Advance Electronic Medical Practice Management in 2015

Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) are replacing outdated paper record systems. The U.S. government has mandated a nationwide switch to EMRs by 2015, and is prepared to offer up to $64,000 in incentives for medical practices that adopt the new technology.

The 2009 law creating the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive program established payment reductions that begin in 2015 for eligible physicians and other health professionals. The incentive structure pays Medicare bonuses of up to $44,000 over five years, although bonus payments sent after April 2013 are reduced by 2% because of the recent federal budget cuts known as sequestration.

Physicians must adopt EHRs and begin to meet meaningful use requirements by July 2014 to stop the penalty from taking effect in 2015. The penalty would reduce Medicare pay by 1% for the first year and grow to 3% by 2017. Starting in 2015, hospitals and practices are expected to be well along in demonstrating their meaningful use of EMRs — for this reason, the report concludes that most EMR prominent adoption will have been accomplished in two years’ time, and thus, the market will wane.

2015 Six Action Items for Every Medical Practice:

• Develop your patient portal.
• Implement an EHR, if you don't already have one.
• Develop your website.
• Get active on social media.
• Prioritize cyber security.
• Pay attention to your reputation.

EHR Audits to come in 2015

• Identify EHR system fraud and determine "how certified EHR systems address these vulnerabilities.
• Review Medicaid and Medicare EHR incentive payments and ascertain if providers or hospitals received payments they should not have received.
• Analyze the IT security of community health centers funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration.
• Review the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services health information technology systems and verify the agency adopted necessary security controls to protect EHR data.

Your mission is to provide quality care for your patients while at the same time managing your practice's with our healthcare revenue cycle management to streamline workflows and help ICD-10 code transition with our compliance in medical coding and billing services.

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How EMR Will Impact Medical Transcription

EMRs or Electronic Medical Records digitally store patient information and medical history, diagnostic test results, and physician notes on treatment and medication. The U.S. health care administration mandates that all hospitals and healthcare facilities make the transition to EMR by 2014. Patient information is entered into the EMR directly entry by the physician using point and click templates. The stored data can be easily accessed and shared, thereby helping healthcare professionals to work better and take the right decisions about patient care.

Medical transcription services help medical centers, treatment clinics and individual doctors get precise transcripts of their dictation in customized turnaround time. If performed in-house, this procedure can be time-consuming and difficult, demanding additional investment and leaving doctors with little here we are at their core responsibilities.

What it Means to Have Electronic Medical Records

• Will allow physicians and nurses to access patient information easily and simultaneously; this saves a lot of time in determining and delivering care.
• All paper records are converted to digital format. This allows healthcare information to be updated easily.
• Better legibility and completeness are assured; chances for errors are minimized.
• Patients can access their records and receive reminders on tests and procedures.

Integration with EMR is made possible through the adoption of interfaces such as HL7 which allows important healthcare information to be easily exchanged between computer applications. Seamless integration into the electronic record system allows them to improve productivity and patient care. It allows transcribed patient information to quickly reach the healthcare provider quickly, smoothly and safely. All this is possible by choosing the right medical transcription company.

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EHRs Can Place Excessive Data Entry Burden on Physicians

JOHNSON CITY, TN -- A new study by WebChartMD indicates that as little as 7% of data in a typical patient note is required to be structured in order to meet Meaningful Use. The percentage rose to 9% when lab data was present.

The study analyzed one hundred de-identified orthopedic and cardiovascular patient notes obtained from MTSamples.com.

While a larger body of documents needs to be analyzed to confirm study findings, the key takeaway appears to be that as much as 91% to 93% of data typically captured within EHRs in a structured format (e.g. Point-and-click templates and drop-down boxes) could instead be captured as unstructured data (e.g. Dictation and transcription, or free-text entry) and still meet Meaningful Use requirements.

"This study is especially relevant for physicians frustrated by the negative impact EHRs can have on their patient interactions and their productivity," said Mark Christensen, WebChartMD's CEO. "Physicians are often asked to capture more data in a structured format than Meaningful Use requires."

Data Required To Be Structured For Meaningful Use Are:

• Demographics (preferred language, sex, race/ethnicity, date of birth) 
• Vital signs (height, weight, blood pressure, BMI) 
• Smoking status 
• Problem list 
• Medication list 
• Medication allergies 
• Lab tests/values 
• Minimum of one Family History entry 

According to Elisabeth Myers, Policy and Outreach Lead at the CMS, much of the data routinely documented as part of the patient encounter - such as the History of Present Illness, Assessment, and Plan, to name a few key document sections - can be incorporated into the patient record within the EHR as unstructured data without any way preventing the physician and clinic from meeting Meaningful Use.

"Too many physicians struggle with their EHRs when they simply don't need to be," said Christensen. "A greater use of dictation and transcription could represent a faster and easier means of documenting large portions of their patient encounters."

Adding dictation and transcription is easier than many physicians realize. "Virtually every EHR is capable of incorporating transcription into the patient note via what's called an interface," said Nathan Mitchell, WebChartMD's Operations Manager. "Setting up an interface can take anywhere from 30 minutes to six weeks, and requires the cooperation of the EHR vendor."

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