5 WAYS TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM EHR OUTBREAK

Out-dated EHR bringing your practice down? Or maybe just thinking of switching your practice management software? Look no further. Brining you a basic, 5-step guide to buying the right EHR, this info-graphic is bound to help you choose better and shop smarter. Remember, 59% more buyers are replacing existing EHR Software this year and you most definitely can’t afford staying behind in the race. Analyze, research, consult and go for it! Get the EHR your practice deserves and spend time managing your patients, and not the software. Happy shopping this year! Read more

Preparing for the Conclusion of ICD-10 Grace Period

Within CureMD the diagnosis search box now recognizes provider specific abbreviations and aliases for diseases. You can now use common terms or abbreviations to describe a clinical condition and the system will bring forth the desired ICD-10 code. Learn more information here.. http://bit.ly/2evOPLg

Top 3 EHR vendors To Partner With in 2016

EHRs have become quite a common phenomenon in the American healthcare industry. In 2015, 78% of office-based physicians use an EHR system while 59% want to switch their current EHR provider. Moving forward in 2016, CureMD, eClinicalWorks, and Practice Fusion are the top three EHR vendors. CureMD offers one of the most comprehensive cloud platforms as an EHR vendor with continuous support and problem resolution. eClinicalWorks has the second highest market share in the American market at 10.2% as it provides solutions to practices of multiple sizes. Practice Fusion specifically caters to smaller practices and is MU, ICD-10, and PQRS compliant. Read more

A Real Case for the Return on Investment of EHR Implementation

If there is one thing that there is no shortage of during the EHR implementation transition, it is cynicism. Much of this negativity is certainly warranted when providers are running into legitimate budgetary and staffing problems, but an even larger portion of the medical community seems to view speaking skeptically as a personal hobby. Perhaps this devout skepticism comes from a fear of change, but even more likely is that they think that the evidence for EHR ROI (return on investment) simply is not there.

Well, we have news for them: EHR ROI is real, and it is not isolated to just a few anomalies. There have been multiple studies confirming that some provider organizations benefited greatly from EHR implementation.

While we must acknowledge the real struggles providers are facing, we must also recognize collectively as a community that negative EHR implementation outcomes are not inevitable. To stir in this dose of much-needed positivity, here are a few examples of providers that genuinely saw EHR ROI within a reasonable time frame:

Reliant Medical Group

Hailing from Worcester, Mass. but with facilities throughout Central Mass., Reliant Medical Group was an early adopter of EHR Software Systems. After shelling out an astounding $24 million in overall costs, the organization says that it is already seeing tangible financial and administrative benefits.

Foremost, the more precise coding and documentation capabilities of EHR are credited with increasing their Medicare Advantage reimbursements by $2 million annually. They also saw a huge surge in their compliance rate for Medicare Advantage patients who had chronic kidney disease diagnoses. Within a three-year period, compliance for these patients increased from 20 percent to a whopping 80 percent.

Additionally, the time and cost of transcribing dictation has fallen significantly for Reliant’s centers — a full 63 percent, to be exact.

Reliant’s Larry Garber even touted that EHRs successfully made good on their promise to reduce medical mistakes. Looking specifically at his radiology departments, there was a consistent problem with the wrong tests being ordered. After customizing a one-click feature that would reveal the specifics of every test ordered, radiologists could vet the pending test requests and confirm or correct them before they were scheduled.

In total, the percentage of radiology tests requiring expensive ordering changes post-scheduling declined from 12 percent to four percent. This reduction saved both patients and providers resources, especially the radiologists who had more time to perform tests that were genuinely needed.

Small Practice EHR Wins

While not every provider has the budget to lay down a cool $24 mil on the table for EHR, many smaller pilot clinics were still able to budget for their EHR implementation properly and see some EHR ROI within a few years.

Here are some five-year case studies courtesy of Providers Edge:

●       OB/GYN of West Michigan saw a 65 percent return on investment after cutting six full-time-equivalent staff positions in transcription and nursing as a result of increased efficiency.

●       Nash OB-GYN Associates, hailing from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, saw a huge 71 percent reduction in both transcription and supplies costs.

●       Lakewood Family Medicine of Holland, Michigan enjoyed a 50 percent EHR ROI, with savings of $100,000 per year on reduced transcription costs alone. Administrator Beth Zandra even fully-endorsed the decision, saying that, “There’s no way my physicians would go back to paper medical records.”

●       One Dr. Jack Dekkinga had an unusually-glowing case for EHR ROI. While his costs for transcriptions and supplies fell just like the other study participants, his receipts also grew by 32 percent coupled with an 18 percent increase in total patient encounters. His small practice was able to achieve an astounding 240 percent ROI, allowing him to pay for the costs of his EHR system in just over five months.

