I’ve been thinking about the medical office of the future. How would you design a building today that is meant to take you into the future? Here are my thoughts.
One of the hallmarks of a well-designed office, today or tomorrow, is flexibility. You want as much functionality as you can possibly get out of each space and use each space for as many purposes as possible.
For instance, a large room with lots of voice and data jacks or wireless and electrical outlets might be used for:
- Physician meetings, staff meetings or parties
- Group patient visits
- In-house health fair
- Staff or patient training
- Public meetings
- War room for disaster management or ad hoc project (medical record scanning prior to an EMR go-live)
- Conversion to workstations for a merger with another group
- Place to do group sports or college physicals, flu shot clinics, DOT physicals
I see reception and waiting areas getting smaller as patients have less time and are less willing to wait. Patients may not have to wait at all if you are sending them a text message or Twitter when the doctor is ready to see them. Some practices will not have waiting areas as patients will be escorted directly into exam rooms where the entire visit, from soup to nuts, will take place. Instead of going to the lab, the lab might go to the patient – see a phlebotomy application on a handheld device here.
Registration may be replaced by check-in kiosks that totally automate the process, including a vitals booth which takes the patient’s weight, blood pressure, oxygen levels and temperature. Patients and their demographic and insurance information may be identified by fingerprints or iris scans. You may have a receptionist avatar greeting patients. Here’s a cool video that shows a virtual administrative assistant (the first 2 minutes of the video.)
Fixtures are movable – storage cabinets are on wheels and not permanently attached to walls. Any room can be an exam room, a treatment room, a test room, a procedure room, simply by moving the cabinet with the needed items and the machines, which will be handheld. See an example here.
Providers’ phones are their everything. Their mail, patient records, test results, journals, phone calls, and their family pictures are on their phone, so no need for an “office.”
As always, non revenue-producing space is minimized and revenue-producing space is maximized.
The need for storage of paper (records, forms, etc.) is minimized because everything is digitized and stored on the cloud. The need for staff workstations is minimized because many staff work for the practice from home.
Medical records are not viewed on computer screens, they are projected onto walls in any room, at any time. See the TED Talk on the Sixth Sense technology here.
Many patients are seen at home or in the nursing home, with the provider in the office using telemedicine technology or virtual office visits.
Medication samples will not be given at the physician office – they will be distributed at the pharmacy. All medications will be samples (no cost) until it is established that it is the effective medication for that patient’s problem.
Here’s a neat video from Microsoft about healthcare of the future. It will get your mind racing about the possibilities.
Microsoft Health – Future Vision from Microsoft Feed on Vimeo.
It’s frightening and exciting – might there be no need at all for brick and mortar physician offices? I think it’s very likely.
What are your ideas about the medical office of the future?
I heard something this morning on National Public Radio (NPR) that really got me excited – a very short snippet from Tim Brown about a project he’d like to work on – his vision of the electronic medical record of the future. I think it’s worth 3 minutes of your time to listen to how his team has been working on health care problems, the key to the creative answers, how to get buy-in and what he would really love to to get his hands around.
I invited readers of MMP, colleagues on LinkedIn, and Tweeps (friends on Twitter) to comment on my post “101 ideas for Increasing Revenue and Decreasing Expenses.” I’ve listed their ideas below and hope you’ll chime in on the comments with even more ideas! Thanks to everyone for contributing.
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Partner at B2B CFO® – Experienced CFO for Rent. Fast, Effective, Affordable.
Consider adding a part-time CFO to the mix. Many medical offices have very weak financial capability or understanding. Assistance can range from better financial reports, capital expenditure analysis, budgeting and exit plans.
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Eastern Region Sales Manager – Billing Tree
1) Build a relationship with the patient before he/she leaves the practice.
2) Make sure they know you are expecting payment on the portion they owe, and when you are expecting that payment.
3) Let them know what your process is for collecting, and when they will go to an outside agency.
4) Enable a web site to take payments 24 hours a day.
5) Set up an IVR system to take phone payments after hours.
6) Communicate your available payment acceptance methods in writing, on the phone and every time you speak with your patients.
7) Send the invoice or statement when you intend to send it.
Re-inforce the payment acceptance methods on the first and any subsequent invoices.
9) Adopt a plan for following up with any patients that don’t pay after 10 days.
10) Get email addresses from all of your patients and their permission to contact them in that manner.
