EHR Adoption gains popularity with Oregon, Georgia, Washington and Virginia leading the trend

The EHR adoption rates in the United States are definitely increasing and this fact is corroborated by a report released by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) which states that – “American Hospital Association’s Survey of IT adoption, 15.1 percent of acute care non-federal hospitals have adopted at least a “basic” EHR. Moreover, according to the report 24.9% of office-based physicians have implemented at least a “basic” EHR. This figure is twice what it was in 2008 depicting an increase in the adoption rates by almost 50% as far as office based physicians are concerned and this trend is observed in almost all health provider settings such as various hospitals and private practices. The survey also shows that 79% of intended applicants are in the process of preparation to apply for adoption in the year 2011 or in 2012. 

Oregon, Georgia, and Washington among some others are some of the States that are leading in the adoption of EHRs due to this national trend. The data released by researchers from the Doctors Company gives a state wise adoption percentage of physicians in the country. According to the report, Forty-one percent of Oregon’s physicians have adopted electronic health records, following Oregon for physician adoption are Georgia at 39 percent, Florida at 37 percent, Washington at 35 percent and Virginia at 34 percent. 

The repercussions of such increases in the adoption of EHRs in hospitals and by physicians are not just limited to positive outcomes related to the health of the population and the efficiency of the hospital, provider, or practice but also have an excellent impact on the revenue of providers. This is not just because of the increased work and thus revenue but also due to the incentives provided by the Government. The adoption of EHRs usually brings profits and revenues in the long run but it is not surprising that a certain period of time passes before you see positive financial outcomes. This is due to the fact that EHR adoption can be a little cumbersome, has a steep learning curve, and is being implemented for the first time on a national level. 

The successful adoption of EHRs is only possible if all the processes involved in the delivery of healthcare are streamlined and integrated with EHRs. The other departmental processes have also undergone changes and the staff also has to learn these new IT innovations in the industry for increasing the revenue of providers. With new polices implemented by the government concerning not just insurance but also Medical Billing and coding and such other processes, reform is seen in all processes involved in the ”back-office” functions. 

Changes need to be taken place in many processes such as Revenue Cycle Management, insurance interaction, billing codes, and denial management. We at Medicalbillersandcoders.com, the largest consortium of medical billers and coders in the United States, not only provide these services but are also aware of the latest changes in policies such as HIPAA compliance and billing issues among many others to provide optimization of revenue and better quality of service to providers. 

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies  in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services  according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

For more information visit: Medical Billing Services

Specialty EMR Market not completely tapped

Recent estimates conclude there are various specialists in the EMR market who rather than using specialty EMR, usually follow the trend of using a general EMR which has a few extra functions; however user views suggest that general EMRs with extra functions/templates are usually not sufficient for many specialists. 

The U.S. EMR market space is highly fragmented with more than 1000 players in the market with the EMR market expected to grow to $6,054 million in 2015 at an estimated CAGR of 18.1%. Most doctors recognize that EMR adoption is inevitable and are willing to invest in a good EMR, but specialists find it difficult to access a broad range of options when they want a system tailored to their needs. Various EMRs lack the sophistication needed to be effective in specialized medical environments and if an EMR has been designed for everyone, for every specialty, it has in reality very little value. 

There is a wide disconnecting between futurist visions and current EMR implementation rates amongst medical specialists, such as otolaryngologists and orthopedic surgeons. But generally EMR vendors provide solutions that are designed for generalized medical fields, rather than specialties as they focus their R&D efforts and finances on solving the needs of physicians such as family practitioners or pediatricians. Furthermore certain manufacturers choose an even wider approach and attempt to build systems that suit the needs of physicians across today’s very broad medical spectrum. 

Multi specialties can do well by choosing generically built EMR if they suit their purpose, however it suits a specialist more to use specialty EMR’s to avoid higher costs and implementation. Physicians aware of this can definitely benefit from the right EMR. 

