Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | August 21, 2023
Managing accounts receivable (A/R) in private practice is a constant battle for physicians. Though most understand that lowering their A/R is critical for improving their practices’ efficiency and profitability, physicians often do not know how to address issues like lengthy collection periods and insurance claim denials.
It can be complex to manage A/R, as doing so involves various parties, including insurance carriers, the patient, the front office and billing staff, and the provider. All must work together to achieve a clean claims rate and avoid denials.
The best way to improve medical billing A/R is to reduce claim denials and speed up the patient collections process. In addition, you’ll need to ensure that patients and staff are filling out paperwork correctly and submitting claims on time. Other areas to manage are the follow-ups to correct errors and past-due accounts.
Accounts receivable is a collaborative effort
Each member of the practice staff plays an integral role in reducing claims denial rates. Take an all-hands-on-deck approach in order to identify issues and develop solutions. Start by making every team member privy to the A/R management process. This will ensure everyone is on the same page and involved. It will also help to increase efficiency, avoid redundancies, and eliminate mistakes that could waste time or profitability.
The front office staff is the front line of A/R. They are the first to verify and update patients’ insurance and personal details like address and contact information. They must also ensure that patients sign certain documents, like financial policies.
Providers are the next line of A/R. Providers select current procedural terminology (CPT) codes, and must be mindful of tedious details such as bundling correctly in order to ensure that claims are approved. A conscientious provider should not only select appropriate billing codes but also double-check the patient information that the front office staff provide.
The billing office is a final line of defense and should triple check that the patient’s information and the CPT codes are correct. Billing office staff are also responsible for ensuring the claims are submitted on time and that duplicates are not submitted.
Establish financial policies
Every practice needs clearly defined financial policies around patients or clients. Having these policies in place helps to clarify financial details and creates workflows and processes for staff to follow. Here are a few elements to consider:
State whether the practice will accept personal checks and, if so, what charges or actions are in place for bounced checks. Consider implementing technologies that convert paper checks to electronic transactions and verify them before patients leave the office.
Include a financial responsibilities section with information about who is responsible for the claim(s) if a patient’s insurance carrier partially or fully denies their claim.
Define the debt collection process. Patients should quickly know how long they have to pay their bills and at what point you may sell their debt to a third-party debt collectors agency.
Medical records can be copious, and practices often need to make physical copies of them. Consider implementing a policy that covers a pay-per-page cost associated with medical records.
Automate patient statements and payments
Offer different payment options for patients by implementing technologies and creative solutions that make it easier for them to pay their bills. Look for solutions that reduce manual work and provide reporting that tracks efficacy across delivery modes. Here are a few approaches to consider:
Automate sending statements via text message or email to help improve the rate of online payments.
Add QR codes to online and paper statements to help patients quickly access payment portals.
Offer payment plans, especially with low to no interest, to make it easier for patients to pay down balances.
Establish a written collections process
Not collecting patient payments at the time of service is the biggest challenge to patient collections. Establishing a written collections process can help to alleviate that pain point and clarify the practice’s policies and procedures so that patients can understand them more clearly and easily. Here are some guidelines to follow when creating your policies:
Include when, how, and how often bills are sent.
Provide information on payment plans and assistance programs, if available.
Explain the different available payment options and whether patients can pay over the phone, online through a payment portal, etc.
Clarify which extraordinary collection actions may be used, including selling the debt or taking legal action.
One of the most important processes to develop with collections is to respond to patients’ behavior. Communication should not be a one-size-fits-all approach. Patients expect personalization, and reaching out to them based on their preferred means of communication leads to optimal results.
Perseverance is vital when it comes to collections. By establishing clear policies and implementing integrated technology throughout your processes, you can improve the patient experience by eliminating confusion while streamlining workflow to reduce the administrative burden on billing and administrative staff.
Although implementing these steps can help your practice lower your accounts receivables, sometimes choosing to outsource to a medical billing company can help you save time, money, and resources. Medical billing companies can provide medical practices with specialized expertise, technology, and infrastructure to efficiently manage the revenue cycle and ensure timely payments. Outsourcing medical billing can also free up staff time and resources, allowing healthcare providers to focus on patient care and other essential aspects of running their practice. Whether you choose to outsource or to keep your medical billing in-house, these tips will help you to reduce your costs and increase your revenue.
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Health Technology, AI
Article | July 18, 2023
Your patients have grown to trust your expertise and recommendations in matters regarding their healthcare. As the sector transitions into a more digital playing field, uninterrupted network connectivity is more than just a bonus; it’s a necessity.
While there are many different challenges to completely integrating your practice into the digital world, internet outages are the costliest. Downtime can be caused by various factors, which can compromise patient safety, the faith your team instills in you, and your practice’s reputation and revenue. However, investing in the means to maintain a resilient network lets you maximize your network uptime to optimize resources.
