As EHR Adoption Rises, Experts Raise Concerns About Safety of Systems

As more physicians adopt electronic health record systems, experts are  raising concerns about the safety of the technology, the Boston Globe reports.

EHR Adoption Rising

Experts note that EHR adoption has grown considerably in recent years, partly  as a result of the 2009 federal economic stimulus package (Conaboy, Boston  Globe, 4/30). Under the stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for Medicaid and  Medicare incentive payments.

In 2011, more than half of U.S. office-based physicians had adopted an EHR  system, according to a recent study published in the journal Health Affairs. Of those physicians, about one-third had an EHR system  that could perform at least basic functions, the study found (Decker et al., Health Affairs, April 2012).

Safety Concerns

As EHR adoption becomes more widespread, some experts say the health IT  industry should place more emphasis on ensuring the safety of EHR systems.

They note that EHR systems can contribute to:

• Glitches in ordering medications or tests; and
• Technology errors that disrupt a physician’s workflow.

Hesitancy To Address EHR Safety Concerns

However, experts note that some health IT stakeholders have been reluctant to  focus on EHR safety issues out of fear that physicians will be discouraged from  adopting the technology.

Former National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal said, “The  sensitivity that people feel about it reflects, I think, their concern that we  could stop the momentum and that we won’t get to the point that most of the  Western world has gotten to, where the electronic systems are routine”  (Boston Globe, 4/30).

Source: iHealthBeat

Reduce Patient No-Shows with Appointment Reminders

For questions or more information on how our automated appointment reminder solution can help reduce your No-Shows, feel free to contact us at 615-425-2719.

If you’re looking to increase patient attendance rates, you may want to investigate an automated patient reminder system that integrates with your practice management system.  These types of solutions are proven to reduce patient no-shows.

How do they work?

The automated patient appointment reminder software creates a message for each of your patients that has a scheduled appointment.  The system then uses the stored phone number to dial out and leave the message.  The message typically includes the date and time of the appointment, the name of the provider being seen and maybe event he appointment reason.  Depending on how data is stored in your practice management or scheduling system, the message may also include more customer information like the reason for the appointment and/or any special instructions required for the patient prior to the visit.

After hearing the message, the patient can typically opt to press 1 to accept/confirm the appointment time and/or press 2 to request that a new appointment time be booked.

By streamlining the patient reminder process, practices have seen significant reduction in their patient no-show rates.

Source: Harmony Healthcare IT Blog

How to Reduce No-Show Patients at Your Medical Practice

For questions or more information on how our automated appointment reminder solution can help reduce your No-Shows, feel free to contact us at 615-425-2719.

When a physician hears “What is your hourly rate?” she most likely assumes the question is directed to an accountant or an attorney. Unfortunately, physicians rarely think they possess an hourly rate like other professionals.

While it’s true that payment systems do not lend themselves to billing an hourly rate, every doctor has one. Not realizing the importance of hourly compensation causes many practices to fail to appreciate the enormous value of strategic scheduling, and most importantly, the need to keep their schedules full. You should think of your “no show” patients as time-pickpockets. They steal your opportunity to completely schedule your day with revenue-producing visits.

In our increasingly casual society, it can be difficult to know how to end the no-show trend. Some doctors think overbooking is the answer; but that only reflects poorly on their practice. They’re bound to find that if every patient shows up, they’ll leave with a low opinion of the practice as a result of long waits and disorganized scheduling. Practice reputations can be tarnished not only by word of mouth, but also word of mouse. Disappointed patients can also broadcast their dissatisfaction online using ratings websites such as Yelp.com.

So what can you do to help your patients arrive at your practice every time they are scheduled for a visit? Here’s a step-by-step method to recalibrate your thinking about no-show prevention:

1. Assign a responsible staff member to be the scheduling czarina and to champion “Operation No Show.” Appoint only one person to guard your valuable time. If everyone is in charge of your schedule, then no one person really “owns” the results.

2. Track every no-show patient in your computer system. For a variety of reasons, including medico-legal issues, you should not delete failed appointments. Instead, track them in your computer system by creating a no-show tracking code (i.e., DNKA — Did Not Keep Appointment).

3. If you are a specialist, inform referring doctors if their referred patients don’t show up for scheduled appointments. It is easier for the referring docs to track the status of patients using their EHR if they hear directly from you; and you don’t want them wondering why you haven’t sent them a report.