Getting Realistic About EHR ROI

Not every provider organization will see the storybook gains described above, but they will also likely not endure the catastrophic losses bandied about by devout naysayers. The real point is to illustrate that losses are not inevitable.

In fact, one of the most comprehensive studies on the subject of EHR implementation found that small practices would recoup their losses after two and a half years, on average. After that, they could expect incremental gains in the years to come. While this timeline may seem drawn out for some, providers must come to grips that the expectations of EHR implementation are coupled to the promise of better efficiency and better patient care. Tangible, cash results thus may pale in comparison to the revitalized landscape that EHR promises in the long run.

If such idealism is not enough to float your boat, at least take comfort in the fact that significant Medicaid incentives can be had if you implement EHR sometime next year. Between incentive programs like these and the potential gains evangelized by those above, now is the time to create a serious EHR implementation strategy and adjust to what will inevitably color the future of modern medicine.

Must Read about: 4 Practical Ways EHRs Use Real Time Analysis to Help Providers and Patients

Does an iPad EHR actually save time?

The implementation of Electronic Health Records in the US was a golden step forward in the healthcare industry. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers were able to document their data more effectively and consequently reduce the number of errors made in patient charts and claims. According to a survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics in 2011, nearly 55% of physicians had adopted EHR systems for their practices. Almost 74% of the physicians surveyed admitted that EHRs had improved the efficiency of their medical practices.

However, ever since the CMS brought forward its regulations regarding detailed documentation and penalties for documentation and billing errors, entering patient data on a desktop screen became a huge hassle. Many physicians and nurses now spend more time on patient documentation than on the patient himself. Another problem faced by healthcare providers is that they have to record patient data and situations from time to time, and on paper because let’s admit it; they can’t carry a desktop computer with them everywhere. Hence a lot of precious patient time is consumed on double documentation; first on paper and then on the desktop EHR.

EHR vendors and healthIT experts came up with an alternative solution for these problems; simply integrate EHRs with other portable technology gadgets. The most selling EHR among these portable devices is the iPad EHR, because it both easy to use and does not require physicians to stay seated on their desks to document patient data. Here are some interesting features of iPad EHRs that Help Reduce the Documentation Time:
1. Charting on the go
Unlike computers, iPad’s don’t confine physicians to their desks in order to record patient data. Nor are nurses required to carry around heavy paper files and records to document the patient’s vitals and other treatment conditions. Physicians and clinical staff can now enter and store patient information on their iPads; and all while looking at the patient.

2. Simplified documentationDocumentation had always been a time consuming task for providers. The iPad EHR is a more simplified version of desktop EHR. According to a survey, documentation and charting time reductions of 23% were reported by physicians who had shifted to the iPad EHR.

3. Lab Ordering and Prescribing
Another recent advanced feature available in some iPad EHRs is the ease of Lab ordering and medicine prescribing. Physicians can now select a pharmacy or lab in their desired location and send lab orders or prescriptions without leaving their offices. They can also receive lab results on their iPad, which are then shared with the patient.


The iPad EHR has become the new trend that is Reshaping Medical Practice Workflows in the healthIT industry. Kelly Rakowski, managing director health provider practice at Accenture, stated that she has seen physicians enhance productivity by using iPad EHRs because of the ease with which they facilitate information sharing. The results of another survey of iPad EHR users concluded that iPad EHRs increase operational efficiency of medical practices by 30% and improve quality of care by 16%. These analytics prove that iPad EHRs are the perfect alternative solution for modern medical practices that are facing productivity loss because of reduced patient care time.

read more about: Top Rated iPad EHR – MU Certified iPad EHR                                    

Does a medical billing software actually enhance efficiency?

Gone are the days when providers used paper for almost everything, be it prescribing medicine, making notes, mentioning patient symptoms, and billing the patients. With EHR technology becoming more and more popular among providers in the US, a lot of vendors have started integrating Practice Management Software to expedite medical billing in their practices.

Although providers have found EHRs to be very useful for their practices; some of them are still hesitant towards using medical billing software. The reason could be that several medical billing tools are quite complex and costly for practices to handle. Some practices still prefer manual documentation over electronic, in order to protect data from being hacked, stolen or even used for corrupt purposes. After all, the chances of data being accessed by unauthorized individuals are higher in electronic data as compared to paper based data.

