Medical Management Streamlined with EMR

Medical Management Streamlined with EMR

Streamlining medical management is now possible with the use of EMR. Nitin Chhoda enumerates the benefits of EMR including the efficiency of billing, scheduling and managing productivity reports.

medical management EMRClinicians, practitioners, and other private practice owners that use medical management are being forced to take certain steps toward efficiency.

The financial pressures of an increasingly hostile and uncooperative health insurance industry, combined with the fact that more and more patients are unable to pay their bills, has put clinicians in an uncomfortable bind.

How can you provide the best medical care possible if you are restricted by financial considerations? The transition may be a bit rough, but it looks as though private practices are going to get some major help by adopting electronic medical records.

Electronic medical records cut down on administrative costs, making it just a bit less expensive to run the clinic. But more importantly, they can streamline medical management and help the practice to run more efficiently.

Billing and Scheduling: Efficiency Traps

It turns out that much of an clinic’s efficiency is decreased because of errors and delays in billing and scheduling. The ways that EMRs can streamline the billing aspects of medical management may be obvious to some.

A billing system that tracks unpaid bills and sets reminders for the medical management personnel responsible for billing will increase the likelihood that bills will not be forgotten.

This is true for patients as well as health insurance companies. Most medical management and health insurance companies have very particular requirements for the filing of claims. These forms can be time intensive and frustrating to complete. EMRs that are designed to streamline medical management will include options for filing the appropriate paperwork and will include reminders so the paperwork is filed in the required timeframe.

Increased efficiency in scheduling is less obvious at first, but the benefits are certainly easy to understand. When a patient cancels an appointment, that time slot is easily lost and left empty. Scheduling components of EMR programs will ensure that all empty slots are filled when possible. They also allow for re-scheduling with a few clicks of the mouse.

medical management streamlineReporting and Medical Management

On the other hand, medical management professionals will tell you that one of the biggest challenges to improving efficiency is the lack of useful data.

On paper, it is overwhelming to attempt to compile reports that detail how many appointments have been missed, how many bills are left unpaid or the collection percentage, and productivity as measured by the number of patients scheduled for each medical professional.

EMRs offer reporting tools and instruments for medical management systems that make evaluation of the practice quick and efficient. Imagine if you could print a referrals report with a few clicks or figure out how many visits each patient typically schedules.

More Productive and Efficient

Medical management can be more productive and more efficient if these kinds of figures can be analyzed. Without EMR and reporting capabilities, this kind of analysis is overwhelmingly challenging and presents time barriers that are insurmountable.

Rather than relying on the business to continue as usual, medical management professionals and EMR systems learn what is working at your practice and what is not working. Once you know how things are actually going, you can take action to change it for the better.

Health Care Management Overview

Health Care Management Overview

EMR reports can help assist management on deciding whether or not to add more staff. Nitin Chhoda shows managers how EMR can help uncover issues by providing reports based on the needs of the physical therapy practice.

health care management overviewWe don’t tend to think of health care practice management as all that different from any other kind of management.

But it turns out that health care management has to adapt and change policies more quickly than almost any other field.

The business side of running a practice involves a complex billing structure, high regulation, and constant updates.

Health Care Management at its Most Basic 

The most basic definition of health care management can be summed up as the role an office manager plays in a health care practice. An office manager must be aware of the tasks of every staff member; they should be able to re-assign tasks or jobs as necessary.

Often it is the health care management that keeps a practice running smoothly. A health care manager may simply be the person in the office who does not see patients or handle a easy-to-define work load, simply so that when problems arise, there is someone to take care of things.

Today, the health care management role has changed to include monitoring efficiency and making administrative changes. With the introduction of electronic medical records, electronic health records, and technology that can track financial indicators, improving efficiency is not only possible, it has been made much more simple.

Health care management is often in charge of deciding what kind of technology to invest in. Increasingly, this means conducting analysis on current systems and workflows.