We'll look at four different strategies and their benefits for your infrastructure so you can focus on what you do best: providing healthcare excellence to your patients.
Strengthening Network Infrastructure
The traditional way of doing things may be great for your remedies and techniques. Still, with a growing number of patients and their contextually relevant demands, your network needs to be able to accommodate many different booking requests, increase user activity on your server, and store sensitive patient information.
High-speed internet connections enhance your network performance and let you, your team, and your patients make the most of your uninterrupted uptime. Fiber-optic networks, when combined with load balancing and proper segmentation, can diffuse and direct network traffic efficiency and prevent congestion, which prevents downtime due to overload.
Implementing Network Monitoring and Management Tools
Much like your patients visit your practice to ensure everything is all right with the current state of their health, your network must also receive the same treatment. Identifying and pre-emptively resolving potential issues and vulnerabilities will prevent much more destructive or expensive problems from occurring.
Use real-time tools to monitor your bandwidth usage and gain visibility of potential bottlenecks. Tools that offer risk monitoring deliver alerts about critical events that pose a threat to your business continuity. Your IT team will be better equipped to troubleshoot issues promptly and optimize performance.
Conducting Regular Network Assessments and Audits
Once you have the proper monitoring tools to manage your network topology better, proactive troubleshooting is a great way to spot-check whether your current solution is working as it should. A network audit is much like proactive troubleshooting; you are looking to see if anything could harm the overall system and catch it before it can develop.
When auditing a network, the primary focus should be security measures. If patient and confidential data is not secure, the smooth operations of your business are the least of your worries. When conducting an audit, consulting with a network service provider will help identify issues with your protocols, data encryption, and firewall configuration.
Establishing Redundancy and Disaster Recovery Plans
Backing up private and confidential data is crucial to ensuring that sensitive information is not lost or exposed. Minimizing network downtime can often be achieved by having backup systems that will keep running in the event of an attack or outage. For example, a dedicated Cloud Access Network, power supplies, and switches will go a long way.
When creating an internet contingency plan, outline steps and protocols with your team that you will take in the event of a complete failure, including things such as brand reputation management, customer service, and data loss prevention.
Looking Forward
As the lines between in-person and digital are blurred, navigating the complexities of implementing a robust network is paramount to your business.
Strengthening your infrastructure, integrating redundant systems, and conducting regular audits and assessments with the proper monitoring and management tools will help you maximize uptime usage and minimize network downtime.
Although overwhelming, working with a reputable network service provider can help you embrace your network topology to remain competitive.
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Health Technology, Digital Healthcare
Article | September 7, 2023
Creative thinking explores the wonder world of creation. Creative thinking edit challenges and insert solutions. Thinking is not narrow minded; it is a brood minded side effect. Are you standing still , holding the sign detour? Detour signal and message “ you cannot go pass here.” This message is like concrete to narrow minded thinking.Brood minded thinking says it is another way, I will find it , dismissing blind spots.. Napeleon Hill stressed the importance of ones’ thoughts in his Book Think and Grown Rich. Yes, the drum beat rymthe of the mind is thinking and manifesting an outcome. Napeleon Hill message is to sweep yourself to success, lean on the Bibical scripture” As you think so shall you be” As you think so shall you be amplfies the constant and significant need for growth and expanding. An interesting simple guarantee; a burning desire and an idea survives on the basis of thought, of will, of consistency and of determination. Contary to desire is force of giving up. The giving up force is similar to a ballon that’s blown up , being popped or untied , spilling and releasing out the air that blew it up. While the barriers of thought can spout limits; heels of success potential are unlimited.
Thinking holds and embrace hands with the imagination, knowledge, visions,dreams, goals, wisdom,implementing a plan and an understanding. Consideration must ahere to a pattern of habit conditioning to implement and discover the enlightment engraved in devolping and being mindful of ones’thoughts.
Goals- action based ( preferably written instuctions for best results) providing guidance for a desired outcome. The necleus for goals achievement is : confidence, commitment, clarity, creavity and consistency. Determination, desire and discipline are unstoppable buddies who see each other everyday.This is goal code.
Imagination- imagination confess it is a continious activity seeking expression and is a storage center with creative wonders and unlimited possibilities.
Dream- Dreams are a reflection of a desire begging to be recognize and fillful its purpose.
Knowledge- Learning acquired through process of exposure,training ,education , reading, research or experiment
Vision: reflection or an image created by words. Vision boards are useful and should be accompanied by words to assist in creating a vision. For instance, hearding the words pinkchair will flash an image of a pink chair to your thoughts of a pink chair.
Plan- Plan is a diligent fan of goals. Plan provides instructional and clarity on a proposal; action to be taken and potential of its being productive, profitable and feasible. A plan is mission related, written and allow simple,easy and effective and steps for implementing
What are the influencers and principles that are weaved into creavtive thinking?
