Dr. Daljeet Saluja, owner of Saluja Medical Associates
Photo: Saluja Medical Associates
For Saluja Medical Associates, before adopting a new workforce model, its biggest constraint was administrative throughput.
THE CHALLENGE
The practice was not struggling with clinical demand – it was struggling with everything that happens before and after a visit. Insurance verifications were backing up. Calls were not being answered as quickly as they should have been. Appointment confirmations and intake workflows were inconsistent. Fax management and billing tasks were piling up.
As a result, highly trained clinical staff were being pulled into administrative work instead of focusing on patient care, said Dr. Daljeet Saluja, owner of Saluja Medical Associates.
"Hiring locally was slow and expensive," he explained. "We faced long hiring timelines for front- and back-office roles. And when we did hire, turnover was high. The talent pool for experienced, reliable, non-clinical healthcare support was limited.
"We were paying higher salaries for staff who often required significant training and supervision, and performance was inconsistent," he continued. "It was difficult to scale operations in response to growth because every expansion meant another hiring cycle."
On top of that, Saluja had serious concerns around compliance, data security and communication.
"If we were going to extend our team in any way, quality and supervision were non-negotiable," he stated. "I did not want sensitive patient information handled in uncontrolled environments, and I was concerned about language barriers affecting patient experience. We needed a more stable, secure and scalable solution, but the traditional hiring and outsourcing models were not delivering that."
PROPOSAL
The proposal presented to the practice by Edge was fundamentally different from traditional outsourcing, Saluja said. Edge is a secure remote workforce platform built for healthcare. The company provides college-educated, certified, healthcare-trained professionals embedded full-time into organizations to handle administrative and operational work.
"Instead of remote freelancers or loosely managed contractors, the model offered college-educated healthcare professionals working in secure, supervised campus environments," he explained. "These professionals would function as dedicated members of our team, not shared resources, and would be trained specifically in healthcare workflows and compliance requirements.
"The platform component addressed two of my biggest concerns: structured onboarding and IT security," he continued. "Every professional went through background checks, healthcare-specific training and a structured onboarding process before starting with us."
Secure technology infrastructure, controlled work environments and supervised operations were built into the model. That level of oversight was critical for Saluja, as it meant the practice could extend its workforce without compromising compliance or data protection.
"The proposal was designed to alleviate our bottlenecks by embedding dedicated virtual medical assistants and patient coordinators directly into our front office, call center and billing functions," he noted. "Instead of constantly recruiting and retraining local hires, we would build a stable operational layer that could scale with demand. The promise was faster hiring, more reliability, and a systemized support structure around IT, compliance and ongoing performance management."
MEETING THE CHALLENGE
Saluja Medical Associates implemented the model by onboarding eight to 10 Edge professionals across its front office, call center, scheduling and billing departments. These individuals handle insurance verifications, inbound and outbound call support, appointment scheduling and confirmations, patient intake coordination, fax sorting and revenue cycle support tasks.
They are fully integrated into the daily workflows and operate as an extension of the in-house team.
"From a technology standpoint, the professionals were onboarded through a structured process that ensured they were trained on our systems and workflows before going live," Saluja explained. "The secure campus environment and supervised IT setup were especially important to us.
"The platform supported background verification, onboarding documentation, compliance training and standardized setup, so once they joined our operations, they were ready to contribute immediately," he continued.
Internal managers and department leads interact with the Edge professionals daily, just as they would with any on-site employee. The external pros use the practice management and billing systems as part of their normal workflow, and communication is seamless, he added.
"The key difference is we now have a systemized operational layer that is stable and supported, rather than a revolving door of local hires," he noted.
RESULTS
The practice has experienced significant results in four areas. First, there has been an increase in daily patient volume from 18 to 22 patients per physician.
"One of the most meaningful outcomes has been the increase in daily patient volume," Saluja reported. "Prior to stabilizing our administrative workflows, our physicians were seeing an average of 18 patients per day. With stronger scheduling support, faster verifications, improved call handling and reduced documentation spillover, our doctors are now able to see approximately 22 patients per day.
"That represents a more than 20% increase in patient capacity without adding additional clinical staff," he added. "The improvement is directly tied to removing administrative friction from the care delivery process."
The second big result is around a 50% reduction in time-to-hire.
"Before implementing this model, filling front- or back-office roles could take weeks or even months," he recalled. "Recruiting, interviewing, onboarding and training required significant administrative time and delayed our ability to respond to operational demand.
"With the current model, our time-to-hire has decreased by approximately 50%," he continued. "Because the workforce is pre-vetted, trained and supported by a structured onboarding platform, we can scale much more quickly. This has allowed us to respond to patient volume and administrative backlogs without extended staffing gaps."
Third is around a 50% improvement in operational efficiency.
"This improvement came particularly in scheduling throughput, call handling responsiveness and insurance verification turnaround times," Saluja explained. "Administrative tasks that previously created daily bottlenecks are now processed consistently and in a timely manner.
"Our internal clinical staff are no longer pulled into administrative overflow," he added. "That shift alone has improved patient-facing time and reduced stress across the organization."
And fourth came a reduction in administrative overhead.
"We have also seen a measurable reduction in administrative overhead," he said. "Previously, we were paying higher salaries for local staff who required extensive supervision and still experienced turnover. With this model, we have more dedicated and professional team members at a lower total cost of operation.
"In addition, the reduction in errors and improved billing follow-through have strengthened revenue cycle performance," he concluded. "The combination of lower staffing costs and improved operational consistency has created a more scalable financial model for the practice."
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