Care organizations and providers have just over 8 months before ICD-10 takes effect. Physicians, health systems, hospitals and practices are rushing to gear themselves up for the big change. But the urgency to shift to ICD-10 should not mean skipping an important first step – awareness. Coding and compliance experts believe that physicians are not aware of Read more…
Courtesy: A Formula for Physicians to Better Engage Patients
When physicians attend to a patient, they normally try to instill a personal touch in the encounter through eye-to-eye interaction. However, it is not uncommon for patients to get panicked and ask, ‘What’s wrong, Doc? Is it bad news?’ It is concerning that a simple act of courtesy might be so unexpected that patients don’t Read more…
Health gadgets: Shaping the future
To say that technology is helping improve our health would be an understatement. It has had a much bigger impact than that. It is transforming our lifestyles – the way we eat, drink, sleep, breathe, walk, run and even the micro movements we make in our sleep, are all being shaped by technology in a Read more…
EHR usability: Key to productivity
Is your EHR user friendly? “Black Book Rankings survey 2013” suggests as many as 30% physicians are dissatisfied with basic EHR usability. Not all EHR vendors build their products with usability in mind. Some EHR vendors have nailed it from the start, while others only think about it when their users start complaining. It is Read more…
ICD-10: Get ready for the big change
The shift to ICD-10 is more than just a compliance exercise – it represents a monumental transformation for healthcare in America. Just how prepared are we? According to a recent National Pilot Program Outcomes Report, professional coders were only able to achieve 63% accuracy when submitting ICD-10 codes. The transition to ICD-10 virtually impacts every member of Read more…
Better Care Through Patient Engagement
It is always best when your patients ask questions. This means that they are concerned and are making the required effort to improve their physical condition and well-being. When patients are more aware and want to be involved in their health management, especially when it comes to making health-related decisions, it is safe to deduce Read more…
Risk Management through the healthcare continuum
What is accountable care all about? And who should be held accountable, anyway? Are physicians directly responsible for the outcomes they achieve? What about the money they spend to achieve those outcomes? We’ve all been hearing about the pros and cons of accountable care for way too long now. Lower costs, better outcomes and improved patient experiences are what Read more…
Research highlights cures for patient waiting room frustration
Patients are increasingly relying on online reviews to determine doctors’ wait times, prior to making an appointment. According to recent research, the issue plays an essential role in patient satisfaction and retention. Software Advice, a company that reviews electronic medical records, and publishes primary research on its website, surveyed 5,003 U.S. patients to find out Read more…
Is patient engagement helping physicians?
Advances in technology have increased exponentially. At the click of a single button, we can access real-time information on Twitter, Facebook and Google. The amount of information present online is huge – from celebrity gossip to patient communication channels. This is how technology is shaping our world. Do you ever feel that you just want Read more…
Gearing up for ICD-10
It’s 2014, and the transition to ICD-10 is less than just a few months away, taking effect on October 1st. This will replace the old system of diagnostic coding and significantly increase the number of these codes from the current 14,000 to around 69,000. ICD-10 will enable physicians to better specify diagnoses, track follow up Read more…