4. Follow up with missing patients. If you are a specialist or surgeon, and the patient is in a global period, you probably want to know that the healing and recovery process is moving along as planned — even though you are not paid for the visit. It’s a good idea for staff to call and check up with patients or their caregivers (especially if the patient is a child), and note the conversation in the chart. Sometimes patients just feel better, and assume they don’t need to come to their appointment.

5. Analyze the data like the airlines do. Look for patterns in no-show appointments, analyze both the day of the week, and the time of day. Certain days typically yield more no shows; usually Monday and Friday are the worst days. Also look for differences among physicians over a period of time.

6. Rethink your appointment reminder protocols. Some offices are sporadic and inconsistent in sending patient reminders. These are a few examples of how you can to improve your reminder process:

• Send a reminder using a self-addressed envelope. Patients can address the envelope at check-out. One OB/GYN office uses this technique to remind patients to schedule their annual Pap smear. A radiology practice successfully uses the same method to send mammogram scheduling reminders. It’s harder to ignore a piece of mail in your own handwriting.

• Implement new technology. Technology solutions can help you automate patient reminder e-mails and/or text messages, using the parameters that you set up. Thus, it doesn’t matter if your staff isn’t in the office to make a call. This method also allows your practice to receive a text or e-mail response back from the patient, to confirm that they are coming to their appointment. Using technology makes sending reminders easy and seamless, and also cuts down on your telephone volume.

• Allow patients to pre-register for appointments online. Pre-registration is a signal that the patient intends to show up. Through implementation of patient portals, many offices have found a correlation between patients who complete their demographic and health histories online, and low no-show rates.

• Ask for a deposit. Some out-of-network physicians and aesthetic-oriented practices also ask patients to make a deposit toward their appointments — just like high end hair salons and restaurants. Your practice, like other service businesses, suffers economic losses if customers don’t show up, so this deposit acts as a sort of insurance.

In the end, value your patients’ time, as well as your own. Make a concerted effort to see people within 15 minutes of their appointment and you’ll see their willingness to return the respect by coming to their appointments.

Source: Physicians Practice

Report: Physician EHR Sales Growing Faster Than Hospital EHR Sales

Sales of electronic health record systems to physicians are growing at a  faster rate than sales of EHR systems to hospitals, according to a report by Kalorama Information, Healthcare  IT News reports (Monegain, Healthcare IT News, 4/26).

EHR Sales to Physicians

The report found that sales of EHR systems to physicians increased by about  22% between 2010 and 2011, which is greater than the increase in sales of EHR  systems to hospitals.

The report also identified growth in sales of Web-based EHR systems to  physicians.

Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information, said, “The physician  segment will likely drive growth and it’s the part of the market where new  entrants can realistically stake a claim.”

Vendors of EHR Systems for Physicians

Kalorama also highlighted different EHR vendors that sell their products to  physician offices.

Carlson said there may be “some challenge for startups to launch” in the  physician and Web-based EHR market. He said, “It’s likely that a new entrant  would need to find a niche or better address usability issues” (Byers, CMIO, 4/25).

Source: iHealthBeat

Study: Text Message Reminders Can Help Boost Flu Vaccinations

Sending parents text message reminders about influenza vaccinations  could help increase immunization rates among children and adolescents, according to a study published in the Journal of the  American Medical Association, Reuters reports.

Study Details

For the study, researchers studied 9,213 children ages six months to 18  years at four New York City community-based clinics before the start of the 2010  flu season.

All parents of children participating in the study received an automated  telephone call reminding them about vaccination.

In addition, about half of the parents received text messages. The first  three messages were about vaccine safety and the serious effects of flu in  children. The final two messages provided information about weekly vaccine  clinics held at one of the four centers.

If a child was not vaccinated by January 2011, another two texts were sent  reminding parents and providing information about vaccine clinics.

Researchers personalized the texts by creating a software program that  combined data from electronic health records at the clinics and New York City’s  immunization database (Seaman, Reuters, 4/24).

Study Findings

The study found that 43.6% of children whose parents received text messages  were vaccinated by the end of the flu season in March 2011, compared with about  39.9% of children whose parents received only the phone reminder.

About 29.3% of children whose parents received text messages were vaccinated  earlier in the flu season — by November or December 2010 — compared with  22.8% of children in the control group, according to the study.

Response to Findings

In an editorial  accompanying the study, Peter Szilagyi of the University of Rochester and  William Adams of Boston University wrote that although the difference in  vaccination rates between the two groups was relatively small, the practice of  sending text message reminders about vaccinations to parents likely will become  a routine part of preventive health care.

