, and agency organizations, working with F500 customers as well as small businesses. My connection to Sycle goes way back.  I was partners with Sycle founder Ridge Sampson at our digital agency when Sycle was being born over 20 years ago and was an original investor. I came to work at Sycle about 2½ years ago as the VP of Marketing, as you noted, and moved into the President position a few months ago.

Q: Sycle has a very unique vantage point in that you can view the collective data in real time and observe some general trends that may not always be apparent to others. Looking at the dispensing offices that are using your software systems, how has the recovery from the pandemic been progressing and what interesting things are you noting right now?

A: We had seen clinics return close to pre-pandemic levels as far as number of appointments go in the 6-9 months after the initial pandemic “shutdown.” What we have noticed since then is an increased interest in tools that improve clinic efficiency and the ability to see more patients. Being more “digital” is key to that improvement.

In close collaboration with our valued partners and industry thought leaders, we developed solutions that provided our customers with the ability to promote and facilitate meaningful digital interactions with their patients.  For example, Sycle being first to market with a telehealth solution just weeks after the rise of the pandemic. This allowed Sycle’s customers to continue to treat patients remotely while keeping everyone safe. This critical capability has allowed healthcare providers to conduct online appointments remotely and provide services to their patients. We shifted our development focus to facilitate delivery of this solution in an expedited fashion to promote business continuity. 

This “quest for digital” trend has definitely grown since the pandemic, as our customers search for additional operational efficiencies.  In response, for example, we launched a Patient Portal solution to streamline the patient intake process. Filling out forms online ahead of time, including Patient Intake, Medical History, and Insurance, streamlines client intake and in-office workflows. Sycle has many ideas we’re working on to help our clients optimize workflows and drive business efficiencies.

Q: What do you see as some of the distinguishing features of today’s most successful practices using Sycle? Who’s getting ahead fastest?

A: The clinics that have a competitive edge are the ones who are investing in tools that help optimize and automate their practices. We have many clinics moving to a paperless office, leveraging eDocs. Utilizing tools like eClaims for insurance processing, patient financing integrated with Sycle’s practice management software, such as CareCredit and HealthiPlan, all help optimize clinic operations. QuickBooks syncing is another.

Certainly, responding to market shifts is another key to being a successful practice. With significant industry changes, like third-party payer/managed care, being adaptable is a must.  One of Sycle’s goals is to support our practices as they respond to these changes and ensure that our platform evolves to meet evolving clinic needs. For example, Sycle introduced additional tools to aid clinics in profitably administering their managed care programs. Over the counter (OTC) is another market shift that is going to have an influence on clinics. Sycle is working on new capabilities to help clinics prepare.

No less important is the ability to use data insights provided by Sycle to target actions and promote operational gains and drive patient throughput without compromising clinical excellence. Sycle’s robust reporting capabilities gives healthcare providers meaningful data insights into their business operations which translates into actionable business decisions for our customers resulting in lower costs and enhanced patient care.

Q: One of the features that seems to be picking up a lot of steam is online booking of appointments, as well as patient reminders and communication via text and email. How valuable are these features?

A: A hot topic, for sure. These features are essential and should be a core part of every clinic’s operation. Again, in the post-pandemic era, the more digital the better. Booking a hearing appointment is often the first and most important step to treating hearing loss. It can also be the hardest step for patients to take. That’s why we’ve expanded our partnerships to bring online scheduling to all our Sycle customers, with two great online appointment booking tools.  With Sycle Text & Email Appointment Reminders, clinics can easily reach patients to confirm their appointments, reducing no-shows and cancellations to capitalize on every sales opportunity.

Q:  Sycle’s eDocs is something I’ve heard about from the people using it. Can you tell me a little about what eDocs entails?

A: We are pleased with how well this feature has been received since it was launched several years ago.  Essentially, the eDocs solution provides our customers with the ability to reduce paper consumption and the headache associated with having to store and locate patient files.  eDocs provides customers with an efficient, paperless document storage solution. We are so proud that our customers are embracing more environmentally conscious solutions and going green while at the same time realizing cost savings for their organization.    