Thinking habits- how you see,explain and intrepret
Environment- exposure ,travel, and surrounding
Adversity- solution and problem solving based
Altitude- level of understanding
Knowledge- Learning structure
Experience- practical knowledge gained
Personal Development- promotion of ones’ learning and a concentrated effort to be informed
Do not clog the drain. Thoughts are useful things. Thoughts can nudge you to be creative. Remember information is abundant and thoughts have power to create. “You can be what you want to be, do what you want to do, have what you want to have” Rev. Ike. This idea is associate with creative thinking. Creative thinking is an affirmation for success. It is also stated “ change your thoughts, change your life” Wayne Dyer Think, speak and affirm is a side effect lingering in creative thinking.Creative thinking is the drum beat of the mind. As it is said, Give the drummer some!”So I will so I can” is a mind with thoughts and thinking that erase impossibe.
Think About This- Be creative
Wear shoes that fit
Do not hurt your feet
With sores of regret
Wounds of doubt
And blisters of neglect
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Digital Healthcare, Medical Devices
Article | May 17, 2023
Electronic medical records (EMR) conferences are vital for professionals who wish to stay updated on latest healthcare innovations. Join industry experts to tackle challenges and seize opportunities.
Electronic medical records (EMR) are digital versions of patients’ medical information. These can be managed, accessed, and shared by authorized healthcare providers within a single healthcare organization. Staying informed with the latest updates on EMR conferences is crucial for healthcare providers, administrators, and IT professionals responsible for implementing and maintaining these systems. Attending these conferences offers the opportunity to keep up with the latest trends and technologies, network with experts, earn continuing education credits, and enhance professional development in the rapidly-evolving healthcare landscape.
Explore the EMR conference schedule and highlights for the healthcare industry, featuring the best EMR conferences for medical professionals with a focus on digital health, electronic patient records, and other notable advancements. Attend these top events to stay informed and connect with industry experts:
1.MedInfo 2023
July 8 to 12 | Sydney
MedInfo, a health informatics event with the theme ‘The Future is Accessible’, will take place at the International Convention Centre (ICC). The conference aims to explore digital healthcare beyond borders and will feature 700 keynote speakers addressing over 3,000 delegates from more than 50 countries. The event will cover a diverse range of topics, with particular emphasis on nursing and digital health.
2.e-Health 2023 Conference and Tradeshow
May 28 to 30 | Toronto
e-Health, a premier event for Canadian digital health professionals, will be held at Beanfield Centre. Committed to making a difference in health and healthcare delivery, this annual conference & tradeshow has remained a vital epicenter of digital health discussion and debate since 2000, attracting a diverse line-up of in-demand speakers, expert panelists, presenters, and leading-edge exhibitors. Attendees can expect a wonderful platform to learn, connect, and engage with peers both nationally and globally, along with networking and knowledge-sharing opportunities.
3. Digital Healthcare World Congress 2023
May 23-24 | London
Digital Health World Congress 2023, slated to take place at Kensington Conference & Event Centre, will feature discussions on various medical and mobile technologies such as e-health, m-health, telehealth, telemedicine, genomics, biotech, life sciences, healthtech, genetics, pharma, and healthcare IT. This event will be crucial for healthcare professionals looking to gain insights into the latest developments in electronic medical records.
4. 11th International Conference on Internal Medicine & Patient Care
July 20-21 | Florida
The conference aims to explore the latest developments and advancements in the field of internal medicine through the theme of ‘Current Research and Advances in Internal Medicine’. It will cover topics such as dermatology, cosmeceuticals, and laser treatments, with a significant scientific session on ‘Electronic Medical Record and Disease Management’. Attendees can take advantage of opportunities to present their research, learn about career development, and gain insights into the latest tools & technologies. The conference promotes collaboration among young researchers and offers a chance to interact with peers and established leaders globally.
5. openEHR Conference
June 6 | Barcelona
openEHR aims to bring together healthcare professionals, medical informatics experts, care providers, researchers, authorities, regulators, and service providers. The event's theme 'No time to waste: building the lifelong, patient-centric EHR,' emphasizes raising awareness about the current state of semantic interoperability in healthcare. The objective is to enable different healthcare systems and applications to share and utilize patient data seamlessly and accurately, irrespective of the technology used, to create patient-centric electronic records that can be accessed and used throughout a patient's lifetime.
6. Oracle Health Conference
September 18-20 | Las Vegas
Attend the Oracle Health Conference to discover how Oracle Health is revolutionizing healthcare technology. Formerly known as the Oracle Cerner Health Conference, this event features innovative product demos, education sessions on industry challenges, and networking opportunities with like-minded peers. Gain insights into how technology can improve patient outcomes, enhance clinical efficiency, and drive innovation in healthcare organizations.