The Future of Health Care Management

Health care management is not only changing in the way tasks are delegated, but it is also experiencing the same growth as every other aspect of health care. The health care industry is rapidly approaching a level of demand that has never been seen before, thanks to the baby boomers.

This means demand for skilled employees is going up, too. This is true of certified positions such as x-ray technicians and ultrasound tech, but it is also true for management positions.

As the industry becomes more and more streamlined and efficient due to technology, each added employee turns into a significant benefit to the practice. If demand for services is overwhelming, then the only way to increase capacity is to hire more staff. Health care managers have to analyze the benefit of added staff and then manage the integration of new team members.

health care management outline

Technology is Changing Everything

For health care management programs, technology improvements are both a blessing and a curse.

On the one hand, office managers have to be adaptive, tech savvy, and they have to know how to implement software improvements. On the other hand, the job is changing so fast that it can be hard to know what it means to be hired as the office manager.

With EMRs tracking the number of cancelled appointments that never get rescheduled as well as statistics on referrals and number of visits per patient, health care management is turning into a more technical job. Drawing up reports on efficiency can show health care management how much work needs to be done to reach the goals of the practice.

Medical EMR Solutions Give Clinicians More Power

Medical EMR Solutions Give Clinicians More Power

Clinicians who already use medical EMR know that this technology is helping them and their staff work more efficiently. Nitin Chhoda shares the many benefits that EMR can offer to your physical therapy practice, helping it succeed.

medical EMR solutionsThe ability of any clinician in any medical practice is limited by financial factors. If a practice doesn’t make a profit, or at least break even, nobody can continue to provide healthcare.

Because the prices of healthcare in the United States are so high, patients cannot afford to pay for their own healthcare.

The majority of U.S. citizens cannot afford to pay the average prices for healthcare. As a result, both patients and clinicians must rely on healthcare insurance companies.

Insurance companies provide a sense of financial safety to patients, and patients can better afford to make monthly payments towards healthcare than they can afford to pay a $20,000 hospital bill all at once.

About Medical EMR

For medical EMR clinicians and health care practice management, knowing that part of every bill will be covered by insurance provides some financial security, even in a market where the patients who need the services cannot pay for those services.

Medical EMR systems make everything about a healthcare provider practice run more smoothly and efficiently if implemented well. The upfront cost of a medical EMR may seem restrictive, but the benefits tend to outweigh those costs relatively quickly.

A medical EMR system can bring stability to a practice and can turn into a tool that clinicians use to better serve their patients.

Spending More Time on the Important Stuff

Most clinicians would spend a whole lot less time handling paperwork if they had the choice. The truth is that everyone who works in healthcare has to know how to fill out forms and make correct notes about their patients.

The same should be applied when it comes to medical EMR. This can even get in the way of how well a clinician can care for patients, especially in a busy practice where limited time is given for each appointment.

medical EMR cliniciansBefore and after each appointment, a clinician needs time to review the previous patient’s file as well as refresh their memory with information about the next patient’s medical history.

Medical EMR software makes doing these tasks faster and more intuitive. Rather than requiring that a staff member find a paper file and have it ready, the clinician can pull up the information on the computer in seconds, or even on a hand-held tablet computer.

Advanced Technology

Software is becoming more and more advanced, and not just because using computers is fun or flashy. Clinicians who use successful electronic medical records systems find that they are more efficient and can spend more time with patients when they use a medical EMR.

And of course, that staff member who used to pull files and return them to their place all day long can now spend time doing other, more important things.

Perhaps that staff member can now handle a more efficient and time-saving induction process, so that new patients’ health insurance information is more complete.

Medical EMR companies and billers benefit because they can reduce the number of rejections and denials. And patients can be better prepared for the costs that will come their way – allowing them to focus on their treatment plan.