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Sr. Product/Process Trainer and EDI Implementation Consultant
One suggestion would be to integrate the revenue cycle mangement function with your clearinghouse {for electronic billing} with integrated solutions like Coding database and Updates, Industry Broadcast, Performance and Audit reports for Claim Edits, Transmission and Rejects. Also, better training resources for billing staff actively into the practice management system.
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Consultant at Pacific Women’s Medical Group
I would add effective cash management (even if interest rates are so low).
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Medical and Business Consultant at Transworld Systems
Utilize a Flat Fee Collections Agency for Non-responsive Patient Pay concerns.
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Principal Consultant – Culbert Healthcare Solutions
- Do you collect co-payments on the way in rather than on the way out?
- Does your PM/Scheduling system show the patient co-payment and outstanding patient balance in the appointment screen? If not, then can you download a listing for your front desk staff?
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DPT Healthcare Consulting & Training
I’d like to add “acknowledge the patient with eye contact” and offer “polished customer service” and they will WANT to return = return on your $ $
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Managing Partner, Dynamic Grape Companies
One other thought… don’t be afraid to try new technology. For example, one of my clients has developed a kiosk that allows patients to take their own weight and bp and electronically feeds the data into their EMR. The whole set up costs about $3500 and can save a ton of staff time. Tele-health in general should also be considered.
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VP at Operations
If you select a reasonably priced EMR and you implement enhancements then you more than save on staff cost. Keep in mind that my practice rolled out the EMR five years ago, so we have had time to get it right. Here are some of the savings/revenue opportunities:1. We utilize our electronic technology to send text messages and emails to our patients to remind them of their appointments. This function alone saves my practice one FTE. Not only do we save with staff time we improve patient satisfaction, as our Blackberry users loves the email or text that they can directly add to their calendars. The revenue enhancement to this function, we decrease no shows and lag time in our physician’s schedules.
2. The robust reporting within the EMR allows the organization to assemble important quality measures that we use in contract negotiations. Without the EMR this would be a labor intensive task.
3. We are able to push a secure message to our patients regarding their pathology results saving staff time on the telephone and increasing patient satisfaction by eliminating a visit just to obtain a normal result.
4. No more chasing charts for a phone message. My call center takes ALL clinical messages. This is attached to the patient’s electronic chart and routed to either a nurse to respond or a physician. This process greatly reduces staff time, decreases the time it takes to respond to the patient’s issue and provides a legal record of the telephone call which is often missed in a paper environment.
5. We receive a discount on our mal-practice insurance because in an electronic environment it is guarantee that your notes are legible.
6. The formulary function built into most EMR’s provides the physician will a real time snapshot if a prescription that he/she is about to write is covered by the patient’s health plan and provides alternatives if available.
I have just highlighted only a couple examples of the administrative benefits. There are many more. It is tough to imagine going back to a paper chart.
I have done the math and we could cover our current EMR with the incentives offered through the government initiative.
I will comment that physicians need to be trained on how to use the EMR. You can lose site of the patient and focus the entire visit on the computer versus the patient, however, we teach our physicians that the patient first and then chart completion. We conduct patient satisfaction surveys and I rarely receive a complaint regarding the physician’s time at the computer. I do however, receive praises from patients regarding the ePrescribe as it decreases their wait times when the arrive at the pharmacy, the prescription is ready.
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Okay Readers, it’s your turn – what’s your secret weapon for increasing revenue or decreasing expenses?
Mary Pat
I have been a fan of Chris Brogan’s for quite awhile now. He is a superstar on the social media landscape and I almost got to meet him once when I lived in Seattle (sigh.) Today I came across his post “5 Things That Small Businesses Should Do Now.” Many medical practices are small businesses (privately owned and operated, with 100 employees or less), but may have not considered any of these options.
Here are Chris’s suggestions and my commentary:
- Start a blog – I can’t think of any simpler website technology to start and master, and there are cheap and free platforms readily available. Why a blog? Because they’re easy to create, because they’re easy to update, because they encourage repeat visits, and because you can use them in many flexible ways.
My comment: Most practices have websites and it is easy to add a blog to a website. Some administrators and/or physicians would gladly take on a blog, and if not, there are some great writing professionals who can create and write a blog for you. Professional bloggers get to know your practice and your patient demographic and create a voice for your practice that uniquely fits you. A blog extends and enhances your relationship with existing and future patients. It’s all about the communication.
- Start listening – People are talking about you. Find out where they are and who they are.
