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How telemedicine can be a cash cow for your hospital?

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Telehealth

Is telemedicine an answer to the healthcare financial future?

The transition of payment from a service based model to a value based mode can make telemedicine to become a fix for a healthcare’s financial issues. Telemedicine has the possibility for transforming outcomes for certain patients such as the ones with chronic illness.

Telemedicine can also help in Sepsis, the top issue of the healthcare services!

Sepsis the top issue for any healthcare services can cause about 6% worst outcomes in every hour of delay in treatment. Randy Moore president of Mercy Virtual says “Turnkey telesepsis can speed up the recognitions and treatment, enabling his hospital to decrease mortality by 50% and cut costs per case by over $8000. So if the outcomes are not worse for the patients, the money saved revamps the operating margin.

What if telemedicine matures? Where are the future aspects?

As telemedicine may go through the roof, it can become the top cost saving platform for all hospitals. Smaller healthcare systems that don’t have the capital to make telemedicine feasible may join hands with bigger healthcare entities. The quality of care will improve and the cost can be cut by sharing treatment of specialists. Providing healthcare services outside institution can lead to increased revenue, such as telestroke treatment for non hospital systems.

Telemedicine could get US. companies $6 billion of savings annually!

The study done by Tower Watson’s 2014 healthcare changes on U.S. employers with 1000 employees shows the below report:

  • 37% of the employers who responded to the survey said they can offer telemedicine services by 2015.
  • 34% of the respondents they consider to offer services by 2016/2017.
  • 22% of the respondents currently offer telemedicine consultations.

The overall report suggests that the percentage of employers offering telemedicine services is expected to grow from 22% to 37% which represents a 68% increase. Thus in order to generate the big figure of $6 billion employers with their partners will have to replace the face-to-face doctor interaction by telemedicine services.

Three question which still haunts every individual in healthcare services:

  • How to change the patient and physician mindset?
  • Will a healthcare plan show its willingness to integrate and reimburse this service and if yes then what do you think?
  • How many healthcare services you know or will adopt a virtual centre for telemedicine?

Generate more revenue and increase your medical practice’s footprints

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Generate more revenue and increae your medical pracrtice's footprints

Position your medical practice as a market leader!

Great! Physicians have finally realized that they will have to move beyond the traditional approach towards practicing medicine and become savvy businessmen as well. All that murmurs and complaints have died down. The writing is on the wall, it is smart physicians who can also be mean businessmen who can survive.

And physicians are not half as pathetic as businessmen as most people would like to believe. The tremendous efforts medical practices take to position themselves as leaders in their specialty or niche is proof enough that physicians are savvy businessmen in their own right.

What are the best ways to increase the authority and reach of your medical practice?

There are several ways you can ensure your medical practice is a step ahead of the competition. And most importantly, to end every day on a happy note, despite mounting financial pressure… So what is the secret behind insanely successful medical practices? Apart from best of class medical care there is a lot more healthcare professionals need to do to have a firm footing in the industry.

This may sound clichéd and you’d have come across this a million times but these tips to increase and expand your authority and client-base also explain how to break a complex process into small, bite-sized pieces!

These are the areas you need to be focusing on…

There are no two ways about it- increase patient engagement

1.  A strong social media presence

2. Cleverly designed marketing strategies

Here is how to increase patient engagement!

Providing undivided attention to patients during a visit is one of the best ways to engage patients. Automate tasks by using apps to record encounters, outsource or automate tasks such as transcription and documentation of medical records. Most EHRs come with full featured patient portals and walking your patients through it will increase patient engagement.

Dissemination of information is vital. Providing electronic access to medical records to patients will help drive up patient engagement and also make them more involved in their healthcare.

A clinic based in Cleveland allows patients to input their health information into the clinics patient portal. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it is a great move by the clinic. It reduces patient information errors, increases engagement with their health and saves up precious staff time!

Time to go social!