Certain Advantages for a specialist of a customizable specialty EMR system over a generic system: 

• Specialty EMR takes less time to implement and adopt 

• Customized with the library of required forms and templates which helps the user to focus on quality of care rather than writing templates 

• Generalized EMR’s could take a month to work properly and user has higher chance of making errors while preparing templates. Specialized EMR’s leave little room or no room for errors and omissions 

• A specialty EMR is designed according to the workflow of a particular practice 

• A general EMR system comes loaded with all types of features and functionalities whether a user needs it or not leading in distracting the user’s attention and efficient workflow 

• Specialty EMR helps to improve competence through the accuracy of medical decisions 

Hence it is evident that there is a large market for EMRs that specialize by practice type and gradually there is developing a trend amongst smaller EMR vendors who are trying to carve out their niche in the EMR market by focusing on certain specialties, but the market for specialty EMRs has a long way to go before it matures. Moreover doctors while choosing their EMR have an option of choosing from more than 300 EMR companies. 

Balancing their act between healthcare reforms demands and patient care physicians can do well by partnering with a Medical Billing Consultant who can guide them and give them advice on the right EMR after studying their practice medical billing process completely. 

MedicalBilersandCoders.com is offering a wide array of EMR’s for them to choose from besides providing consultation in selection of the right EMR which generate records through successful implementation in the healthcare practices which are eventually used by the practice for various purposes such as patient care, administration, research, healthcare quality improvement, and processing of reimbursements. 

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies  in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services  according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

Increasing Impetus on Physician Reimbursements becoming value-based

Both federal and private payers are shifting compensation from volume to value of services. According to American Medical News one of such payers is UnitedHealth Group who is to start offering approximately 50- 70% of its physician’s bonuses for reaching cost and quality targets and/or participating in new care models. 

Increased numbers of physician practices are likely to experience this shift soon with other large health plans, like Aetna and WellPoint, already using the value-based incentives model. In addition Medicare’s shared savings program is also offering “shared savings” to the pioneers of Accountable Care Organization (ACO) who are improving quality of care and reducing costs. Overall the shift to value is not a passing trend states American Medical News especially with UnitedHealth Group US’s largest health plan, with physicians in every state, also adopting this trend. 

Shift putting physicians at risk for lower reimbursements? 

As of now as a majority of insurers shift reimbursements towards value, are not yet putting their physicians at risk for lower reimbursements. Nevertheless this is likely to change soon- with physicians who do not meet quality outcome requirements and lower readmissions will in most probability begin experiencing reimbursement reductions. 

Medicare and other payers are expected to continue taking steps to encourage increased number of medical groups to concentrate on the outcome rather than volume consequently in this scenario practices need to start gearing up and adjusting themselves accordingly for a shift from volume to value to assure smooth revenue generation. 

Physicians get geared 

Contrary to what some entities may feel physicians can do well in areas of both quality and productivity at the same time, but for that physicians will need to apply best practices for streamlining care, learn from other successful practices and understand resources needed to track quality and cost indicators. Outlined below are some measures Physicians may find necessary to take to help in value based reimbursements: 

• Proof: physicians may need to establish that they are providing quality care at reduced cost 

• Documents: fully utilize EHR to document patient information and be able to quickly share patient information with other providers due to increased care coordination 

• Data Analysis: analyze data generated through EHR to help determine performance 

• Patient engagement:  soon to become an increasing factor related to payments 

Though the shift from volume to value is stressful, it has potential for physicians as if it is successful they may see higher reimbursements, for which they need to spend  good quality time with patients, but may be pressed for time to address the other measures mentioned earlier. As physicians move towards a value based system of healthcare delivery, they would be well-off having an advisory from experienced Medical Billing Companies which can offer a balanced approach for both operational as well as revenue maximization. 

Medicalbillersandcoders.com besides managing your practice’s Medical Billing our medical billers and coders can guide the practice right from the EHR best suited for your practice to data analysis and assist in incentive maximization contributing towards the healthcare goal of providing quality and cost‐effective healthcare services. 

Browse All: Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services, Medicalbillersandcoders.com.

