Although financial fees are not necessarily hidden, they can appear in unexpected places, such as small business accounts that have no monthly maintenance fees but do have transaction limits. Medical practices tend to have numerous monthly transactions that can be billed at small rates and could quickly add up to a big expense.
When overdraft, monthly maintenance and transaction fees stack up, it’s a good idea to tackle the nickel-and-diming effect of these fees. Begin by doing some research. Assess your practice’s banking activities and determine which banking institution offers services that are well suited for your practice and its needs.
The American Medical Association suggests that if your practice is located in a building with other practitioners, sharing common service expenses, such as a drop box, can help cut costs for all involved. Also, by consolidating your practice’s accounts into one bank, you can reduce fees — and interest from the accounts can be used to pay these fees. Negotiating with your bank may also help reduce some fees if you can’t find a fair fixed rate.
There are multiple benefits of banking online for practitioners looking for lower costs and more convenience. Online banking eliminates running to the bank to order new checks or transfer funds between accounts. You can also monitor the balance of accounts easily with automatic alerts that can protect your practice from overdraft fees. Many financial institutions also offer Remote Capture services for check depositing. Typically, your bank will supply you with a check scanner which connects to your computer and a secure Internet connection. Your staff runs patient checks through the scanner, which digitally deposits the funds to your practice bank account.
Online banking can also make paying bills easier. Instead of sending checks in the mail and remembering multiple due dates, you can pay expenses automatically on a set schedule. In some cases, bills from certain vendors can be sent to your practice electronically. Another benefit of online banking is easy access to your practice’s account history.
Minimizing your costs keeps your practice financially lean and viable; however, sometimes the unexpected can happen. Natural disasters, such as hurricanes or floods that can damage your office and even your own health, can interrupt your business and can be very expensive if you are not prepared.
Here are some useful ways to support your practice during these difficult economic times:
Source: MD News
Physician practices often underestimate the amount of training needed to maximize the value of electronic health record systems, American Medical News reports.
About EHR Training
Many health IT vendors include training as part of the price of an EHR system. However, the training might not be sufficient for a particular practice or it might not be tailored to the practice’s needs.
Some vendors offer training packages that health care providers can purchase separately, at varying prices depending on the amount of time involved.
Some practices attempt to accelerate their training sessions in an effort to save time and money. However, experts say that insufficient EHR training can pose obstacles to widespread use of health IT systems.
Expert Recommendations
Health IT experts say there are various strategies that health care providers can use to ensure that EHR training aligns with the needs of a particular medical practice.
Andrew Fitzpatrick, CEO of health IT consulting firm WPC, said health care providers making decisions about EHR training should consider:
To maximize the value of EHR training, other health IT experts recommend:
Source: iHealthBeat
Questioning children about their online life and exposure to Facebook and other social networking sites should be included when physicians take medical histories during patient visits, according to new recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics, NPR’s “Shots” reports (Hensley, “Shots,” NPR, 3/28).
AAP’s social media recommendations were published in the journal Pediatrics.
Reasons for Recommendations
The report states that adolescents can use social media to find health information and connect with other individuals who have similar medical conditions. However, such online tools might carry risk, according to the report (Gordon, HealthDay, 3/28).
Gwenn O’Keeffe, a pediatrician and co-author of the report said, “We are acknowledging that this a health issue — it isn’t just a technology issue” (Hellmich, USA Today, 3/28). O’Keeffe called the pediatric training model “old-fashioned” (Rochman, “Healthland,” Time, 3/28).
To learn more about pediatric patients’ online habits, the AAP report asks that doctors and parents look out for:
Source: iHealthBeat
Last week, Walgreen customers filed a lawsuit accusing the company of unlawfully selling patient information obtained from prescriptions to drug companies for marketing purposes, Healthcare IT News reports.
Lawsuit Details
The lawsuit alleges that the national drugstore chain engages in data-mining practices and sells de-identified patient data to companies that then resell the information to pharmaceutical firms. Drugmakers use such information to target physicians who are considered high-volume prescribers, according to the lawsuit (Manos, Healthcare IT News, 3/18). The data that are sold include the:
The lawsuit states that Walgreen deprived the plaintiffs of the commercial value of their own prescription information.