They wrote, “At a population level, an increase of even four percentage  points is important,” adding, “If applied across the U.S., it could represent an  additional 2.5 million children and adolescents who receive influenza  vaccination” (Phend, MedPage Today, 4/24).

Melissa Stockwell — study author and assistant professor of pediatrics and  population and family health at Columbia University — said the benefits of  launching a text messaging system like the one used in the study could outweigh  potential costs.

According to Reuters, researchers spent a total of $7,000 to create  the system, $270 each week to monitor it and $165 to send more than 23,000  messages (Reuters, 4/24).

Source: iHealthBeat

Study Finds Discrepancy Between Plans, Ability To Meet Meaningful Use

Although many physicians said they intended to apply for meaningful use  incentive payments, significantly fewer physicians actually were prepared to  meet the requirements of the program, according to a study published in the journal Health  Affairs, Healthcare IT News reports.

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record  systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Chun-Ju Hsiao — a health services researcher at CDC’s National Center for  Health Statistics — led the study, which was based on a 2011 survey of 3,996  doctors (Manos, Healthcare IT News, 4/25).

Study Findings

The study found that:

• 91% of surveyed U.S. physicians were eligible for participation in the  meaningful use program because they received Medicare revenue or had the  required Medicaid volume;
• 51% said they intended to apply for meaningful use incentive payments; and
• 11% reported having an EHR system with at least 10 of the 15 capabilities  required for the Stage 1 core meaningful use objectives (Fleming, “Health Affairs Blog,” Health Affairs,  4/24).

The study notes that CMS previously estimated that 10% to 36% of  Medicare-eligible professionals and 15% to 47% of Medicaid-eligible  professionals would demonstrate meaningful use in 2011 (Healthcare IT  News, 4/25).

Among health care providers intending to apply for incentive payments, the  study found that practices with 11 or more physicians were 14.3 percentage  points more likely to attest to Stage 1 of the meaningful use program than  practices with one or two physicians.

Implications

The study authors wrote, “The low level of current readiness illustrates the  challenges in meeting the federal schedule for [meaningful use] incentives”  (“Health Affairs Blog,” Health Affairs, 4/24).

They added that the study findings could help guide the work of regional  extension centers, which were created to help health care providers adopt health  IT (Healthcare IT News, 4/25).

Source: iHealthBeat

Providers Make Progress in EHR Adoption, Challenges Remain

Many U.S. hospitals and health care systems are more than halfway along in  their adoption of an electronic health records system, but many are facing  challenges related to demonstrating meaningful use of EHR systems, according to a new poll from consultancy KPMG, Healthcare IT News reports (Miliard, Healthcare IT  News, 4/24).

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR systems can qualify for  Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Survey Details

KPMG recently surveyed about 250 hospitals and health care systems  participating in a seminar on Stage 1 and 2 of the meaningful use program.

The survey found that 71% of respondents said their organization is more than  50% finished with its EHR adoption.

Confidence in Ability To Meet Stage 1 Criteria

According to the survey:

• 48% of respondents said they were confident in their organization’s  readiness to meet Stage 1 criteria for the meaningful use program;
• 39% said they were somewhat confident in their organization’s readiness to  meet Stage 1 criteria;
• 3% said they had no confidence in their organization’s readiness to meet  Stage 1 criteria; and
• About 10% said they did not know their organization’s level of  readiness.

Challenges to Achieving Stage 1 Compliance

When asked to identify challenges to achieving Stage 1 compliance:

• 25% of respondents cited not understanding Stage 1 requirements;
• 20% cited issues with training and management of organizational changes;
• 18% cited an inability to capture electronic data as part of clinical  workflow;
• 12% cited not having a dedicated meaningful use team; and
• 6% cited not having appropriate certified technology (Goedert, Health Data Management, 4/24).

Source: iHealthBeat

CMS: Health Care Providers Have Nabbed $4.5B in EHR Incentives

As of last month, 76,612 eligible health care professionals and hospitals had  received $4.5 billion in Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments through the  meaningful use program, according to new CMS data, Government Health IT reports (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 4/20).

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who  demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health record  systems can qualify for Medicaid and Medicare incentive payments.

