Mary Pat and I had the pleasure recently of being introduced to Ron De Santo and his team at SelectOrtho DME. We are always excited to hear about new products and services bringing win-win solutions to physician practices and patients. SelectOrtho’s turnkey solution for in-office brace fitting is a way for the physician practice to add ancillary services while providing quality service to patients. As a changeup from our regular “10 Question” format, we thought it might be fun to do a video interview and Ron De Santo graciously agreed.
Mary Pat’s Interview with Ron De Santo of SelectOrtho DME Part 1 of 2
Click below for the second part of the interview!
We first met David Brooks last year when we interviewed him about his work at the start-up qliqsoft. David contacted us recently to tell us about a new company he started called Medlio.
Disclosure: Based on our belief in this product (you’ll see why!) we are proud to be advisors to Medlio.
Mary Pat: Medlio is called a “virtual health insurance card,” which is pretty intriguing right off the bat. Give us the back story on Medlio and tell us what it does for patients and for physicians.
I get pitched new products and services every day and it is pretty rare that I hear of something that is startlingly new. Informedika is just that – it addresses an old, old problem for practices in a new way. Continue reading for a very interesting interview with Informedika Founder and CEO Steve Yaskin.
Mary Pat: Tell us how Informedika came to be.
Steve: I am the founder and CEO of several high-tech companies in Silicon Valley and I’ve spent many years passionately solving problems using technology. In 2011 my attention turned to a problem that my wife, Dr. Inna Yaskin, faced in her medical practice every single day – the astoundingly inefficient process of ordering diagnostic tests and dealing with the results.
At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, doctors are saving time and sharing ideas using Box, a file-sharing and collaboration software that lets providers browse available medical documents and communicate with each other about treatment options. We are big believers in Box at Manage My Practice – we use it, and most of our clients end up using it too. Box is the only HIPAA-compliant file storage and collaboration service, and just like the doctors at Wake Forest, it makes our lives easier countless times a day. Wake Forest uses Box to store all of their medical journals and articles, as well as commenting on each file so that physicians can discussproceduresand treatment options. The doctors can access the repository from their tablets and smartphones, so that accessing detailed disease or treatment information is always as close as their mobile device.
Box is a simple and secure solution for sharing content with your coworkers, customers and audience. If you have moved your organizations’s practice management, electronic health record or email service to “the cloud” then it only makes sense to move your paperwork and content out of boxes and storage and into the cloud as well. If you have are using email attachments, a network drive, FTP server, or a non-compliant solution like Dropbox, then switching to Box can help your practice reduce your liability, stay HIPAA compliant, and store all of your digital content in a secure and accessible manner.
Box also makes mobilizing your workforce across locations easy. Box means your content is always available in a web browser, a phone or tablet, or synced on your desktop. Many of our consulting clients also use it to coordinate work and file across locations. If you have outsourced your billing or human resources, a shared folder in Box allows both locations to have the latest information and stay in touch.
Manage My Practice is a Certified Box Reseller, and would love to help you leverage Box to improve your practice’s workflow.
Many colleagues I speak with have a sense of or some experience with the tenets of “Lean.” But how does it really apply to healthcare – and is it really a way for medical practices to do more with less and maximize their resources? I recently spoke with Lean Healthcare Expert Mark Graban about where the rubber meets the road in healthcare.
Mary Pat: Most people have heard of Lean or have had some experience with it – can you explain what Lean is? (more…)
Most readers know that I have a special interest in helping physician practices survive and thrive, and have been writing recently about different models of care that physicians are adopting to make private practice financially viable. Here’s an interview with Scott Borden of Direct Care Consulting, who helps practices convert to a Direct Pay Model. ~ Mary Pat Whaley
Mary Pat: What is your background, Scott?
Scott: I am a passionate Health Savings Account (HSA) expert. My background has been in health insurance marketing and management for 23 years. I have been heavily involved with Consumer Driven Healthcare for the past 15 years. I have been both a talk radio show host and guest on hundreds of shows over the past 8 years. I have also been featured on several television broadcasts and been a guest speaker for dozens of organizations.
Mary Pat: Your company is calledDirect Pay Consulting and you help primary care practices transition to a Direct Payment Care (DPC) model – will you explain what that model is? (more…)
This is Patient Safety Week. Patient safety may bring to mind infections acquired in hospitals, but we know strides are being made to make hospitals, health centers and other patient care facilities much safer for patients.
But what are medical practices doing?
According a recent article in JAMA, primary care practices need to work harder at patient safety, but for reasons that might surprise you. The article cites communication and process issues as key to creating potentially unsafe situations for patients.
For anyone interested in implementing a credit card on file program in your practice – to increase collections, improve cash flow, and eliminate sending statements altogether – you’ll want to register now for Manage My Practice’s Webinar: Starting a Credit Card on File Program in Your Practice.
Tuesday March 5th, 2013 at 1 p.m. EST 10 a.m. PST join Mary Pat and I for a 60 minute session that will prepare you to plan, prepare, negotiate, and execute your Credit Card on File Program. Your patients and your staff will be happier – and so will you!
Register here for Tuesday’s Webinar.
Also, special thanks to Brandon Betancourt of Pediatric Incfor his very kind words about our webinar. Check out his blog!
And if you are interested in learning more about core practice operations, or just want to increase your knowledge and understanding of medical practice management, be sure to check out our new Revenue Cycle Management Webinar Series – a great way for anyone to strengthen and refresh their skills!
The User Experience, according to ISO Standards is defined as “a person’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service.” I recently had a User Experience at a new hair salon. I left my previous hair salon because I did not have a good experience there.
My new hair salon appears to be actively competing for my business (I show up for appointments, pay my bill and tip the stylists – what’s not to like?) and seems to have designed my salon experience to keep me coming back.
My Customer Experience at the New Salon:
Adding an employee to any business takes some serious consideration.
Regardless of whether you are replacing someone who left the company or you are adding an entirely new position, adding an employee is a serious commitment. At the point that you are ready to make an offer to a candidate, you have already invested labor and resources.
In healthcare, most employees (excluding Mid-level Providers and Technologists) do not generate revenue. Sometimes they are hired to accommodate increased patient volume as with the addition of a new physician, but they often are hired because it takes more administrative manpower to garner the same or less reimbursement from payers. In particular, there are more phone calls inbound and outbound, more pre-authorizations, more denials, more audits and more hoops to jump through to document, justify and confirm payment.
Before you add a position that will not generate more revenue, that is, one that is not related to more customers/patients needing more services for which they will pay, ask yourself these three questions. (more…)