Jeffrey Krinsk, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said, “We believe this information belongs to the patient who paid for the drug, not the pharmacy.”
The plaintiffs further accuse the company of raising medical costs by enabling the sale of high-priced, brand-name drugs instead of less expensive, generic alternatives.
Walgreen Response
Robert Elfinger, a spokesperson for Walgreen, declined to comment on the lawsuit (Baynes, Reuters, 3/11).
Source: iHealthBeat
Federal health officials should more closely align the electronic prescribing and meaningful use incentive payment programs, according to a letter from the Medical Group Management Association, Health Data Management reports.
According to MGMA, eligible professionals could be unfairly penalized by the programs’ inconsistent requirements (Goedert, Health Data Management, 3/17).
Details of Incentive Programs
Under 2009 economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified electronic health records can qualify for incentive payments through Medicaid and Medicare (CMIO, 3/18).
The e-prescribing program started paying out incentives in 2009 and will continue to do so through 2013. Medicare providers who do not e-prescribe would face penalties beginning in 2012 (iHealthBeat, 2/22).
Letter Details
In its letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, MGMA said that e-prescribing incentive program rules conflict with similar rules within the meaningful use program.
Eligible professionals participating in the e-prescribing program must report successful transmission on claims for at least 10 e-prescriptions in the first six months of 2011 to avoid a 1% Medicare payment cut next year. They also must submit 25 e-prescriptions by the end of 2011 to avoid another payment adjustment in 2013 (Health Data Management, 3/17). However, eligible professionals must attest to meeting less stringent requirements under Stage 1 of the meaningful use program (CMIO, 3/18).
The letter states, “This makes it possible for an [eligible professional] to earn incentives through the EHR incentive program but still be penalized through the e-prescribing program for submitting the same number of e-prescriptions” (Health Data Management, 3/17).
Recommendations
Some of MGMA’s recommendations include:
Source: iHealthBeat
Hospitals across the country are starting to leverage social media tools to communicate with patients, raise funds and connect with their local communities, Modern Healthcare reports.
About the Trend
Ed Bennett — director of Web strategy for the University of Maryland Medical Center-Baltimore — has collected data on hospitals’ use of social media over the past two years. According to data posted in January, 906 hospitals are active on six social media platforms. Bennett found that there are a total of 3,087 social networking accounts run by hospitals.
Hospital employees who work in communications say social media platforms help them learn what patients, physicians and business partners are saying about their facility. They say such feedback can help hospital administrators improve policies and processes.
Industry Examples
Some of the hospitals that have leveraged social media websites include:
Source: iHealthBeat
If you have any questions or interest in social media, don’t hesitate to contact us.
Hospitals within six different health care systems saw a boost in patient satisfaction scores following the implementation of interactive monitors that allow patients to communicate with staff and access information about their condition, according to a recent white paper from the Beryl Institute, Fierce Healthcare reports.
About the Monitors
The interactive monitors allow patients to:
In addition, the interactive monitors allow clinicians to respond to less urgent patient inquiries electronically and to respond to more pressing issues in person.
Findings
According to the Beryl Institute, implementation of the monitors helped:
Source: iHealthBeat
Hospitals seeking to qualify for federal health IT incentives are attempting a range of approaches to help physicians and other health care providers become accustomed to using electronic health record systems, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs will qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments.
Hurdles to Physician EHR Use
Hospitals have found that some physicians are resistant to using EHRs because the systems require them to change how they conduct patient visits.
For example, EHRs often prompt clinicians to ask questions in a specific order as they input data into the system.
Different Approaches to Physician Training
To overcome obstacles to physician EHR use, some hospitals are providing training sessions that are:
In addition, some hospitals are converting vacant buildings into training facilities and some are using computer programs to train physicians on EHR use. The health IT consulting firm Breakaway Group uses simulation programs to help health care providers learn how to input data into electronic systems.
