Practice Technology

Many physicians regard patient portals as just another hoop they have to jump through to get their electronic health record (EHR) incentives and/or avoid Medicare penalties. But that view can be short-sighted, consultants say, if practices neglect portal services that are attractive to patients.

A study of 34 physician practices jointly sponsored by RAND Corporation and the American Medical Association found that alternative payment models are changing the way physicians and medical practices operate. However, changing the payment system doesn't always ensure patient care improves.

At first glance, Medicare’s new chronic care management (CCM) billing code, which became available January 1, looks like a major opportunity for primary care practices. But many practices will find it difficult to meet the requirements for billing the code, and a major reason is the limitations of today’s electronic health record (EHR) systems.

Many physicians doubt that electronic health records (EHRs) improve the quality of care. But relatively few practices are mining their EHR data to see how well they’re doing or to update their care delivery processes.

Observing other physicians’ struggles and having challenges of my own with the EHR compels me to consider ways to incorporate the computer into the patient-physician encounter in a manner that supports rather than detracts from the work that I love to do.

Electronic health records (EHR) use has steadily increased among office-based physicians since the passage of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, but new studies indicate that the number of physicians who don’t or plan to participate is substantial.

A fellow at the Brookings Institution Center for Technology Innovation writes that the market should drive down interoperability costs.

The delay of the ICD-10 conversion gave many private practices-and their EHR and practicemanagement vendors-the time they needed to prepare for ICD-10. However, industry experts fearthat many vendors aren’t going to make the postponed deadline. And there is no reason to think theOctober 2015 deadline will be pushed back.

Five primary care facilities will test a new initiative that will allow patients to not only view, but add to their physicians’ visit notes in their electronic health records (EHR) systems

Five primary care facilities will test a new initiative that will allow patients to view and add to their physicians’ visit notes in their electronic health records (EHR) systems.

The November round of ICD-10 testing conducted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been deemed a success through a poll conducted by the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC).

As of November 1, 2014, only 2% of eligible professionals had attested to Meaningful Use 2. This is not good news for thethousands of independent physician practices that rely on Medicare payments: the Center for Medicare Services is slated to handout 1% penalties this year for MU2 slackers

Here are seven strategies your practice can use to make sure you meet all the requirements of the MU program should the auditors come calling, and ensure you can keep the incentive money you earned.

Many physicians feel they're between a rock and a hard place. If they're participating in the Medicare side of the Meaningful Use program, have attested before, and don't attest to MU2 this year, they'll not only lose financial incentives but will be subject to penalties in 2017.

A reader shares a letter written to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the hardships electronic health records impose on small medical practices.

The new year brings changes to many evaluation and management codes physicians use, including chronic care management and advanced planning

Why upgrading the workflows of your front desk, clinical practice and administrative functions are necessary to improve efficiency and gain time

Efforts are underway to find technology solutions to the efficiency problems physicians experience with prior authorizations

Congress urges the ONC to certify only products that “clearly meet current meaningful use program standards and that do not block health information exchange.”

Beginning January 1, 2015, medical practices can, for the first time, bill Medicare for the non face-to-face time spent managing care for patients with multiple chronic diseases. But doing so may prove challenging for many practices, at least at first.

Starting in January, nearly 257,000 eligible professionals will face a 1% cut to their Medicare reimbursements for not meeting meaningful use standards, according to CMS.

Fifty-one percent of physicians cite financial incentives or penalties as a possible driver for them to make adopt EHRs.

With the addition of EHRs and patient portals, many practices today are better positioned to incorporate modern processes and procedures to manage their accounts receivables more effectively, particularly by improving collections from patients.

AHIMA-sponsored Twitter rally reaps more than 5,000 tweets to stop another ICD-10 delay

Soon patients will be able to interact with physicians the same way they buy clothes or music-online.

The AMA, along with many regional medical societies, is urging Congress to include another ICD-10 implementation delay to a stalled appropriations bill during the current lame duck session.