Q: When the pandemic first hit, Sycle was extremely responsive in getting several components together geared for teleaudiology. While (unfortunately, in my view) teleaudiology has taken a less prominent place in 2022, I still think it’s a huge part of our future. Would you agree, and how do you see Sycle fitting into the “teleaudiology business ecology” of hearing healthcare?

A: Yes, absolutely, we can confirm that the industry is still learning and adapting, we are excited to take the lead and make further advancements here. The initial goal was to put solutions in place to ensure business continuity throughout the pandemic. Now, it’s more of a question of how to knock down barriers to further enhance capabilities that support the growing need for technology in this arena. As a collective industry, we need to go outside of our mutual comfort zones and think of proactive ways to elevate the customer experience and innovation while promoting financial gains in teleaudiology. This is definitely a top priority for Sycle. We are excited to share our vision of the future soon.

Q:  What are you most excited about for Sycle right now, and also in the next year or two?  

A: We live in incredible times, with customer demands for technology transformation driving innovation at breakneck speeds. As leaders in this space, I’m excited about our focus on the future and on our commitment to innovation. Sycle has over 20 years of experience working with audiologists from single clinics to the world’s largest audiology business providers. This knowledge results in Sycle being able to confidently predict the solutions our valued customers will need to conduct their business now and into the future. We are committed to driving modernization in our industry. Clinics need to be more efficient, to leverage data to improve not only clinic management efficiency, but enhance their patient care. Whether for the front office, back office, or the provider, constantly driving to advance clinic operations by leveraging technology and innovation is core to Sycle’s business. The best is yet to come!

Related article: “OTC Hearing Aids” Focus of New Sycle Thought Leadership Series Webinar

This new integration helps “enable automated patient data and appointment syncing, providing Sycle users visibility into real-time data updates within the Weave platform and removing the need for manual uploads.” This sync also enables automated birthday messages, review auto-texting, customized message creation, and tracks patient text preferences, so businesses only contact those who have given them permission to do so, according to the companies’ announcement. 

“We are excited for the opportunities this expansion provides users across the audiology sector while growing our presence in this market and being a valued partner with Sycle to best support independent audiology practice owners,” said Roy Banks, CEO of Weave. “Our goal with this integration was to enable hearing care practices with software they can trust to fuel their business — which, in turn, allows audiology professionals to ensure they are providing their customers with the best possible service.” 

Sycle is “excited to offer more products and services to the over 8,000 businesses it currently serves.”

“We help our customers manage the modern audiology clinic,” said Stephanie Grein, VP of Global Sales & Enterprise Services for Sycle. “Partnerships like our integration with Weave help keep practices on the cutting edge of customer communications to power their business growth and maximize patient retention. And, with the automation, it allows our hearing health care professionals more time with their patients. As the market leader, we continually look for integrations that help our customers run their business and deliver quality service.”

Integration Features & Benefits

• Data Sync – Help maintain all your patient contact and appointment info current in Weave with regular, automatic updates from your database. 
• Reviews Auto-Texting – Help grow your practice by sending a text after each appointment, inviting patients to leave a Google or Facebook review. 
• Customized Messaging – Create and send unique messages for each practitioner, appointment type, and appointment status. 
• Birthday Greetings – Delight your patients each year on their special day by sending them personalized birthday greetings automatically. 
• Text Preferences – Weave tracks patient communication preferences, only sending messages to those who have opted in. 
• Mobile Calendar – Always know who your next patient is by viewing your schedule from the mobile app. 

Source: Weave, Sycle

A year ago, hearing care professionals were scrambling to keep their dispensing offices afloat amid the Covid-19 crisis and a giant problem: not being able to have patients visit for in-person hearing care appointments. With their unique view on data related to business practices during this period, Sycle quickly came up with several innovative solutions to help the practice owners and clinicians who use their office management system software on a daily basis. Hearing Review recently interviewed Sycle VP of Sales & Enterprise Services Stephanie Grein—a 13-year veteran with the company—about Sycle’s perspectives on hearing care business practices both during and after the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hearing Review: What has been Sycle’s experience with Covid-19, and how do you think it impacted the hearing industry?

Grein: The impact of Covid has been devastating to many industries, businesses, and individuals. Sycle was lucky from a company standpoint. Since we provide a SaaS solution [Software as a Service], our employees were able to quickly pivot and work from home.