My comment: It has been hard for physicians to come to terms with the fact that patients are publicly rating them. In some cases, physicians are requiring consumers to sign gag orders before becoming patients. The truth is, patients will not be stifled and physicians need to monitor the bandwaves for commentary about them and take it seriously.
- Try Twitter OR Facebook – Let’s not rush things. Facebook has many more users, but it’s a bit harder to find customers, prospects, partners and colleagues. Twitter is easier to use and faster to connect with people, but there are far fewer users on there today. I’ll let you choose. If you go with Facebook, make a personal account under your own name, and then start a fan page for your business.
My comment: Does this seem too far out? It’s not! At the very least, practices should be learning about the technology and preparing for the time when they will need to jump in. Businesses (who want customers) can no longer hold themselves aloof. You need to be part of the conversation, or at least know where/what the conversation is.
- Get the word out – If you’re going to spend time building these social sites, let’s presume that you want more people to contact you and interact with you through them. Print business cards with the company name, and/or the request for people to join your fan page or follow you on Twitter.
My comment: Your website and your social sites should be on everything you print that patients take home or receive from you, and can also be communicated to patients via automated communication: appointment reminders, messages on hold, emails, and electronic newsletters.
- Try moving the needle – now lets really get crazy. See if you can fill the place up with social-media minded folks. Okay, this won’t work for every business, but don’t be too quick to count out the idea. Let’s try inviting them to a store-only special event, or let’s give them a discount code. You know, the stuff you already know how to do. Any difference in the results? See if you can do some kind of really special one-day-only push, and what that brings to you.
My comment: This won’t work for every medical practice but it’s ideal for practices with elective services – plastic/cosmetic surgery, allergy, complementary & alternative medicine, sports performance, vision correction, cosmetic dental services, infertility treatment, etc.
I wrote this post for the MGMA In Practice Blog and have republished it here for my readers.
I resigned from my job managing an orthopedic group on Jan. 20, 2009, and I remember thinking, Who leaves a job during a recession? Well, I did, and what follows is what I learned on my three-and-a-half month journey to my new position.
- Visit the MGMA Career Center job search site often. Try different categories and occasionally check categories you don’t think you fit in – you never know. I don’t suggest this because I am writing for the MGMA blog, I suggest it because it is a resource that I believe in.
- Four state MGMA sites integrate their “jobs boards” with the MGMA Career Center: Colorado, Georgia, New Jersey and Montana. Search other state MGMA sites; some allow non-members to access the job listings.
- Get a LinkedIn account (free) at LinkedIn.com and complete your profile, connect with colleagues, join groups and start networking. There are healthcare jobs listed exclusively on LinkedIn, as well as an aggregation of jobs listed elsewhere. Joining MGMA’s new LinkedIn group will help expand your network even more.
- In addition to LinkedIn, be sure to have your expanded resume on the web. MGMA provides a platform for this, as does VisualCV.com (free). I use VisualCV.com because it allows me to include articles I’ve authored, recommendations from former employers and even video. I’ve gotten a number of quality calls from recruiters who saw my expanded resume online.
- Contact consultants to let them know you are in the market. MGMA has a consulting arm that often places healthcare executives, and you can also search for consultants via the MGMA Member Directory (members only) which at last count numbered about 640.
- Contact your colleagues and MGMA friends to let them know you’re looking. If you are looking for employment in a particular region or community, contact managers working there and let them know about your search.
- Look on Craigslist.org. Yes, really! You would be amazed who advertises there.
- If you expect to relocate, having a home to sell may be a hiring stumbling block because of the housing market. Employers want to know you’ll be available to work when they want you. If you don’t have a home to sell, mention that in your cover letter/e-mail.
- When you apply for a position, ask the receiver to let you know that your e-mail arrived. If they respond, take the opportunity to respond back, which helps you to stand out from the pack and gives you a name to follow up with in a few weeks by e-mail.
- There is a pack! Some employers told me they had received more than 200 mostly qualified applications for open positions. How do you stand out in that kind of a crowd? Network, network, network. Find out whether you or someone you know knows someone at the potential employer and work it. LinkedIn has an excellent system for finding out who you know that works at the employer you are targeting.
- Join more listservs on the MGMA Member Community (members only). Step outside your current/past specialties and join other professional e-mail lists to listen and contribute to the conversation. Respond when someone talks about a job opening.