Having a strong social media presence is vital to stay on top of the game. Hire experts or step up the effort and time you spend on social media. One sure fire strategy to grab eyeballs is to add pictures and videos to your Facebook page or Tweets. Share information about latest healthcare updates, drugs, equipment or experiments specific to your specialty and organize regular surveys and polls.

It is the quickest and easiest way to position yourself as a leader in your niche. Be responsive. Mention names and Twitter handles to show that you are paying personal attention and be prompt with replies, always!
Have a marketing plan…

Medical practices hardly spend time in marketing efforts. It sounds almost gross to physicians. But to gain a strong toehold in a fiercely competitive industry, getting on the marketing bandwagon certainly helps. Distribute pamphlets or drop flyers at your neighbourhood supermarket during the flu season, school physicals etc… Have a toll-free helpline for patients to reach you at all times. Have a strong recall system and scheduling plan.

Conduct regular market assessment studies to know where you stand and what could be the best way to leverage your strengths. Maintain an implementation, process and results log to track the implementation and end result of your marketing efforts. Spruce up your website and contribute to healthcare journals, magazines and e-zines.

Post your contributions and that of the physicians who work with you in your website and notice board. It will build credibility.
Nothing beats freebies!

Here is the secret sauce. Provide free screenings, health camps, blood checks, BMI checks and blood pressure screenings every few months. This will get the word around and help in “brand” recall.

Organize health awareness seminars and summer camps for kids. Being known as the friendly doctor down the lane is probably the best marketing tactic, afterall!

Infographics: Automate.Integrate.Outsource the new mantra of the healthcare industry

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Automate.Integrate.Outsource the new mantra of the healthcare industry

Work smart; automate and outsource business processes!

The much anticipated Black Book survey findings are out and they indicate a strong possibility of medical practices undergoing a completer makeover! For years together physicians handled two very different and almost contradictory aspects of their workflow. It was a tight-rope walk between patient care and managing the business side of their medical practice.

The business side of medicine has almost become a catchphrase in the healthcare industry. There was no clear definition or a strategic plan to manage it. What was once regarded as a niggling pain, that one had to live with, has snowballed into a serious issue that demands to be dealt with. And dealt with immediately!

Shifting landscape makes it vital for practices to buckle up or die a quiet death!

There was a time, not very long ago, when physicians had to just take care of patients. The filing and transmitting of medical claims was something that the biller did. A cursory glance over the month’s collections was all that physicians did, as managing their medical practice’s finances was not their job.

The Affordable Care Act, which opened the doors to millions of uninsured, PQRS and Meaningful Use measures, an entirely new coding system and increased financial pressures, have shaken physicians out of their comfort zone. The alarming rate at which small medical practices shut their doors and the growing threat to the survival of independent practices, are a huge wake-up call across the entire healthcare continuum.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The Black Book study that includes the perspectives and opinions of 400,000 respondents has indicated three emerging trends that are going to challenger the traditional way medical practices are going to function.

Upgrade, integrate, outsource…

This seems to be the magic formula that can save medical practices from drowning under a sea of reforms. Though most medical practices have finally got the hang of technology and are experimenting with different workflow models, there hadn’t be a clear sense of direction or collective change insofar.

Challenging old notions…

The Black Book survey challenges the common belief that physicians are still unwilling to let go of archaic methods of working.

There is a huge move to eliminate outdated software and about 21% of medical practices surveyed, are planning to upgrade their RCM software within the next 6 to 24 months.

91% of medical practice business managers feel that EHR systems that are not integrated with a full- fledged revenue management system can back their practices, further into a corner.

Facing the bitter truth!

The study also clearly illustrates that physicians are no longer in denial mode. About 90% of physicians surveyed admitted that their billing systems needed a facelift. There is also a huge demand for integrated systems so physicians will have to coordinate with a single point of contact. Speeding up workflow is the major objective of most medical practices and automating their workflow seems to be the perfect solution.

