Manage My Practice

Manage My Practice is pleased to announce the first in a series of online classes for healthcare managers called “The Smart Manager Series.”

The first class will be held Friday, June 1, 2012 from 1:00 -2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The topic is “How to Start a Credit Card on File Program in Your Practice.”

This class has been developed to help managers of any experience level achieve the following objectives:

• Understand how a credit card on file program differs from traditional payment options offered by practices.
• Be able to assess the benefits of a credit card on file program for a practice.
• Learn the terminology and protocols of credit card processing.
• Compare credit card processing fees and choose a vendor based on an informed analysis.
• Utilize provided handouts to train staff and educate patients on the credit card on file program.
• Successfully implement a credit card on file program.

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• National Provider Call: Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs; Registration and Attestation for Eligible Professionals(jump to story)

• Provider Education Video Presentations Now Available on the CMS YouTube Channel(jump to story)

• Updates from the Medicare Learning Network(jump to story)

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Needlestick injury is a serious problem among healthcare workers.

It is estimated that 800,000 needlesticks occur each year in the US, with about 2% of these likely to be contaminated with HIV. The risk of infection with Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) from a needlestick injury is far greater than the risk of contracting HIV however (2% – 40% for HBV and 3% – 10% for HCV). This is due in part to the fact that the prevalence of HIV in the general population is lower than that of Hepatitis B or C. It is also due to the fact that a greater exposure to viral load is required to contract HIV than either HBV or HCV. While these are by no means the only infections that can be transmitted via a needlestick, they are among the most serious and all have the potential to cause death.

As one would expect, nurses and phlebotomists have the greatest incidence of needlestick injury.

Since the passing of the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard in 1991 and its revision in 2000, much more emphasis has been placed on preventing these types of injuries in the healthcare setting. Employers have the responsibility of protecting their employees and are required by law to institute policies and provide equipment that aids in this goal.

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As managers, providers and employees, we always have to be looking ahead at how the technology on our horizon will affect how our organizations administer health care. In the spirit of looking forward to the future, we present “2.0 Tuesday”, a feature on Manage My Practice about how technology is impacting our practices, and our patient and population outcomes.

We hope you enjoy looking ahead with us, and share your ideas, reactions and comments below!

HealthCamp RDU and Health Innovation Week DC Bring Stakeholders Together for Conversations on the Future of Healthcare

Over the next two weeks two separate events will give stakeholders from all ends of the healthcare spectrum a chance to be a part of an open-ended conversation about the future of care. HealthCamp RDU on Wednesday May 23rd in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Health Innovation Week, beginning June 2nd in Washington D.C. will be fantastic gatherings for providers, patients, advocates, managers, and vendors to come together, engage in conversation, and share their own experiences and visions for the future. With the large-scale changes taking place in healthcare today, more than ever it is critical to share your point of view, and events that bring together such a wide range of attendees offer fantastic opportunities to do just that. Check out their sites for more information on these great events!

(via The Health Care Blog , Triangle Business Journal)

Overheard in the Healthcare Cloud

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• CMS to Start Accepting Suggestions for PQRS Measures and Measure Groups (jump to story)

• New Rules Finalized by Health and Human Services to Cut Regulations for Hospitals and Health Care Providers (jump to story)

• Denise Buenning from CMS Answers the Industry’s Top Questions about the Version 5010 Upgrade (jump to story)

• Last Chance to Register for National Provider Call – Physician Quality Reporting System & Electronic Prescribing (eRx) (jump to story)

• CMS to Release a Comparative Billing Report on Evaluation and Management Services(jump to story)

• New and Revised Articles Posted to MLN Matters (jump to story)

• Updates from the Medicare Learning Network(jump to story)

• May is Hepatitis Awareness Month and May 19 is National Hepatitis Testing Day(jump to story)

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If you are like most people, you probably don’t even notice if a candidate smiles spontaneously. During interviews, most of us are so consumed with the candidate’s skills, and finding out if they can do the job, that we often over look important aspects that in many cases may be more important.

The funny thing is that you can teach people most any skill, but you can’t teach them to smile. And for people in the service industry, smiling is probably the most important skill of all.

While researching a talk, I came across this little story that Tom Peters told in one of his presentations.

I once said to a Starbucks regional manager, I’m stunned that almost all of your store people, from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, always sport a smile. What’s yoursecret?

She smiled as she answered:We hire people who smile!

And to keep them smiling?

We promote the ones who smile the most.

Could it be that simple?

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As managers, providers and employees, we always have to be looking ahead at how the technology on our horizon will affect how our organizations administer health care. In the spirit of looking forward to the future, we present “2.0 Tuesday”, a feature on Manage My Practice about how technology is impacting our practices, and our patient and population outcomes.

We hope you enjoy looking ahead with us, and share your ideas, reactions and comments below!

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The fine folks at Intuit have now put their free Webinar, “Meaningful Use: Gearing Up For Stage 2″ online for replay for anyone who didn’t attend the live version last week. In the program, speaker Elizabeth Woodcock (superb!) of Woodcock and Associates talks about the steps that a practice can take now to prepare to take advantage of CMS Meaningful Use payments in the future.

“In the meantime, I would argue, patients are clamoring for improved access to their physicians offices. I would recommend taking this momentum that we have related to meaningful use – where we’ve seen patient engagement, and the new proposed rules that are really focused on patient action – and we use this momentum to turn this challenge into an opportunity for the practice. Self-service technology, like a portal, can be the key to turning your challenge into this opportunity.”

The program is an excellent listen, and is a great way to get you thinking about Stage 2 for those who have not yet started!

Listen to the recording here.

• Medicare Enrollment/Revalidation: Requests for the IRS Form CP 575 (jump to story)

• Were You Sent a Request to Revalidate Your Medicare Enrollment? (jump to story)

• Submit Your Medicare Enrollment Application Up to 60 Days Before the Effective Date (jump to story)

• National Provider Call: Current Status of Medicare FFS Implementation of HIPAA Version 5010 and D.0 – Register Now (jump to story)

• Updates from the Medicare Learning Network (jump to story)

• Medicare Electronic Prescribing Payment Adjustment Hardship Exemption (jump to story)

• New Data Provides Info on EPs who Participated in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program in 2011 (jump to story)

• National Provider Call – Physician Quality Reporting System & Electronic Prescribing (jump to story)

• Additional Information on Home Health Face-to-Face Encounter Requirements (jump to story)

• Providers who Receive Error Codes H20203 and H45255 Need to Balance Bill (jump to story)

• Major Improvements to Medicare Online Enrollment System (jump to story)

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Anyone who has read my writing for any period of time knows that I am a big proponent of No Statements!

Patient statements are a waste of time and resources. Think of what your life might be like without statements:

No monthly expense to generate or send statements via electronic service or printing and stuffing.

1. No need to sort them out of the mail, open them, post them, copy or scan them, and deposit them.
2. No returned checks.
3. When three or more statements don’t zero-balance the account, no need to prepare the accounts to be sent to third-party collections and write them off.
4. No need to dismiss the patient from the practice.
5. No need to post any collections payments and adjustment to the accounts.
6. No need to deal with the patient when they want to return to the practice and you have to deal with it.

But what takes the place of statements?

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