Care Coordination Tech Still Needs Work
Virtually all of you would agree that we’ll have to do a better job of care coordination if we hope to meet our patient outcomes goals. And logically enough, most of us are hoping that technology will help us make this happen. But from what I’ve seen, it isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Every now and then, I get a press release from a company that says a company’s tech has solved at least some part of the industry’s care coordination problem. Today, the company was featured in a release from Baylor College of Medicine, where a physician has launched a mobile software venture focused on preventing...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - July 26, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: Anne Zieger Tags: Care Management System EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare HealthCare IT Population Health Management Baylor College of Medicine ChartSpan ChartSpan Medical Technologies ConsultLink Digital Care Coor Source Type: blogs
5 Burnout Busters We Use In Our Practice
The last few weeks of school, my audiologist partner and I noticed a lot of tired body language and droopy eyes in our clinic’s pediatric population. We were expecting everyone to feel super-charged and excited for summer break, and then we realized—the kids were overworked and simply burned out. Between school, extracurricular activities, homework and speech-language sessions, the kids were DONE.
As clinicians, we recognize this in our patients, but we often find it difficult to recognize this extreme fatigue in ourselves. We, too, were experiencing an uptick in appointments, a push for all types of end-of-year ev...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 25, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Jody Vaynshtok Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology avoiding burnout Practice Management private practice Professional Development Source Type: blogs
What 9 SLPs Learned at ASHA ’ s Private Practice and Health Care Connect Conference
Caption: Gary Altobella, owner of The Synapse Health Group, LLC, talks to Private Practice Connect participants about aligning clinical and business approaches.
Juliane Pearson took the leap from working as a school-based speech-language pathologist to opening her own private practice a year ago. So she came to ASHA’s Private Practice Connect to get some ideas and strategies—and she was not disappointed.
“I’m lucky I’m still small,” she said after attending a presentation on the importance of tracking patient and practice-pattern data by Shannon Butkus. “I can put the tracking system in place now, and it will...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 10, 2017 Category: Speech-Language Pathology Authors: Carol Polovoy Tags: Speech-Language Pathology Practice Management private practice Professional Development Source Type: blogs
Patients Message Providers More When Providers Reach Out
A new study has concluded that patients use secure electronic messaging more when their primary care providers initiate and respond to secure messages.
To conduct the study, the research team worked a large database stocked with information on health care transactions and secure messaging records on 81,645 US Army soldiers. The data also included information from almost 3,000 clinicians with access to a patient portal system. The dataset encompassed the 4-year period between January 2011 and November 2014.
The data, which appears in a paper published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, suggests that current provi...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - April 26, 2017 Category: Information Technology Authors: Anne Zieger Tags: Digital Health EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare Patient Portal Practice Management Doctor Messaging Journal of Medical Internet Research Patient Engagement Patient Messaging Physician Messaging Source Type: blogs
Want to Share Professional Insights, Innovative Research or a Successful Approach With Your Peers?
Have you ever thought about presenting your ideas to your peers? Are you a bit nervous or unsure if others will learn from what you want to share? Well, we want to hear and learn about your successes, innovative research or ideas, and what works in treatment or practice.
Take this opportunity to share your success stories: The co-located conferences of Schools Connect, Health Care Connect and Private Practice Connect are accepting oral and poster session proposals until February 15.
Conferences and presentations help our profession grow and connect people working in the communication sciences and disorders profession...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - February 1, 2017 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Laura Young-Campbell Tags: Advocacy Audiology Events News Speech-Language Pathology ASHA Convention Health Care Practice Management private practice Professional Development Schools Source Type: blogs
Set New Year ’ s Goals for Your Practice
“The ability to set goals is essential to effective problem solving; and by default, is essential to self-management, and self-determination.” –The Brain Injury Resource Center, Seattle
The new year sees us setting personal resolutions and goals for bettering our lives. As clinicians, we start patient treatment plans by establishing realistic, measurable and timely goals. However, as businesses, we often let the new year pass by without establishing goals to improve our clinics’ business practices.
This year, my business partner—audiologist Melissa Wilson—and I challenge fellow audiologists and speech-languag...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - January 31, 2017 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Jody Vaynshtok Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Practice Management private practice Professional Development Source Type: blogs
Our 2017 Priorities
In early 2016, I wrote about the 5 pillars of the BIDMC 2016 work plan - social networking, mobile, analytics, cloud, and keeping data private (SMACK)As we begin 2017, what should be the focus of our work over the next year?1. Embrace Social Networking concepts in our workflow, including the EHRRegardless of the policies, repeals, and delays of the Trump administration, we ’ll still need to optimize usability and support the four goals of value-based purchasing - quality measurement, total medical expense management, practice process improvement and technology adoption. BIDMC has already created a prototype of grou...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - January 4, 2017 Category: Information Technology Source Type: blogs
By The Numbers: Our Progress In Digitizing Health Care
Over the past seven years, the United States has seen a historic health IT transformation, moving from a primarily paper-based health system to one where virtually everyone has a digital footprint of their care because of the dramatic uptake of electronic health records (EHRs). Recent data have helped quantify just how rapidly technology has transformed clinical settings. Today, nearly all hospitals (96 percent) and nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) physicians use certified EHRs. This transformation is the result of 2009’s Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, when fewer than one in 1...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - September 29, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Karen DeSalvo and Vindell Washington Tags: Featured Health IT Hospitals Organization and Delivery EHRs electronic health records Health Data Source Type: blogs
Switching EHRs, The Trends And What To Consider
The following is a guest blog post by Winyen Wu, Technology and Health Trend Blogger and Enthusiast at Stericycle Communication Solutions as part of the Communication Solutions Series of blog posts. Follow and engage with them on Twitter: @StericycleComms
In recent years, there has been a trend in providers switching Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems: according to Software Advice, the number of buyers replacing EHR software has increased 59% since 2014. In a survey by KLAS, 27% of medical practices are looking to replace their EHR while another 12% would like to but cannot due to financial or organizational constrain...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - September 8, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: John Lynn Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare HealthCare IT AthenaHealth Cerner Communication Solutions Series eCW EHR Switching Epic Stericycle Stericycle Communication Solutions Winyen Wu Source Type: blogs
If MACRA Fails, It Will Be a Failure of IT, Not Doctors or Regulators
The following is a guest blog by Steve Daniels, president of Able Health.