Physician employment rises in hospitals

Despite a shortage of doctors projected to be at nearly 30,000 in the next few years, one area which is seeing an influx of new doctors is hospitals, which will eventually result in an increase in hospitalists. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in February reported a rise of 61,000 jobs in Healthcare and social assistance employment, with healthcare adding in 28,000 ambulatory care services jobs and 15,000 hospital employment jobs.

New statistics released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics project that Job growth in the healthcare sector will outpace other sectors through 2020 and employment in healthcare support occupations is predicted to grow the fastest with healthcare practitioners and technical jobs to increase at 25.9%.

More and more doctors are choosing to join hospitals rather than open their individual practices, reasons are various:

1. Too many administration issues
2. Healthcare compliance increasing
3. Fiscally a job is more secure

The down side to lesser practices is:

1. Healthcare dissemination to geographically remote areas is challenged
2. Concentration of availability of healthcare jobs
3. Pressure on current infrastructure of healthcare organizations

Nevertheless with this expected increase in hospital employment along with the healthcare reforms, hospitals need to realign their processes. Hospitals and practitioners who will look to register for the incentive program will face the decision on choosing an apt EHR, changes in billing system, besides other changes, but with their time resource being limited & dedicated majorly on patient care, such decisions are difficult and at times repenting.

In this scenario services of a Medical Billing Consultancy possessing the requisite credentials can be availed by hospitals and hospitalists to guide hospital staff in EHR implementation, HIPAA and other healthcare reforms hence improving physicians compensations along with hospital revenue generation and also help in maintaining a favorable corporate culture of the organization. Medicalbillersandcoders.com experts being constantly updated with the requisites of the industry and healthcare reforms are the right choice for hospitals and practitioners.

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies  in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services  according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

For more information visit: Medical Billing | Medical Billing Services | Medical Billing Companies.

Develop Social Media Networks for Hospitals and Small Practices to increase medical billing

Social Media is developing into a tool not just for communication and entertainment but is also emerging as a powerful instrument for marketing and efficient coordination. Hospitals, group practices, clinics and even solo practices have started to reap the benefits offered by social media networking. The implementation, control and fruitful use of social media in practice settings, especially in hospitals, can enhance the revenue of the hospital along with the quality of care that is provided. The various methods of incorporating social media into your practice or hospital are not limited to just tweets or the Facebook status but has taken a new meaning for networking in hospitals and small practices. 

Social media can also be used for keeping in touch with patients through secure and simple channels such as the use of e-mails in eRxs and such other data. Many social media websites can be used for education of patients and the scope of utilization is immense due to the presence of so many specialties and branches in medicine along with newer and innovative social media sites as well. On the other hand there are physician networks across the internet dedicated to discussion about clinical issues and the problems faced by physicians and their solutions.

Some ways that your healthcare organization can use social media: Share data with patients, share information with referring physicians, share information with workers or employees, create / augment consciousness of your brand, boost patient recruitment, train patients, and develop customer service in order to increase the bottom line.

  

However, the most important aspect as far as interaction between patients and physicians or providers is privacy and this is one of the biggest challenges presented by the use of social media. Even though physicians and patients can use smart phones and various tablets to access PHI, the breach of security is always a threat for physicians and patients alike. Compliance of HIPAA guidelines becomes a major issue when there is a plethora of information that is transmitted through countless network terminals. There are numerous ways of ensuring security when it comes to safely transmitting PHI and complying with the HIPAA guidelines. However while adopting all these measures a practice would benefit by employing a healthcare service entity who would be able to provide the necessary HIPAA and other privacy checks along with streamlining the revenue management. 

Social media can play a significant role in preventive medicine and the rapid growth in innovative technologies such as EMRs and EHRs has also given impetus to hospitals for adopting social media as an organizational tool and HIPAA compliance along with other prerequisites in the healthcare sector. Medical billers and coders does not just offer traditional medical billing and coding services but also the latest cutting edge EHR/PMS technology which further assists practices during social media adoption, in addition to other crucial departmental processes including Revenue Cycle Management, interaction with payers, research and consulting, hence increasing Medical Billing within the healthcare norms. 

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies  in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services  according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

For more information visit: Medical Billing Companies