Some hospitals are making significant financial investments in health IT training. For example, the Yale School of Medicine and the Yale-New Haven Health System have set aside about 3% of their five-year, $250 million budget for implementing an EHR system. Officials said the allocation could be as high as 10% after accounting for EHR training (Hobson, Wall Street Journal, 3/15).
Source: iHealthBeat
The launch of Apple’s iPad 2 has the potential to promote further mobile health advancements at hospitals and other health care facilities, InformationWeek reports.
According to recent studies, clinicians have widely adopted the original iPad in conjunction with electronic health record use. Considering improvements added to the iPad 2, more physicians could embrace the computerized tablet as a way to manage EHRs and access other medical information, according to InformationWeek.
John Halamka — CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston — said the iPad is helping physicians engage with patients because it allows doctors to directly show images and data to patients (Lewis, InformationWeek, 3/7).
Other iPad Uses in Health Care
Physicians are not the only health care professionals who use the iPad, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports.
For example, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in New York plans to provide its board members with iPads so they can access online documents during meetings, according to Chuck Fennell, the hospital’s CIO.
In addition, workers at Crouse Hospital in New York use the devices to remotely control heating, ventilation and air conditioning in the facility.
iPad Obstacles
Fennell said that battery life is a shortcoming of the iPad and other tablet computers, which must be charged about every four hours.
In addition, Neal Seidberg, a pediatrician and chief medical informatics officer at Upstate University Hospital in New York, said the iPad’s screen is another limitation. He said he would not make a diagnosis based solely on seeing something on the screen because the “resolution is not good enough yet” (Mulder, Syracuse Post-Standard, 3/7).
Survey Finds Physicians Favor iPad Tablet
A recent survey by Aptilon surveyed 341 U.S. health care professionals’ tablet computer preferences. Among the survey respondents:
The survey found that 59% of respondents who already have an iPad said they use it for medical tasks, such as receiving and reviewing updated medical information and completing paperwork.
In addition, the survey found that 38% of respondents expect to have an iPad within the year.
Aptilon is a Canadian-based customer relationship management firm for the pharmaceutical industry (Pulley, “Health IT Update,” NextGov, 3/7).
Source: iHealthBeat
Nearly three-quarters of respondents to a recent poll said they would like to have an online connection to their physician’s office, according to Intuit Health’s second annual Health Care Check-Up Survey, InformationWeek reports (Lewis, InformationWeek, 3/4).
Intuit Health is a developer of patient portal and communication tools (Miliard, Healthcare IT News, 3/3). Decipher Research conducted the survey for Intuit Health by polling 1,000 U.S. adults online in January.
Key Findings
According to the survey, 73% of respondents said they would use a secure online communication system to obtain laboratory results, request appointments, pay medical bills and communicate with their physician’s office.
The survey also found that:
Conclusions
Steve Malik, president and general manager of Intuit Health, said patients “want some measure of control, convenience and better communication with their doctor.”
He added, “Doctors who offer secure online solutions can meet this patient demand while increasing office efficiency and enhancing the doctor-patient relationship” (Healthcare IT News, 3/3).
Source: iHealthBeat
MGMA Supports ICD-10 Testing With Outside Organizations
July 30, 2013
Report: Many EHR Users Set To Replace Systems Within the Next Year
July 30, 2013
Providers, Vendors Urge Congress To Delay Meaningful Use Stage 2
July 30, 2013
Many Doctors May Find Meeting ‘Meaningful Use’ Requirements a Challenge
June 28, 2013
When it Comes to ICD-10 Physician Documentation: Collaborate and Educate
June 28, 2013
The Slow Crawl Toward Improved EHR Usability and Interoperability
June 28, 2013
Efficient Patient Communication and Engagement
June 13, 2013
ONC Issues Guidance on Stage 2 Transition of Care Requirements
May 31, 2013
Drugmakers Leverage Doctor, Patient Data To Market Their Products
May 31, 2013
Consumer Organizations Defend Meaningful Use Program
May 31, 2013