Utilizing system intelligence to perform business functions such as appointment scheduling, insurance eligibility checks, sending patient reminders and payment posting can quicken tasks and reduce headcount. Most medical practices still hire FTEs to perform tasks that their systems can do. Automating tasks can not only shorten the time taken to perform tasks but can also help in resource optimization.

Automating administrative functions: the way forward…

The administrative functions of medical practices can drive up efficiency. Prior to automating a process draw up a checklist of objectives and see whether through automating you actually end up saving time. Automating for the sake of automating can do more harm than good. Like investing in an automated voice recognition system and wasting productive time editing and correcting the transcripts.

Have a clear work-plan, educate staff about the software and strategy you are going to use and compare your existing process to the revised one, to make sure your switch to automation is successful. A spread-sheet that details the transition can ensure everybody in the medical practice is on the same page.

Creating a flow-map can standardize your automated processes and improve efficiency. You don’t want your staff to be bewildered by the sudden change in workflow processes. Listing out repetitive tasks is the easiest way of freezing on tasks that can be automated.

Here is what to automate…

Automating can be healthy but it can quickly turn into a major headache if not handled with caution. Medical practices should take care not to let their workflow processes spiral out of control. Though automation of tasks is common in other industries, automating workflow in the healthcare field is still at a nascent stage.

Here is a list of tasks that can be automated efficiently…

  • A patient portal can automate everyday tasks to a large extent. Implement a patient portal that enables patients to fix up appointments based on available time-slots. Prescription refill requests can also be sent online. Patients can also be encouraged to pay online through a secure payment gateway.
  • Setting up error prevention alerts and a thorough claim scrubbing tool or software can eliminate denials.
  • Charge review alerts can reduce no-charges.
  • E-prescribing allows physicians to communicate directly with pharmacies and can save medical practices from the tripwire of misplaced prescriptions.
  •  Setting up an email reminder or automated call reminders can reduce no-shows and late appointments.
  • The ability to gather the financial performance data of a medical practice and track metrics will result in actionable and current financial being just a click away! This will help set targets and benchmarks.

There is no magic wand that can wipe away manual efforts completely!

Great! So now all physicians can just shop for software, or tool that can automate practice functions and go back to taking care of patients. But it is not as simple as that. The heterogeneity of workflow processes in a medical practice demand different methods of working. Automating completely, a practices business functions can prove to be counterproductive. As many as 90% of small medical practices and 95% of independent physicians are planning to outsource their medical billing and revenue cycle management functions and that could be because relying on tools alone cannot deliver the goods.

An increasing number of medical practices are downsizing to cope with financial bottlenecks and processes that were previously handled in-house are being outsourced. The increased need for outside expertise has been the major driver behind the shift to outsource business functions.

The bottomline…

It is the survival of the fittest out there! Healthcare organizations that successfully, integrate, automate, and outsource processes, will come out at the other end, more streamlined, productive and compliant.

How to increase the productivity of your practice by hiring an EHR expert!

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An EHR expert can maximize the ROI of your EHR!

Hire an EHR expert to manage workflow complexities!

For most physicians EHRs are the monster under the bed they were scared of as children. The amount of data fodder an EHR needs to function has reduced physicians into an army of data entry professionals. Every day at work, becomes one long process of, learning, unlearning, relearning and feeding data into a system that is becoming more difficult to handle by the day…

Dangerous learning curves ahead!

One reason, why physicians hate their EHR, with a vengeance is that, learning the ropes of an electronic medical record is tiresome and frustrating. There are tripwires and smoky mirrors everywhere. The worst part of working with an EHR is that it eats up large chunks of time that could have been spent on interacting with patients.

According to a survey by the MPI group as many as 67% of physicians were planning to switch to another system. About 63% of doctors wouldn’t choose the same system again if given a chance! What could be the reason for such high levels of physician dissatisfaction? Is it because EHRs are not designed to be handled by physicians? Or are doctors unable to work efficiently with their EHRs?

Designed for whom?