There has been a whole lot of mudslinging over the last month between regulators and healthcare providers over MACRA, which shifts Medicare payments further toward pay-for-performance starting January 1. On the one hand, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt is clear that CMS is ready for change. “We need to get out of the mode of paying physicians just to run tests and prescribe medicines,” he told a Senate Finance Committee hearing. Meanwhile, Dr. Thomas Eppes of the American Medical Association has called MACRA a “quantum shift” and pus...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - August 8, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: Guest Blogger Tags: Digital Health EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare HealthCare IT MACRA Meaningful Use Population Health Management Practice Management American Medical Association Andy Slavitt CMS Dr. Thomas E Source Type: blogs
Collaborative Speech, Language and Hearing Evaluations
In line with screening best practice, my business partner—audiologist Melissa Wilson—and I offer a hearing screening with every speech-language evaluation in our private practice. From the early planning stages, collaboration through joint evaluation has been the focus of our practice.
After some trial and error, we devised a fiscally smart system that provides a holistic snapshot of a child’s communication skills to their family.
So how does it work? When a family books an appointment at our clinic, we arrange for a joint evaluation to determine if hearing loss is a contributing factor to a speech-language delay. ...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 26, 2016 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Jody Vaynshtok Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Practice Management private practice Source Type: blogs
Picking the Right Electronic Billing/Documentation System for Your Practice
Are you a private practitioner looking to select a billing system or an integrated electronic billing and clinical documentation system? The prospect can seem daunting, especially if you’re trying to grow your business. Like many professionals, speech-language pathologists and audiologists get lots of formal education about the clinical aspects of practice, but little on business management topics like revenue-cycle management and the technology used to support it.
Whether you’re seeking a billing/documentation system for a new practice or you’re a seasoned private practitioner searching for a more effective s...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - July 21, 2016 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Jeanene Johnson Tags: Audiology Speech-Language Pathology Practice Management private practice Source Type: blogs
E-Patient Update: Don’t Give Patients Needless Paperwork
Recently, I had an initial appointment with a primary care practice. As I expected, I had a lot of paperwork to fill out, including not only routine administrative items like consent to bill my insurer and HIPAA policies, but also several pages of medical history.
While nobody likes filling out forms, I have no problem with doing so, as I realize that these documents are very important to building a relationship with a medical practice. However, I was very annoyed by what happened later, when I was ushered back into the clinical suite.
Despite my having filled out the extensive checklist of medical history items, I was as...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - July 6, 2016 Category: Information Technology Authors: Anne Zieger Tags: EHR Electronic Health Record Electronic Medical Record EMR Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Communication HealthCare IT Patients e-Patient Medical Groups Medication Lists Patient Forms Practice Management Primary Care Source Type: blogs
Is It Worth Being A Member Of The American Academy Of Pediatrics?
I asked a newly graduated pediatrician if she was going to renew her membership with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Her response did not surprise me. She said, “…probably not. I see no point in being a member.”
As far as she was concerned, there wasn’t an upside ( or value ) to belong to the Academy. I knew what she meant because I share her feelings.
Recently I came across an email that challenged my stance regarding the value the American Academy Of Pediatrics provides to pediatricians.
I wanted to share the email just as I read it. Below are the unedited comments from Dr. Suzanne Berman and...
Source: Pediatric Inc - June 7, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: pediatricinc Tags: Leadership AAP American Academy of Pediatrics Christoph Diasio MD Pediatricians SOAPM Suzanne Berman MD Vaccines Source Type: blogs
Is It Worth Being A Member Of The American Academy Of Pediatrics?
I asked a newly graduated pediatrician if she was going to renew her membership with the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Her response did not surprise me. She said, “…probably not. I see no point in being a member.”
As far as she was concerned, there wasn’t an upside ( or value ) to belong to the Academy. I knew what she meant because I share her feelings.
Recently I came across an email that challenged my stance regarding the value the American Academy Of Pediatrics provides to pediatricians.
I wanted to share the email just as I read it. Below are the unedited comments from Dr. Suzanne Berman and...
Source: Pediatric Inc - June 7, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Authors: Brandon Tags: Leadership AAP American Academy of Pediatrics Christoph Diasio MD Pediatricians SOAPM Suzanne Berman MD Vaccines Source Type: blogs