- Talk to recruiters. Recruiters don’t owe you anything, but they are worth including in your search. Get into the minds of a recruiters and see what tactics they’re using on social networking platforms to fill jobs.
- Don’t spend much time on non-healthcare job boards. The likelihood that you will find the job of your dreams on Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com is low.
- Don’t be afraid to look for a job on Twitter. This is what I tweeted: “Calling on the Power of Twitter: looking for new job: private (phys) practice mgmt/other healthcare opp. Innovator, Blogger. DM me – Thx.” If you want to jump into Twitter but don’t know what it’s all about, read this post at my blog, Manage My Practice, or MGMA’s Twitter guide. Twitter has recruiters, consultants, employers, job boards and colleagues and is one of the fastest-growing social networks. It can significantly expand your networking scope.
- Share information with other job seekers in your market. Don’t be afraid to share your leads with others – it’s good networking karma!
- Two sites I found useful during my job search are CareerAlley.com and Alltop.com. Career Alley is a good all-purpose site with lots of job search information and resources, such as a tracking spreadsheet that helps you document your leads. Alltop is an ever-growing aggregator of other sites – try looking under “jobs” and “careers.”
Remember, the Internet doesn’t replace traditional networking – it supercharges it! The important thing is to get out there and make connections, share information and let people know what value you bring to a practice. Even with all the social networking I did, my opportunity came the old-fashioned way: A colleague and consultant I knew well from the state and regional levels of MGMA recommended me for a job, and here I am. Good luck!
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Steve Malik, the CEO and Founder of Medfusion. Medfusion offers an array of products to the healthcare industry including physician websites and patient/provider portals. With a background in healthcare billing and eligibility, Steve has been in a unique position to guide his company to solutions that make good sense financially and efficiency-wise for physician practices. Steve predicts that Medfusion will be serving more than 40,000 physicians by the end of 2009 and says that “patients are used to the world of self-service, and physician offices want to offer that option.” He sees practices ultimately offering completely automated check-in (including collecting payments) prior to the office visit similar to airline kiosks.
Based in Cary, North Carolina, Medfusion enjoys the distinction of being named the leader in patient portals by KLAS, a company which independently monitors and ranks healthcare technology vendor performance. The HIPAA-compliant patient portal developed by Medfusion allows patients and providers to communicate and share protected health information and private identifiers such as social security and credit card numbers via a secure portal. Medfusion’s secure portal empowers patients and practices in a number of ways including:
- Secure online bill pay.
- Appointment reminders and lab results messages.
- Patient registration, demographic and health history completion online.
- Completion of a history of present illness prior to the visit.
- eVisits or Virtual Office Visits for established patients. Patients may pay out-of-pocket for the visit or pay a co-pay and the practice can file for the balance of the reimbursement (note: payers, most notably BC/BS, are starting to pay for virtual visits.)
- Shared patient communication between practices. Practices that refer patients to a specialty practice can make that referral electronically and can follow-up on the patient’s progress via the portal.
- “Chat with a Biller” function.
- Appointment requests and requests for prescription refills.
- Credit card payments without the use of a credit card machine; online payment plans that automatically drafts the patient’s credit or debit card monthly.
- Patient refunds via the web portal.
Medfusion has strategic relationships with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to provide website services to their member practices. Steve is an active speaker and presenter on technology in healthcare , and is widely quoted in industry publications. The company also has a relationship with Allscripts and Origin Healthcare Solutions and provides connectivity to those products to import information from the patient portal into the practice management system.
Recently Medfusion enhanced its existing Symptom Assessment and Virtual Office Visit solutions to include H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) screening. Medfusion’s press release from May 2009 states:
Without having to come into the office, the patient can log into the practice’s secure HIPAA-compliant patient portal, select either Symptom Assessment or Virtual Office Visit, and type in Swine flu when they are prompted for a condition. The patient then responds to a series of interactive clinical questions relative to their symptoms so that the doctor can provide a secure online consultation, prescribe the appropriate anti-viral drug, if necessary, or determine if the patient needs an in-office visit.
Additionally, physician practices have been able to use Medfusion’s Secure Patient Messaging solution to mass broadcast the availability of H1N1 influenza online screening and to keep patients informed about the latest news regarding this outbreak or any other dire health issues. ‘We immediately launched Webinar training session’s specific to Swine flu patient messaging and Virtual Office Visits, and the response from the practices was overwhelming,’ said Crystal Upson, Vice President of Client Services. Medfusion continues to hold these training sessions regularly. Also, physician practices that have a website powered by Medfusion have complete control over their content management, which means they are able to post and change messaging at any given time about their services and the latest health issue developments.