However providers must realize that medical billing software are bringing about a new change in the healthcare industry. Now the rate of claims being denied or delayed are decreasing significantly. According to Reviews, electronic medical billing has successfully reduced error per claim ratio with latest technology like Claim Scrubber. Here are some common features of medical billing software that can contribute a lot to increasing practice efficiency:

1.       Access to Patient information

Medical billing software has enabled physicians to run background checks on patients’ medical and insurance history. Now it’s easier to access patient information from anywhere. Not only does this speed up the billing process but also helps practices avoid claim errors.

2.       Reducing claim denials

The biggest problem troubling medical practices is the increase in their claim denial rates. While dealing with several claims directed towards different insurances at a time, mistakes are inevitable. However, with recent upgrades brought by medical billing technology, it has become easier to identify such errors and correct them before sending out the claims. This way more than 90% claims pass through submission in the first go.

3.       Increase in cash flow

Another change observed in practices that have adapted to electronic medical billing is the increase in their cashflows. Medical billing software not only increases the rate of claim submissions, but also helps providers reclaim their fee early by reducing payment time. Some medical billing software even have the capability to auto-generate modifications through which providers can follow up on their claims via regular reports and tracking.

For small practices that have not yet adapted to electronic medical billing because of the pricey and complex software, Outsourcing Medical Billing to a medical billing company is another appropriate solution for improving practice performance.

Rad more: Top reasons to Outsource Medical Billing

Does an Oncology EHR help optimize physician workflows?

Oncology has a unique set of terms and protocols as compared to other medical specialties. The intensive data and procedures involved in oncology list it among the most complex medical specialties. Therefore it is reasonable to understand why oncologists dislike using a generic EHR that doesn’t suit their practice. EHR vendors have tried coming up with an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system that can cater to oncology practices, but many have failed in doing so. However few have succeeded in either modifying their generic EHR to accommodate to specific oncology requirements or redesigning an EHR solely for oncology practices.

Oncologists expressed the urgent need for EHRs that could help them with more accurate documentation and safe-keeping of patient data, ordering and administration of chemotherapy drugs, clinical trials etc. The most useful features in an Oncology EHR that can drive outcomes, productivity and financial growth, are as follows:

1.       Chemotherapy automation:

 An Oncology-specific EHR simplifies chemotherapy automation for oncologists. Orders can now be delivered electronically and oncologists no longer need to manually calculate the amount of dosage to give to their patients. The automated dosing and scheduling function in these EHRs helps prevent dosage calculation errors.

2.       Customized templates and digital imaging

The availability of customized templates for various tumor-stages assist oncologists in the creation of structured notes. Many EHRs also have the feature to capture, scan and attach clinical images, lab tests and photographs directly into the patient chart, or through an integrated PACS. Additionally, these notes and images can be emailed or faxed to the referring physicians.

3.       Patient portal:

Patients need to be updated about changes in their condition from time to time. The patient portal facilitates patients in receiving test results as soon as they become available, and it also helps in keeping tabs on their health status. Moreover, some EHRs help patients in requesting appointments and refills online.

The Oncology EHR assists oncologists in improving their practice workflows by offering features including cancer mapping and stage identification, treatment recommendations, clinical trial support etc. However it is necessary for oncologists to recognize which EHR will be suitable to meet the needs of their specialty or subspecialty before purchasing any.

Read more: We did it again! CureMD ranks 3rd in the Top 20 most Popular EHRs.

Prepare yourselves: Less than 300 days to ICD-10

This time next year, practices not using the ICD-10 code set for their billing will not receive a dollar for their services. The CMS has announced September 30, 2015 as the date until which the ICD-9 diagnosis codes will be used. The very next day, on October 1, every practice across the nation will need to use ICD-10 codes if they want to get paid.

Yes the changes will be huge, as the current ICD-9 code set contains roughly 13,000 outpatient diagnostic codes while ICD-10 has around 68,000. Yes, the codes will become more complex and detailed (with more characters and subdivisions), and physicians will need to learn them all over again.

However, technology has resulted in this alteration, and technology will aide in the adoption; EHR vendors will eventually come up with quick and efficient conversion, mapping and support tools so that providers can switch to the new codes with ease.

Keeping this aside, there’s still a lot you need to do. First of all, immediately get in touch with your EHR vendor and inquire as to his ICD-10 readiness. This is because no matter how prepared you are, if you EHR vendor isn’t ready; your efforts will go down the drain.

Get a new, ICD-10 ready Electronic Health Records (EHR) now rather than later if that’s the case. Most EHR Vendors will also give you an overview of the conversion process, and teach you more via a paid consultation. Next, get in touch with your clearinghouses, billing company, and insurance carriers to check on their status; you’ll get more advice as to getting started from these sources too.

The next step is to establish how your documentation, e-Superbills and reporting will change when ICD-10 is applied. Consult the above-mentioned sources, the internet, government support sources and other providers determine this.