Can a bunch of template designers truly understand what a physician truly wants? There is a huge dissonance between the everyday workflow of medical practices and the template structure of EHRs. They are rigid, demand huge amounts of unwanted or repetitive data and make pulling out pertinent information a herculean task.

It has become a tug of war between physicians and EHR vendors as worried policy makers watch over the chaos that a well-meant change can bring.

Physicians are not ready as yet…

Any change can bring about widespread distrust and confusion. Throw in a completely new model of working; you have a disaster waiting to happen. Unwilling or reluctant physicians are partly to blame for the entire digitizing effort becoming a fiasco.

A lasting solution!

Move over phoney experts! There are several EHR experts who can help physicians resolve technical issues, come up with customization plans and help physicians understand complicated EHR architectures. Despite the bickering and disagreements a huge number of medical practices are dependent on EHRs to store, access and transmit vital medical information.

To be able to work more effectively with their EHRs, physicians will have to hire an EMR expert to handle hardware and software snags. There are several remote EHR tech support consultants who can finally bridge the divide between physicians and their EHRs…

Nextgen becomes more interoperable now!

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nextgen healthcare

Surescripts announces that it can now share medical information between varied technology platforms:

The healthcare industry is becoming more interconnected. There is nation-wide demand and awareness for more interoperable systems. Surescripts a national clinical network that connects pharmacies, insurers,
physicians and integrated delivery networks (IDNs) announced that it is now capable of securely sharing healthcare information between varied technology platforms. It is certainly a huge step ahead for the medical care industry…

For more information, here’s what NextGen Healthcare release says..

Are you worried about HIPAA audits? Tips to come out unscathed!

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Are you worried about HIPAA audits? Tips to come out unscathed!

Don’t let a HIPAA audit catch your practice off-guard!

HIPAA audits are painful and unwelcome. But failing an audit can be a disastrous and a huge blow to the reputation of medical practices. Despite guidelines being formulated every other day, there is, very little coordinated effort being taken by healthcare organizations to meet them. Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.

Put these ten tips into action to prevent your medical practice from penalized by auditors. It is a team effort so rope in employees and make a cohesive effort, to stay HIPAA compliant. There are lot of plates spinning and deadlines to meet. So it is important you chalk up a plan and tick things off a checklist to stay on track and move towards complete HIPAA compliance.

  • Run a thorough end to end risk analysis check across the entire organization. Check your documentation management and informational security policies.
  • Devise clear cut policies such as passwords for accessing information and that all images such as scans are securely encrypted.
  • Invest in workforce training. Conduct regular workshops for all your employees on operating procedures and security protocols.
  • Monitor closely if all the newly implemented procedures are working in the first place. Check and re-check the progress of each strategy created to meet HIPAA guidelines.
  • Keep clinical documentation updated and maintain a report of your security procedures and documentation. This will help when auditors ask for evidentiary documents.
  • Create a contingency plan. In a landscape that is constantly shifting things may not play out the way you plan. Having a plan B is important too.
  • Revised HIPAA guidelines place emphasis on business associates and subcontractors being HIPAA compliant. Discuss with your business associates about the security measures they have to follow and keep tabs on the physical and informational security they provide.
  •  Laptops and paper based records are the major reasons of data breaches. Almost 202 cases of data breaches due to stolen or lost laptops have been recorded according to a 2014 survey. Prohibit employees from bringing laptops or digital storage devices to office.
  • If you work with a business associate and need to share medical information insist that your partner has a secure VPN connection to transmit and receive medical data.

Simple ways to maximize the ROI of your EHR!

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EHR ROI

Are you working towards increasing the ROI of your EHR?

  An EHR can cause havoc. It is a well-documented fact. There is widespread disruption to workflow and your staffs are preoccupied in getting the system up and running. So how do you come out at the other end unscathed and most importantly profitable? There are a few ways to increase the return on investment of your electronic health record.

As always it begins with starting out with a clear-cut agenda. This will help in keeping you on track as it is a long drawn out process. Losing the plot mid-way is not going to be feasible off course.