As far as how it impacted the hearing industry, we unfortunately saw some businesses close, but were also encouraged by our customers’ resilience to the situation and the creative solutions they implemented, like curbside services and contactless payment options.

HR: How was Sycle able to help their customers in the pandemic? What changes did you employ?

Grein: As the market leader in audiology practice management, Sycle reacted immediately to the pandemic by developing and releasing a free telehealth solution to our customers in order to provide a HIPAA-compliant communication platform. That is a critical tool for doing business during a pandemic, and many of our customers took advantage of the telehealth capabilities. The number of telehealth appointments were considerable—and this continues to be used in significant numbers. It looks like it’s here to stay.

HR: Were you able to get specific industry data to give you deeper insights into clinic activity in order to fine-tune your offerings?

Grein: Yes, but we had to start a new project in order to understand what was happening within the clinics. We assembled an internal team and started looking at anonymized data to help us analyze what was going on globally.  And those insights told us which features would benefit our customers and their patients the most.

HR: Can you share those learnings with us?

Grein: Absolutely. The data, of course, is limited to Sycle customers who opted-in to share anonymized data. We first approached the data to understand the impact on patient appointments. Existing appointments, compared to the previous year, were down 8.9%, with a larger impact on new patient appointments which were down 23.3%.  Overall we saw hearing aid sales were down 12.7% overall, roughly aligning with the HIA data which averaged a 14% decrease for the commercial market.

Since appointments and sales were down, we asked ourselves: How can we help the business?

HR: What did you do as a result?

Grein: We knew that focusing on prospect marketing and optimizing operations would be key for clinic recovery.  We organized a series of webinars for ancillary products and services, both from Sycle and Sycle Partners, that would help clinics drive more patients in and result in increased sales activities and streamlining operations. To optimize our customers’ time, we planned short 30-minute webinars starting last summer, and running periodically through this spring. The webinars focused on marketing automation and lead generation, patient reviews and online scheduling, credit card processing and telehealth, paperless offices and appointment reminders, and more. Included in that list were partners like BlueWing, Audiology Design, 3DM Marketing, MedPB, Review Wave, PayJunction, and Booknow. These webinars introduced products and services to our customers that they could use to acquire more patients and to deliver services to existing patients for add-on business, plus tools for modernizing their clinic management.

And while these statistics gave us insights into the impact of the business, Sycle’s curiosity was piqued around the impact to patients.

HR: What kind of insights on patients did the data reveal? How were they impacted and how do you think clinics might best respond to the changes?

Grein:The patient makeup changed with regard to age. The number of patients over 80 decreased by 8.9%. For patients 20-39 and 40-59, the percentage increase was 15.1% and 5.1%, respectively.

Clinics need to adapt to the evolving demographic makeup of their patients. The numbers suggest that clinics need to adopt online tools like appointment scheduling, which will be key for younger audiences.

HR: How is the industry recovering now, and what is Sycle doing to help businesses recover?

Grein: The pandemic had a strong impact on hearing healthcare businesses, but the numbers are returning to normal. In order to support our customers and their recovery, we are introducing new features and integrating with partners to provide the best solutions for today’s modern clinic. Some examples include adding more marketing automation platform integrations, online scheduling options, a new custom form builder. What I’m most excited about is Sycle’s new patient portal…although I might get in trouble for announcing that pre-release!

HR: How do you see this impacting the future of audiology and hearing care?

Grein: While I would never wish this to happen again, we must look at the positives, and use the data and our learnings to adapt and change with society. The modern clinic, with innovative, forward-thinking solutions, will be key in supporting patients and raising awareness in the hearing industry.

We believe the pandemic drove innovation out of necessity. Sycle encourages clinics to partner with business solutions that are pushing the envelope with technology—not only for patient care, but for business and financial management, as well. Sycle is committed to being the leading developer of the most effective solutions for today’s clinics. And we’ll continue to partner with companies we believe will give our customers the greatest benefits.

Hearing Review thanks Joel Lockwood at Sycle for his contributions to this article.

How Did Covid 19 Force Innovation In Hearing Care Business Management?

Covid 19 forced industries to adapt and innovate. The resulting products and services can continue to help your practice grow even after the pandemic is managed.

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