After all the excitement of the products described above, it seems a little anti-climatic to discuss Medfusion’s website design and hosting offerings, but it is well-worth mentioning as the products above can be integrated into a custom-designed website by Medfusion, or an existing website. Medfusion will take the look and feel of a practice’s current website and replicate it so the patient always feels that they are “inside” the practice’s site.
What doesn’t Medfusion do? I recently saw the Medfusion product line again and was a tad disappointed that the referral portal does not have the ability to use custom forms. It would be ideal to refer a patient to another practice or a test facility and be able to complete the order electronically including an electronic signature. Referrals are one of the most time-consuming functions of a physician’s practice (primary care practices particularly) and can significantly impact patient care and reimbursement when done incorrectly.
What’s in Medfusion’s future? It was recently announced that Medfusion purchased Medem and their iHealth personal electronic record. As personal health record capability is included in definitions of “meaningful use” of an electronic health record eligible for the ARRA stimulus money, it looks like Medfusion will be well-positioned to help its strategic partners meet that definition.
By the way, I have used Medfusion at three different practices in the past and am evaluating it again for my current employer. I’ve not received any consideration for this article.
One of my secret weapons to save time and get things done efficiently is Jott. Jott Assistant is a simple way to translate my thoughts into mail using my phone. When I think of something that I need to do, or an email I want to send to someone, I call Jott (I have it on speed dial) and record my message and it shows up in my email, or in someone else’s email at a time of my choosing.
For instance: I am driving to a clinic and suddenly remember I need the office supervisor to schedule a staff meeting next week. I call Jott, say who it is I want to Jott, when I want the message to be sent, what the message it, and it is done.
Jott is not free, but based on the time it saves me, I think it is a very good value. You can try it for free for a week and see if you like it, but, like most applications, it does take a while to really explore all the ways you can use it. Jott says:
Jott turns your voicemail messages into text and delivers them as text messages and emails that are actually useful. You can forward and reply to them, screen calls when you’re in meetings, set call-back reminders and more! Set-up only takes a few minutes and Jott works with most major US carriers.
Interestingly, as recently reported by Inga on HIStalkPractice, Nuance (owner of Dragon Naturally Speaking speech recognition programs) just acquired Jott:
a voice-to-text transcription application aimed at mobile users to create notes, use e-mail tools, and update application databases. While general cell phone users are its target audience, there certainly are healthcare possibilities there (nurses calling in vital signs to the EMR, maybe, or doing progress notes by cell phone).
Jott will interface (usually called a “mashup”) with the following tools and applications, allowing you to post to your favorite web services with your voice (Twitter, Facebook, Remember The Milk, Quicken) and listen to your RSS feed updates on the go (Yahoo, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Major League Baseball, CNet.)
Photo credit: © Theodor38 | Dreamstime.com
Lean is a topic that has interested me since I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Cindy Jimmerson, founder and President of Lean Healthcare West. Cindy, the author of several books, is passionate about Lean and has experienced tremendous success in bringing Lean to hospitals.
But why haven’t we seen much of Lean in physician practices? I think the reasons are simple:
- Staff in medical practices are already running very slim, and the labor of additional projects may be difficult to take on
- Larger businesses such as hospitals mean higher potential for returns – physician offices may not see significant bottom line changes from Lean reduction of waste compared to revenues from new procedures or partners
- Physicians are not early adopters of management theories and may find it difficult to see the ROI in Lean
Although Cindy Jimmerson says that every hospital she has worked with has more than earned back the program costs through successful Lean projects, it may be a hard sell to most private physicians who see their incomes shrinking year by year.
An excellent article in the Healthcare Quarterly, 12(3) 2009: 32-41 by Longwoods Publishing gives a concise yet meaningful discussion of Lean and describes Lean projects and outcomes in several hospitals. Healthcare Quarterly focuses on “best practices, policy and innovations in the administration of Canadian healthcare” and is edited by Dr. Peggy Leatt, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Even if your practice won’t be hiring a Lean consultant in the forseeable future, understanding more about Lean has the potential for enhancing your efforts at improving processes in your practice, or maybe even encouraging you to pursue Lean leadership training.
