The
timeline for ICD-10 coding system by healthcare organizations has
been delayed by a year to 1st Oct 2014. This has happened because a
unique healthcare identifier is to be created to streamline the
billing processes for providers. It will result in physicians having
to spend less time filling out forms and more time in patient care.
The implementation is expected to save doctors and insurers $4.6
billion over the next decade. Some groups have however called for a
detailed cost benefit analysis and a pilot test before the roll
out.
The delay in the implementation of ICD-10 coding system
has brought in mixed reactions from various concerned groups who have
debated on the pros and cons of such a step. Some feel that it will
only result in an escalation of costs in a significant manner. They
have urged for a clear path forward with the needed benchmarks. They
also have demands of reducing the host of regulatory burdens which
have been pushed on physician practices to allow them to focus more
on patient care. Groups which seem to welcome the proposed delay are
citing the need to have to accommodate the sheer number of government
programs and deadlines that Health IT leaders and organizations face.
They strongly feel that it will give the healthcare providers and
other concerned authorities the much needed time to prepare and fully
test their systems for a smooth implementation. However for the ones
who are still apprehensive about the whole concept and its
implementation, there is unlikely to be any change there. AHIMA is
dedicated to support the healthcare community with the transition to
a new code set which they feel will lead to, over a period of time,
better patient care and reduced costs.
For the providers who
are convinced of the inevitability of ICD-10 implementation and had
already started working towards meeting the earlier deadline, this
stretch in timeline in most cases is not slowing things down. Quite a
lot of them feel that since the process had gathered some steam, it
is better to move ahead with the same momentum. They do not want to
commit the mistake of decelerating or loosing focus. They do not want
to apply brakes to the flow of events, redirect their focus somewhere
elsewhere and later find themselves in a position where they have to
rush things to meet deadlines. Most of them have planned out the
order in which they are proceeding with the work. The extra time,
they fear, might only get spent to regain momentum if there is a
break in between. For the ones who were struggling with their senior
management to get some purchase, this extension in timeline will mean
more time to convince them in order to seek a turnaround. In order to
plan and strategize better to meet the new timelines, some
conferences have been held by Healthcare IT leaders to advice
concerned stakeholders on what they should be doing – from choosing
the right approach to the best suited platforms and
technologies.
Mindfire Solutions has successfully implemented
multiple Healthcare projects are Clinical
Web application development,
Ambulatory Care systems , Medicall billing Software and more in the
last 10+ years. We have a strong team of developers and Medical
Applications QA Testers who have the required domain expertise to
build systems suited Meaningful Use. To know more about our expertise
in Develop
Ambulatory Care systems
and to outsource Medical
Applications QA Testers,
please contact us at sales[@]mindfiresolutions.com or call
1-248-686-1424. We will be glad to help you.
The
opinion of people in the health IT industry on the usage of that
technology is tilted more towards acceptance and towards rapid
adoption is good. There are still a lot of people who question that.
The reelection of President Obama to the White House will obviously
mean that that the efforts which were hitherto directed towards this
area will continue such the Meaningful Use incentive program. People
holding critical positions are voicing their opinion on what they
feel could the turn of events moving forward. HITECH, HIPAA and other
health reform regulations will now be given the push by the
government in order to meet the target planned for their widespread
use. The providers are also expected to refocus their priorities and
take actions before the statutory deadlines and. Since the
republicans have retained the control over the House and the
Democrats of the Senates, efforts have to be put in by both parties
to find common ground since the budget allocated to this field will
form an integral part of the national budget. At the provider level
the audits are bound to be more stringent and with higher frequency
before payments are issued.
The widespread use of IT in
Healthcare has dramatically impacted the practice of medicine and
physicians who have collectively acknowledged the benefits that they
have been able to draw from it. At the same time they have not shied
away from expressing the issues that they have to confront– the
primary one being that of getting the blame for the errors not
necessarily in their control. For example, in the event of the
patients not taking active interest in their own health, under the
meaningful use, the primary physician is held responsible. They are
even penalized under the healthcare payment models.
Besides
getting to learn how to use new technologies like Customize
EMR system,
decision support systems and the likes, the capability and skills of
the physicians are put under scrutiny. Through the vast amount of
data which gets generated, every decision and step taken by
physicians who use the system is captured and so is open to analysis
at any point in time. This is bound to put pressure on them as they
go about their day-to- day work. They are also likely to be very
cautious and predictive in the manner in which they function so as to
avoid running into trouble. This can prove to be disastrous in those
cases which require physicians to try out methods in patient care
which are out of the ordinary. The provision to involve patients in
the treatment by allowing them to look into the clinical notes also
means more skepticism from the fraternity. Their concern is that it
will only result in more consumption of time in clearing confusions
and in having to explain every detail to their patients as thy are
not expected to be well versed in the medical lingo.
Mindfire
solutions has been developing IT solutions in Healthcare domain for
the past 10+ years. We have a team of certified experts who are aware
of the protocols which need to be followed to develop systems with
Meaningful Use. To know more about our expertise in Healthcare
software development
and to Develop
Electronic Medical Records,
please contact us at sales at mindfiresolutions dot com or call
1-248-686-1424.