When you’re done with this, your staff needs to be made aware of how their roles will change, and provide them with the required training for ICD-10. This will ensure a very smooth conversion, and keep disruptions to your practice workflows at a minimum.

Conduct both internal and external testing at least a couple of months before October to see how well you’ve adopted to the workflow changes, and so you can make alterations to bridge your shortcomings before the October date.

The time to ICD-10 is decreasing, so make sure that you’re ready before October 2015 to prevent the loss of revenue and the disruption of workflows at your practice. 

Read more about: How will my claim submission process change with ICD-10?

Reasons for the switch from EMRs to EHRs

Over the years, Electronic medical records (EMRs)  might have served your practice very well. However, all good things come to an end and it’s now time to move to a more comprehensive, interoperable solution; Electronic Health Records (EHRs). 

The reasons for this ‘switch’ can be classified into three sub-types:

•  You must move with technology to survive and grow in this extremely competitive industry.
•  Interoperability
•  Government incentives and penalties

The first point pertains to the survival of the fittest. A chef will fare a lot better with a running supply of gas in contrast to maintaining a fire that has been started by rubbing two stones. Moreover, the knobs on a gas-stove will allow him to set the heat he requires to create a perfect steak in lesser time.

Similarly, EMRs allowed the recording of clinical and medical data, facilitating the automation of charts and to enhance patient care. However, EHRs provide a more comprehensive patient history. Clinical support and decisions making is made a lot easier for the physicians in charge of administering care.

Patient care is advanced beyond a level which was once thought possible, and there is further room for growth. Interaction with patients is also enhanced via Patient Portals which allow doctors and patients to send and receive information including lab results, etc.

The second point, interoperability is generally viewed as the most significant difference between the two systems. In contrast to EMRs, EHRs are made in such a way that the information stored on the system is not constrained to the premises of a hospital; it can be electronically sent across locations including other hospitals, labs, radiology centers, payers, patients and other stakeholders.

And lastly, government regulations and requirements, most significantly the Stimulus Act have put huge pressure on healthcare providers to incorporate Information Technology (IT) into their everyday workflows. There are attractive incentives for those who start to “meaningfully use” certified EHR technology. Moreover, there are penalties for those who fail to do so.  

EHRs and EMRs both enhance the clinical aspects of a practice; however, the aforementioned reasons including interoperability put EHRs way ahead in terms of features and advantages.

Read more: EHR Breakups: A heartbreak for Practices

Why does my practice need a medical billing company?

In our country, a medical billing service is the intermediary between a doctor and his payments. However, while the Health IT sector is flourishing, many providers are missing out on even greater revenues in the form of quicker claim processing and reimbursements. Can a medical billing company be that intermediary; a question on the lips of all providers.

Managing your practice is not a walk in the park with doctors having to manage their patients and in addition to working towards achieving Meaningful Use incentives and avoiding penalties, the ICD-9 coding process and the fear of the fast approaching ICD-10 diagnostic codes among other things.

How can an in-house biller or professional billing company change the doctor’s revenue cycle? The answer is simple; through the internet, the intermediary transmits insurance claims directly to the insurance. Yes there is a clearinghouse involved, but that’s for the biller to worry about. As a provider, you have one less aspect to manage.

In addition, Medicare prioritizes electronically submitted claims. Claims transmitted online take 10 to 14 days for payment, in contrast to paper-based claims, which can take approximately 27 days. With so many days saved, even more money is earned by the doctor.

Now comes the next question, in-house or outsourcing medical billing? There’s a pretty straightforward self-evaluation statement for this. With both avenues providing the same service; would you prefer dedicated billing staff, to which you’d have to allocate a separate room and computers? Or would you prefer a company with numerous billing professionals, who’d do everything to maximize your reimbursements, and who’d charge an extremely low percentage of your annual revenues for their services? 

The more practical choice would be to outsource your billing to a company who’d do all this for you, all without taking a large amount of space and money to carry out your services for you. Additionally, most EHR vendors offer to execute this service for you, which means that you don’t even have to worry about system compatibility issues.

Why Practices Should Switch To EHR Software?

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are transforming the healthcare industry by automating clinical processes of practices. Moreover, a portion of the 2009 Stimulus Act, the Health Information Technology Act (HITECH), aims to promote and establish EHRs for the whole country by 2014. If practices haven’t made the switch, here’s why they should:

1.   HITECH offers significant incentives (and penalties) based on “meaningful use” of certified EHRs

MeaningfulUse (MU) defines the use of Electronic Health Records (EHR) within an organization. 2014 is the last year to acquire Medicare incentives for MU Stage 1 (which begun in 2011).  If a provider fails to start reporting by July 1, 2014, he will not be able meet the 90-day reporting requirement, and subsequently fail to attest by the final October 1, 2014 deadline.