Customize because a system that doesn’t work the way you do is a costly mistake!

The major reason why doctors don’t see an increase in revenue after an EHR is a part of their practice, is because the system guzzles up time and effort. Blame it on unnecessarily complicated systems that have a zillion options and templates for one single task. Or on vendors who are never around when you need them the most.

Fortunately, several EHR experts offer template customization services. Practice-specific EHR templates can instantly speed up workflow and cut short the time wasted on locating information.

Manage appointments better!

As everybody is busy complaining about how difficult it is to document medical information the upsides of using an EHR is forgotten. It allows physicians to cull out patient information like never before! Club patients who share a common denominator like patients who are covered by workers compensation, patients who come in for regular wellness checkups, etc. and meet them on a, scheduled day.

This will streamline your scheduling process and help you meet more patients? How does it increase your ROI? Well, if you can meet just two more patients per week, at an average of 150 dollars a patient, you can earn 1200 more dollars every month.

Work steadily towards the Meaningful Use incentive…

A medical practice can increase the ROI of its EHR by achieving Meaningful Use. Experts across the healthcare industry agree that achieving Meaningful Use is the ultimate ROI for medical practices. Work towards achieving MU and for tips click here.

And above all, encourage your staff members to throw in their two cents about increasing the productivity and profitability of your practice, post EHR implementation. The fact that you can think of new strategies to increase profitability, work collectively towards  a single goal and create more structured workflow processes is possibly the best return on investment you can get from your EHR.

Is your medical practice ready for Meaningful Use audits?

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Tips To Face MU Audits

Prepare your medical practice for CMS audits

A recent statistic reveals that one in twenty practices that have attested for MU will face an audit. And that most practices are most likely to face pre-payment audits. The increased governmental scrutiny can catch practices off-guard. Several hospitals maintain a ‘Book of evidence’ in case auditors come knocking by.

Attesting for Meaningful Use is not enough! Medical practices should ensure they can face audits head-on and have the requisite medical documentation.

Tips to become audit ready!

  • Always be ready! The best to insulate your practice from audits and fines is to be prepared. Always save the electronic documentation that supports your attestation. Save the documentation that has the values you entered in the Attestation Module for Clinical Quality Measures. Also, ensure that your payment calculations are carefully documented.
  • Your primary documentation includes the time period of the report, the denominators and numerators for the CQMs and evidence that it was created for that particular EP, hospital or medical center. Additional documentation includes a clear review of medical records. And documents to prove and support each measure attested for.
  • Most providers make the mistake of hating CMS auditors with a vengeance! It is important to comply with audit requests promptly. Providers should have pertinent document in hand after they receive the initial request letter from the contractor. Providing sketchy documents and one line statements will do more harm than good. Detailed, precise and evidence based documentation is required.
  • Medical care providers should stop being backseat drivers. Relying on admin staff or practice managers too much can be a risky proposition. Physicians should stay in the loop, verify documentation, analyze medical care records and medication lists. It is mandatory for every physician to make sure their patient records are accurate. As the slant is on evidence based care there is no better person than physicians to verify the veracity of documents.
  • Is your EHR certified? Receive documentation from the vendor stating that they are CHERT certified. The Office of the National Coordinator maintains a list of certified EHR products. Monitor upgrades and verify that your system meets evolving guidelines and measures. Get a copy of the licensing agreement with your vendor to submit to the auditors.
  • Conduct a thorough security risk assessment of your medical practice. Check if your practice is compliant with the existing security regulations. Not conducting an extensive security risk assessment periodically, can trip you up when the auditors reach your practice.

Is all these tips helpful for you? Tell us how your prepared for Meaningful Use Audits?

5 ways hospitals can reduce their physician shortage rate!

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physicians

Is your hospital facing a shortage of physicians?

The country has been hit by massive physician shortages. Bureaucratic pressures, financial constraints and the sheer pressure of offering medical care while trying to deal with complex electronic systems, have forced physicians to retire early. Recent studies suggest that the shortage will only become more acute over the years.