Practice
management Systems go a long way in bringing convenience, efficiency
and accuracy in handling various tasks in medical setups –
scheduling appointments, verifying eligibility, storing patient
records , sending reminders tracking tasks , handling billing ,
checking insurance details and eligibility and generating customized
reports .All this results in freeing up of time which is then better
channelized towards providing Patient Care. Each of the sub-systems
handles an area which is critical to the overall value that a
Customize
Practice management System
has to offer.
Nothing helps save a physician’s time as a
scheduler. A scheduler can be set can be used from an appointment
calendar .Relevant information related to each of the appointments
can also be saved in it. Physicians or Administrators can view daily,
weekly and monthly spread of schedules and make modifications as per
the need of the hour. Various rules can also be set to control the
type or nature of appointments, also allow/deny over scheduling. All
these features help a lot in thorough utilization of Physician’s
time and reducing missed revenue opportunities. Superbills or
Encounter forms as they are known can be custom made so has to
include only the codes which are specific and relevant to the
practices from the otherwise master list which consists of thousands
of procedure and diagnosis codes used to document medical
services.
The design of the forms can also be custom made.
Besides the convenience factor, all this helps in considerable saving
of time and effort. Appointment reminders ensure increase in revenue
by reducing cases of no shows. The reminders can be configured to
send default emails in advance. There can also be provision to make
reminder calls with recorded messages to the patients.
Storing
of all the information related to a Patient goes a long way in saving
time used for managing them. Details which are entered include
demographics, insurance and health information and financial history
in addition to other relevant reports and documents. Advantage can be
taken of the demographics information to identify default providers
for patients. Documents such as lab reports, X-rays etc. can also be
uploaded and stored for future reference.
Access to insurance
details of patients is critical before registration and scheduling of
an appointment. The system allows verification of the benefits
eligibility at real time and patient's payment responsibilities, such
as the deductible, copayment, or coinsurance. This not only saves
time but also increases the collections by eliminating cases with
invalid or insufficient insurance details.
The billing module
can setting up standard fee schedules or insurance-specific
contracts. Just entering the standard codes for the procedures along
with the insurance specific details is enough to make the required
calculations needed to arrive at the billing amounts. A dashboard
provides an easy and convenient way to understand the state of
operations in your medical setup at any point in time. Through
charts, key performance indicators, shortcuts and to-do lists one can
have better control of activities and direct focus on areas which
need more attention and streamlining.
Mindfire Solution’s
team of experts for Medical Practice Management System development
has 10+ years of rich domain experience in Healthcare industry and
has successfully developed PMS solutions for a number of companies
spread across geographies. Our team of experts has an average
experience of 5 + years in the field of work. To know more about our
expertise in Medical
Software Development
and to outsource Healthcare
software development company,
please contact us at sales at mindfiresolutions dot com or call
1-248-686-1424.
The
financial incentives and push from the Health Information Technology
for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) and Meaningful Use has
resulted in an increasing number of healthcare providers starting to
use electronic records to capture patient information, track and
report clinical conditions and improve performance. Making this model
a success is hinged heavily on having a reliable infrastructure and
achieving a seamless transition to it. The need is to always have
clinical data safe and secure and most importantly always available.
With a desktop based system one gets restricted in many ways. In
order to keep up with the changing demands and a desire amongst the
medical professionals to provide better patient care created a need
to have access to patient information on the move. This led to the
development of web based Medical Practice
Management System development.
The
need for web based Practice Management Systems has been on the
increase ever since physicians have realized that PMS can actually
help them automate their workflows and that they are underutilized if
treated merely as digitized tools. Many factors have led to this
demand. Globally, there has been an increase in the use of cloud
based computing in healthcare. Practically, physicians have felt the
need to have the flexibility to see their patients at various
locations and not be constrained on having data available only at
fixed locations like clinics or hospitals. The later can prove to be
a big impediment – especially in cases of emergency. Lack of access
to relevant data generally in such cases results in delay in
providing patient care. Also the system which helps in meeting this
need has to ensure that the data is secure and consistent when
accessed by physicians on the move and on devices ranging from mobile
phones, laptops and tablets. Consistency of the data is equally
important as relevant patient
information
is received from different sources e.g. laboratories, hospitals,
other practitioners in an integrated healthcare system. Basically at
the ground level their need was to be able to have a simple yet fully
integrated system through which they could collaborate and review
patient records in real time and where data was completely
secure.
Many software development companies have actively
dedicated teams specializing in Web Based Practice Management System
development . Implementing the systems results in improving medical
staff efficiency, billing processes and frees up time for the
all-important job of providing better patient care. Generally a
comprehensive system has a streamlined registration and scheduling
process with provision for verification of patient data and checking
for the insurance eligibility and out-of-pocket payment agreement
followed by means of tracking medical claims. Besides handling all
these processes the system is required to adhere to the norms which
make them eligible for Meaningful Use eligibility. Auto updates takes
care of the need of the system to keep up with the change/updates in
the codes and rules that are essential for effective coding &
billing, including ICD 10 and ANSI 5010.
Mindfire Solution’s
team of experts for Medical Practice Management System development
has 10+ years of rich domain experience in Healthcare industry and
has successfully developed Web Based Practice Management Software for
medical setups ranging from single practices, group practices,
medical billing companies to surgery centers. Our team of experts has
an average experience of 5 + years in the field of work. To know more
about our expertise in Custom
medical software development
and to outsource custom
PMS development,
please contact us at sales at mindfiresolutions dot com or call
1-248-686-1424.