The Medicare penalty kicks in for providers who have failed to adopt EHR software within this deadline. Providers who are unable to start MU within the time bracket will be subjected to a 1% penalty of annual Medicare collections in 2015. The penalty will increase by one percent each year in following years until 2017 after which the penalties will vary depending on the percentage of eligible meaningful users. It should be noted that Medicare is taxable.

Additionally, the Medicaid incentive program will continue until 2016, after which providers will not be able to receive Medicaid benefits.

2.   Benefits for patients and practices

In addition to the legal requirements due to which providers are switching to EHR systems, there are numerous benefits for both the doctor and patient, via a switch to this system.

The clinical procedures of a practice will be made easier, safer and faster via EHR software. Features, for example, e-Labs by which orders and results can be sent and received online, respectively, save valuable time.

Patient portals allow for increased interaction with patients and allow lab results, reports and reminders to be transmitted online. This also saves time for both the practice and patient, in addition to lowering the number of visits a patient has to make to a practice.

Additionally, all the patient history and information is stored on EHR software which reduces errors, multiple tests and enhances the patient’s experience.

Other benefits of EHR systems include increased productivity, accelerated revenue cycle, enhanced compliance and lower costs.

3.   Benefits for the society

The society, as a whole, will also greatly benefit from EHR systems. The government is collecting data for research via these systems. Information on obesity, smoking trends, and other important conditions is being gathered. This information will be analyzed and worked upon to devise methods to counter these problems and to focus on preventive measures.

The article lists some of the most widely talked about benefits of EHR systems and how, on a broader front, the whole country will immensely benefit from adopting EHR software.

Cloud-based EHR best bet for Solo Physicians and Small Practices

Selecting the right technology for small practices can be a daunting task for various reasons including availability of financial and human resources and cost of technology among others. This has led to slow adoption of Electronic Health Record (EHR) among small practices.

The answer to their problems lies in Cloud-based EHR that allow small practices to implement the system with limited financial and human resources. Moreover, increasing number of vendors is offering this technology making the market competitive. This helps solo or small practices to shift from paper-based to electronic systems of records.

Cost-effective

Small practices do not have the capacity to make huge monetary investments in a server-based EHR that require space and IT personnel dedicated to maintenance of the system. By implementing Cloud-based EHR, providers can save huge sums of money. Also, right vendor selection can also help providers to get a suitable EHR deal.

Simple implementation process

 A smooth workflow is necessary for small practices to run their business successfully. Setting up a server room for the EHR and training the staff can take a lot of time that will result in loss of patients and revenue. On the contrary, a Cloud-based system will take less time to adopt and fully implement in practice workflows.

No maintenance hassle

While selecting the vendor, providers of small practices should ensure that they offer excellent customer support, as they are solely responsible for maintenance and upgrade of Cloud-based EHR. On one hand, this enables providers to focus entirely on their practice and patients, while on the other hand; poor customer support of the vendor will prove to be problematic.

EHR security is vendor’s responsibility

While using Cloud-based EHR, small practices don’t have to guard server rooms and ensure security of devices. Since electronic records are accessed through a browser, therefore, no information is lost if the devices are stolen or damaged. However, each provider –big or small – is responsible for implementing HIPAA laws at the practice.

EHR Hardware costs: A Major Concern For Small Practices

Implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) has been top of to-do list of physicians for quite some time. With the EHR deadline gone and fear of penalties mounting, physicians are rushing to buy a system for their practices. However, cost of EHR adoption and implementation is a major concern for physicians.

Before selecting EHR system, conduct a thorough research of the HIT vendors to make the right decision for your practice. While making the EHR vendor comparison, ensure that you inquire about vendor pricing policies including EHR software price, implementation cost, payment methods, hardware cost and any other hidden costs.

Practitioners of small and medium sized practices are mostly concerned about software and hardware costs. According to a survey conducted by CDW Healthcare, 66% of physicians reported that spending huge sum of money on hardware and software hinders EHR adoption rate.

Buying hardware is a one-time cost that practices have to bear. In another survey, researchers found out that in a small practice of five physicians, approximately $7,000 are spent on hardware by each physician. The best way to cut down on this cost is to buy cloud-based EHR, so that practitioners can save money on developing servers. Also, talk to you vendor in detail and make a list of hardware needed to install before EHR adoption. This will help to avoid wasting money on buying unnecessary material.

Read more: 2015 Will Bring New EHR Challenges for Physicians