EMR Solution Portability

EMR Solution Portability

In order to maximize the effectiveness of your EMR, use the system in a portable device like a tablet. Nitin Chhoda explains how this portable tablet device can make your physical therapy documentation much easier than using a desktop computer alone.

EMR portabilityHow does an electronic medical record turn into a truly portable EMR?

There’s really just one way to make sure that information is recorded and communicated as efficiently as possible, and that’s by adding tablet computers to your practice.

Many health care practice management professionals are very hesitant to consider this kind of technological change, but this is the change that will be coming and it’s better to get out in front than to follow in this field.

It turns out that you can get tablet computers for the staff members who need them for a big discount, as a health care provider. Additionally, since you are willing to order a larger number than the average consumer, you can also rely on a bulk discount.

While many managers consider this portable EMR too much of an investment, tablet computers do not cost as much as you might think.

Making it Easy to Bill

EMR solutions can streamline many of the tasks that are accomplished every day in a health care practice. No more pulling and re-filing of paper records. No more waiting to re-schedule a patient or to fill an empty slot recently cancelled. And most importantly, no more waiting for the details of the medical billing that must be done to get the practice paid.

The good news is that financial staff, including accountants, medical coders, and medical billers, are used to using pretty complex software to accomplish their jobs.

If they have transferred from one job to another, they know how to adjust and adapt to new software quickly.

Billing Staff Can Adjust

Medical billing staff are usually the first to hit their stride with an EMR and they are the first to start bringing in some revenue as a result of their improved efficiency and accuracy.

But to allow for this kind of efficiency and speed, the billing staff has to have access to the medical records and the clinicians notes about each visit. The way to speed up this process is to give clinicians portable EMR and tools so they can simply enter their notes and instantly save them to somewhere that the biller can access them.

Clinicians Will Adjust to the Right EMR Solution

Another concern is that clinicians will resist the change from a paper notepad to a tablet computer. Many clinicians have been working with pen and paper their entire lives and the thought of changing now is pretty intimidating.EMR solution portability

For the younger generation of clinicians, the switch will not be so hard. But any time you try to change the way someone does something, like having EMR, you’ll come up against some resistance.

The right EMR software and solution will make the job of clinicians easier. Reviewing files that are always available at their fingertips will become the habit.

They never have to wait or dig through a lot of irrelevant information if the EMR presents their notes in an easy-to-read and logical manner. Tablet computers can organize information in the way that we think, making it easier and faster for us to do what we need to do.

Medical Billing Company Is Easier With an EMR

Medical Billing Company Is Easier With an EMR

To make your EMR more convenient, integrating it with a medical billing company is a good option.  NItin Chhoda explains why connecting your EMR system to a medical billing company software will make it easier to use.

medical billing company EMRThere are many advantages of electronic medical records and one of the most often emphasized is the advantage for medical billing staff.

Everyone else in the office can be a bit faster and more efficient, and the medical biller can process information much more smoothly.

But having an EMR isn’t just for those medical practices that do their own billing. Even if you hire a medical billing company, having an EMR will have distinct advantages over processing billing any other way.

Information Integration

The only challenge of hiring a medical billing company is deciding how the critical notes and information will be transferred from your practice to the medical billing company.

The billers will need a lot of information from your practice, and to ensure that information is accurate, you will need to integrate your information systems. It’s possible that this will not be an issue if you have a high quality EMR that records all of your information already.

Make It Digital

If clinicians are recording their appointments and notes using digital media, then the first step is already taken care of. The only question will be how to transfer the information from your practice’s EMR to the medical billing company.

Most medical billing companies will have experience with a number of EMR systems and with figuring out a transfer system. If you hire an independent contractor to handle your medical billing, rather than a medical billing company, they may be willing to adopt your software, making the process incredibly simple. And of course, if your EMR is online, then all the biller will need is access to the site.

Software Developed by Medical Billing Companies

There are also a number of medical billing companies that have decided to design their own medical billing software. This has distinct advantages for the medical billing company.