Retaining physicians and providing a healthy environment to work in has quickly become the biggest worry and challenge of hospital CEOs. Physicians quitting their jobs and leave can lead to dissatisfied and confused patients.

5 ways to improve physician retention…

The magic of a shared vision!

There is nothing that works like teamwork! Explain about your hospital’s goals, aspirations and vision for the future. Let new recruits know beforehand the patient population they are most likely to handle and the volume of work per day. Being transparent can invoke trust and make physicians feel a part of a team and not well-oiled machinery.

Provide administrative support…

The deluge of admin work every single day can catch most physicians, off-guard. Delegate staff to junior staff, hire scribes or outsource tasks such as billing and transcription. This can, not just unburden physicians but also cut down on administrative expenses.

Perks matter!

To make physicians stay longer offer perks that most competitors don’t. Profit-sharing options, paid holidays, fitness and entertainment space, allowances, lesser working hours and a positive work atmosphere and culture, can stop physicians from looking for other employment opportunities.

Is there space for professional development?

Every healthcare professional likes to grow, to fledge. An environment that stifles their growth and wears them out means they are going to quit sooner rather than later. Include professional development activities such as conducting regular workshops, seminars, group discussions etc… This will not only ensures your employees are actively involved, but also, more aware of current healthcare regulations. A working environment that is conducive to growth can make physicians stay back longer at your hospitals. It is not just perks and incentives, but the fact that they can navigate tricky learning curves with your organization that will help them stay put!

Offer EMR training!

The major reason for befuddled and disgruntled physicians is complex EMR systems. Hire EMR consultants and experts to train new physicians. Manuals and discussion forums can only be of so much help. Hiring someone to offer remote or on-site EMR guidance to new recruits will prevent them from feeling lost and increase productivity at the practice.

Obamacare is facing flak once again for making millions of Americans uninsured

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affordable care act

Is Obamacare playing out the way it should?

The controversy, rumblings and conspiracy theories surrounding Obamacare refuses to die down. Just when you thought, that everything that could be ever lauded or criticized about, Obamacare was over. John A Boehner’s current controversial statement of Obamacare resulting in net loss of patients with insurance coverage has raised eyebrows and voices of dissent.

Millions and millions of Americans are losing their coverage due to Obamacare, seniors in particular are facing the brunt of a healthcare law that is snatching away benefits, they’d enjoyed for years.

What do those thousand plus pages mean to the healthcare industry?

According to a recent statistic as many as 4.7 million Americans have had their healthcare plans cancelled. Stopgap measures, such as the one year exemption for those who’ve had their coverage plans cancelled, to have healthcare coverage, have proved to be equally unsuccessful and unpopular.

Damage control measures can ironically be counterproductive as eleventh hour changes can cause more mayhem and instability. It further proves that the thousand plus page law may not be the magic fix to bring down costs, as it was hoped to be.

Like your plan? Lose it…

The president’s promise to citizens that if they like their healthcare law they can keep it has turned out to be a false and hasty promise. Apart from the millions of individuals who’ve lost coverage, nearly 80 million people with employer healthcare plans stand to lose their benefits as well. Employers are gob-smacked by the high prices of Obamacare.

Jumping at shadows?

The enrollment phase has just reached the half way mark and it may be a tad too early to jump at conclusions. The number of people who’ve lost coverage is slightly jacked up and the paranoia surrounding the new law will have to abate. It is being widely hoped that Obamacare will elbow out archaic healthcare plans and usher in more affordable and well planned coverage plans.

Several healthcare experts feel that the counterbalancing efforts taken by the Government have been largely ignored by the rabble rousers. The ACA can end the fear of medical bankruptcy for millions of Americans and reduce costs in the long run. It can improve healthcare and make good quality medical treatment affordable for all. People across the USA are praying hard that these don’t turn out to be failed promises as well!

Do you think Obamacare has failed in its promises? Share your views in the comments section below.