7. Electronic Medical Records Boot Camp
August 21-22 | Virtual
The upcoming Electronic Medical Records Boot Camp invites attendees to gain valuable insights into biostatistical methods for analyzing EMR data. This intensive two-day program features seminars and hands-on analytical sessions, providing attendees with an overview of electronic health data opportunities, statistical challenges, and the latest techniques related to electronic medical records. The program aims to help attendees leverage electronic medical records for better healthcare outcomes.
8. The Healthcare Innovation Congress
June 20 – 22, 2023 | Washington, DC
The Healthcare Innovation Congress (thINc360), formerly known as The World Health Congress, aims to bring together executives from a wide range of healthcare sectors. Over the course of three days, the conference will offer tailored educational experiences specifically designed for executives representing healthcare professionals, health plans, and hospitals.
9. Digital Health Transformation Summit 2023
May 22-24 | Chicago
This event aims to highlight how innovation is driving change across the healthcare industry, leading to gains in quality, affordability, accessibility, and sustainability. The panel of Modern Healthcare's Top 25 Innovators will discuss the latest innovative projects, products, and developments in healthcare, including the use of AI to leverage the abundance of patient data from EHRs and digital tools for improved diagnoses, treatments, and disease prevention.
10. World Medical Innovation Forum
June 12-14 | Boston
World Medical Innovation Forum (WMIF) is a global event that brings together leaders in healthcare investment, technology, manufacturing, and regulation at Westin Boston Seaport District. The forum, presented by Mass General Brigham and Bank of America, aims to advance patient-benefitting technologies by exploring the promise of new patient care and addressing the challenges to their development and investment. The ultimate goal is to find solutions to medical, operational, and economic challenges to benefit patients, providers, and healthcare organizations at the earliest feasible time.
11. Bits & Pretzels Healthtech
June 20-21 |Munich
Conference will focus on technology-driven healthcare innovation and its potential to enhance patient outcomes. The conference will explore the patient journey from prevention to aftercare, with a focus on technology's role in driving innovation. Attendees will examine how new technologies such as AI, bio 2.0, and IoT ingestible can improve healthcare delivery.
12. IHI Patient Safety Congress
May 22-24 | Maryland
Organized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), the event, which will take place at National Harbor, aims to bring individuals together who are passionate about ensuring safe and equitable care for patients in all settings, including hospitals, outpatient facilities, and homes. It will feature engaging speakers who will share their vision for smarter, safer care, and attendees will have access to practical workshops, which will provide real-world insights that can be implemented within their organizations. This event is a must-attend for anyone interested in shaping the future of patient safety.
13. Intelligent Health Conference 2023
June 14 | Pilestredet
The Intelligent Health Conference 2023 is an event organized by Intelligent Health Initiative at OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University to provide an update on the latest developments & research in the field of digital health. The event will bring together experts & researchers in the field to discuss the use of digital technologies such as AI and wearable devices for improved health services. The conference will focus on various technologies that are becoming an integrated part of daily life, including mobile health and applications, electronic medical records, and telehealth as well as telemedicine.
14. HealthTech Innovation Days
October 24-25 | Paris October 27 | Virtual
The fifth edition of HealthTech Innovation Days (HTID) event, organized by the non-profit organization HealthTech Care and initiated by France Biotech, aims to facilitate faster delivery of innovative products to patients by providing a platform for European life sciences stakeholders. The HTID event provides various activities to facilitate the progress of innovation, such as the chance to engage with knowledgeable professionals, participate in panel discussions led by experts from around the world, and obtain valuable insights into critical subjects.
15. Digital Health Innovation Summit
June 6-7, 2023 | California
The 23rd rebranded edition of Digital Health Innovation Summit, organized by World BI, will take place at Hyatt Regency San Francisco Embarcadero Waterfront Hotel. The event aims to provide a unique opportunity for professionals in the pharma, healthcare, and medtech industries to connect with thought leaders, explore the latest trends in digital health technologies & advancements in electronic medical records, and gain valuable insights to enhance patient care. With the participation of clinicians, scientists, entrepreneurs, biomedical engineers, patient advocates, and top technology providers, this summit will serve as a crucial gathering for professionals driving innovation in healthcare.
Wrapping Up
Participating in electronic medical records conferences can facilitate professional development, accrue continuing education credits, and help individuals stay abreast of the rapidly-evolving healthcare landscape. EMR conferences frequently offer focused conference tracks or sessions dedicated to various EMR-related topics such as implementation, data analytics, interoperability, privacy and security, and patient engagement. Participating in these specialized tracks can provide attendees with a more targeted and comprehensive learning experience, and can contribute significantly to improving the quality of healthcare delivery, enhancing patient outcomes, and driving innovation in the healthcare industry.
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