They can customize the software to suit their needs and preferences. Customized software can be a bit harder to get used to, but in the end it should work better than any other solution on the market because it will be designed with very specific needs in mind.

It’s possible that your practice will need to integrate your system with the custom system that the medical billing company is running.

medical billing companyIntegrated Solutions

Usually, they will have the solution already, offering a satellite feature of the software that can be used in your office. If their software solution is integrated with the Internet, you may be able to access it online.

No matter what you end up doing, having an EMR ready in place will allow you to transfer information quickly and efficiently.

In fact, when choosing a medical EMR, consider the reporting capabilities and features that will allow you to work with a medical billing company. There are plenty of EMR solutions out there that are designed to make medical billing easy, whether you do the medical billing in-house or you hire the work out to a medical billing company.

Physical Therapy Software: Relationship Between EMR, Clearing Houses, Payers and Your Wallet

Physical Therapy Software: Relationship Between EMR, Clearing Houses, Payers and Your Wallet

The major roles of EMR, clearing houses, and billing are very important because the flow of the business depends on it.  Nitin Chhoda explains these relationships and the impact it has on your practice’ income.

physical therapy software Reimbursements from private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and Workers’ Compensation are the primary sources from which physical therapists collect revenues.

Those income sources pay the bills and salaries, fund expansion and equipment.

In an age where payments are being limited, capped and questioned, physical therapy software EMR offers assistance in locating the best payers that directly affects a practice’s profit margin.

An EMR offers online submissions for quicker turnarounds on payments, along with billing and coding options for greater flexibility. Physical therapy software also provides the means to identify the best payers.

Contracts with Payers

Therapists may have negotiated contracts with primary payers, but that doesn’t mean the dollars are going to start rolling in. Preferred provider organizations (PPOs) often sell their contracts to third party administrators (TPA) or another PPO that reimburses at a lower rate.

Selling contracts to other providers is a common practice, but most probably the one that’s financially disastrous for clinics. EMRs offer physical therapy software analytic tools that can be used to track payments from a wide range of third-party payers.

Therapists can ascertain which organizations pay the highest reimbursement rates and those that don’t limit or cap payments or services. EMRs offer physical therapy software billing and coding options to ensure practice owners are receiving the highest level of compensation for their services.

The Role of Physical Therapy Software

physical therapy software relationshipsPhysical therapy software provides the means for therapists to compare and contrast the financial benefits of working with specific third-party payers.

The current trend in healthcare is toward cost reduction, which directly affects access to established and potential patients.

Cost reduction is beneficial for insurance companies, but the plan doesn’t provide adequate reimbursements for clinic owners and their services. EMRs offer therapists physical therapy software options that help grow their practice.

Any therapist operating their own practice will soon learn about clearinghouses and the role they play in keeping their clinic funded. Millions of claims are filed with carriers each day, all of which would be traveling by mail to the four corners of the earth.

Clearinghouses and More

Clearinghouses were established to facilitate claims processing, resolve reimbursement issues and address physical therapy software errors. An EMR sends a therapist’s claims to clearinghouses electronically where they’re received almost immediately and checked for errors, before making their way to the specified payer.

The entire process can be accomplished in a matter of hours, compared to traditional mail that could take days to reach its destination. With the assistance of an EMR, questions can be answered, errors addressed, and corrections can be accomplished in the blink of an eye for a quicker turnaround on reimbursements.

Before the advent of physical therapy software EMRs, it could take weeks or even months of paper-based communications to clear a claim question and deposit the funds in a clinic’s account.

Physical therapy software provides the means to submit claims and obtain reimbursements quicker, offering better cash flow for any clinic.

An EMR saves long, tedious hours of phone time with individual insurance providers clarifying claims, allowing therapists to spend more time treating patients and less time waiting for reimbursements. They also contain the essential components needed for compliant physical therapy documentation to protect practice owners from a variety of legal ills.