Overall Progress in Meaningful Use Program

As of March, CMS said that:

• 44,014 eligible professionals had received $792 million in Medicare  incentive payments (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 4/20).
• 911 hospitals had received $1.6 billion in Medicare incentive payments (CMS report, March 2012);
• 29,931 eligible professionals had received $628 million in Medicaid  incentive payments (Modern Healthcare, 4/20); and
• 1,756 hospitals had received nearly $1.5 billion in Medicaid incentive  payments (CMS report, March 2012).

CMS noted that Medicaid EHR incentive programs currently are operating in 43  states and that 42 states have started issuing payments (Modern  Healthcare, 4/20).

March Data for Meaningful Use Program

The data show that in March:

• 8,651 eligible professionals received $155.7 million in Medicare meaningful  use incentive payments;
• 115 hospitals received $184.2 million in Medicare meaningful use incentive  payments;
• 5,201 eligible professionals received $108.9 million in Medicaid incentive  payments for adopting, implementing or upgrading to a certified EHR system;
• 163 hospitals received $145.2 million in Medicaid incentive payments for  adopting, implementing or upgrading to a certified EHR system;
• 10 eligible professionals received $212,500 in Medicaid incentive payments  for demonstrating meaningful use of a certified EHR system; and
• 21 hospitals received $12.8 million in Medicaid incentive payments for  demonstrating meaningful use of a certified EHR system (CMS report, March  2012).

During the first year of the Medicaid meaningful use program, which ended in  2011, eligible health care providers only needed to attest that they had  adopted, implemented or upgraded to a certified EHR system. To continue  receiving Medicaid incentive payments during the second year of the program,  eligible health care providers need to meet certain criteria to demonstrate  meaningful use of a certified EHR system (iHealthBeat,  4/19).

Registration for Meaningful Use Program

The CMS report found that the number of hospitals registered for the  meaningful use program increased by 13% during the first quarter of 2012, while  the number of eligible professionals registered for the program increased by  nearly 29% (Modern Healthcare, 4/20).

Joseph Kuchler, a spokesperson for CMS, said the organization is pleased with  participation in the meaningful use program. He said, “We actually anticipated a  somewhat slower start due to providers needing to both acquire and implement  their certified EHRs and because it was really the earliest adopters we saw  being paid through mid-2011” (Dolan, American Medical News, 4/19).

Source: iHealthBeat

Online Patient Networks Could Improve Care, Boost Medical Research

A Web-based network of patients with inflammatory bowel disease demonstrates  how online patient communities can advance research and improve care, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Details of Online Network

The project — called the Collaborative Chronic Care Network — aims to  improve inflammatory bowel disease remission rates. It involves 22 ongoing pilot  programs at 33 research centers. About 6,800 patients currently are enrolled in  the network, and researchers expect to have 10,000 patients enrolled by the end  of the year.

Patients in the network can experiment with new treatments and monitor how  different interventions affect them on a daily basis by sending data to their  doctor. They also can use the network for social support by finding patients who  share similar interests or live in close proximity.

One of the pilot programs sends four text messages daily to patients with  ulcerative colitis, asking questions about their medications and sleep quality.  The patients’ answers are recorded in a graph, which the patients can analyze  with their doctors.

According to a physician participating in the pilot program, the approach  helped him detect patterns in symptoms that previously had gone unnoticed.

Advantages of Online Patient Communities

According to researchers, online patient communities are an effective  platform for collecting data on inflammatory bowel disease, which affects too  small of a population for most drug companies to be interested in conducting  clinical trials.

Peter Margolis of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, one of the  developers of the network, said that some of the biggest centers studying the  condition might treat only 500 patients, which is “not enough to tell whether  any approach is making a difference” (Dockser Marcus, Wall Street  Journal, 4/16).

Source: iHealthBeat

What Social Media Websites Are Health Care Providers Using for Professional Networking?

For any questions regarding how to leverage social media within your practice, feel free to contact us at 615-425-2719.

Forty-eight percent of surveyed health care providers say they are using some  type of social media website for professional networking purposes, according to a survey by health care staffing and  recruitment firm AMN Healthcare.

Of the surveyed health care providers, 41% said they are using Facebook, 29%  said they are using YouTube, 23% said they are using LinkedIn, 11% said they are  using Twitter and 3% said they are using Foursquare for professional networking  purposes.

The report is based on a 2011 survey of 2,790 health care professionals,  including registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physicians, pharmacists,  dentists and allied health care workers.

Source: AMN Healthcare, “Use of Social Media and Mobile by Healthcare  Professionals”