What follows is an except from the article “Leading Lean: A Canadian Healthcare Leader’s Guide” by Benjamin A. Fine, Brian Golden, Rosemary Hannam and Dante Morrasome, which gives some basic Lean terminology:
Lean Terminology: What Does It All Mean?
Lean: A term coined by those who compared Toyota’s methods to those of other manufacturers: “Lean is the antidote to waste … It provides a way to specify value, line-up value-creating actions in the best sequence, conduct these activities without interruption whenever someone requests them, and perform more and more effectively” (Womack et al. 1990; Womack and Jones 2003).
Value-added work: Work that adds value from the perspective of the client or customer; it is the kind of activity or service for which end users are willing to pay. In healthcare this could be the taking of blood for a medically necessary test or patient time spent with an examining physician.
Waste or muda: Activities of overproduction, waiting, transportation, processing, inventory, movement and defective products. Type 1 muda represents activities that cannot be avoided immediately given current policies, assets and technologies. If a physician cannot eliminate the need to fill out a drug allergies form because of an existing policy, that muda is categorized as type 1. In contrast, type 2 muda is clearly wasteful activity; it is the prime target for immediate elimination. An example of type 2 muda is the time that staff spend looking for equipment that isn’t stored or categorized in a sensible way. This wasted time can be immediately removed by re-organizing storage areas – for example, moving blood pressure cuffs to one standardized location so they can be easily found.
Value stream map: Visual presentation of activities required to bring a service or product from customer order to delivery. Value-added steps and muda are most easily identified on a value stream map. The mapping starts with defining what the customer demands (in the top right corner) and then captures all the steps required to fulfillment. The “current state” value stream map represents the steps as they exist today. The “future state” value stream map is a visual representation of an idealized state. Improvement activities (like kaizen events below) undertaken by front-line staff move the process toward the future state.
Gemba: In Japanese, gemba means “actual place.” In the Lean context, it refers to the place where value is actually created: the shop floor in manufacturing, or a clinic (e.g., emergency department, outpatient dialysis unit, or operating room) in the healthcare setting. The concept of gemba is important because it emphasizes the Lean principle that value – what customers actually want – is created on the front lines, not in boardrooms. The value stream mapping exercise forces workers to “walk the gemba” to see value and the process that creates it.
Kaizen event or rapid improvement event (RIE): Kaizen means “improvement” in Japanese, and kaizen events are focused on implementing improvements to the process of meeting customer demands. In healthcare, these week-long events provide the opportunity for front-line workers from different disciplines to work together to rapidly plan, implement, measure and adjust improvements.
Kamikaze kaizen: Kaizen activities that improve an isolated segment of a process but negatively affect the entire process are referred to as “kamikaze kaizens.”
If any readers out there have experienced Lean in your hospital or medical practice, please share by leaving a comment.
Nextgov.com’s Bob Brewin reported June 8, 2009 that the Military Health System (MHS) has added social networking tools to its web portal serving 1.4 million people on active duty. The social networking tools are designed to connect with the 18-24 year-old demographic which makes up a large portion of the active duty personnel.
In addition to MySpace, FaceBook, and Twitter, Brewin notes:
The agency also uses sites such as YouTube to reach to the younger age group with videos on subjects ranging from prosthetic legs to golf therapy clinics for combat wounded veterans to a short profile of an occupational therapist who works with combat-wounded veterans.
The video on prosthetic legs had the most views last month. The second-most-viewed video was a 2008 video on the Bataan Memorial Death March at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., which features Army medic Staff Sgt. Matthew Sims, an indication that troops crave more than just medical information. Kilpatrick said MHS posted 66 videos on YouTube in May, with the top five viewed 3,785 times.
The portal has been available for about two years, but the Twitter feed was just launched in March.
The MHS web portal is impressive as is their stated mission: The Military Health System mission is to provide optimal Health Services in support of our nation’s military mission—anytime, anywhere.
I know many people are having trouble understanding how Twitter could be relevant to a medical practice. Here’s a list that might help.
1. Tweet patients when doctor is running late.
2. Tweet doctor when patient is running late.
3. Tweet staff to remind them of staff meeting Monday morning.
4. Tweet patients to remind them of appointment.
5. Tweet when physician is giving a talk somewhere.
6. Tweet patients that medical report is available.
7. Tweet patients to call to make next appointment for vaccine or treatment series.
8. Tweet patient to complete patient questionnaire so payer will process claim.
9. Tweet patients to remind about NPO, golitely, drink water before test.
10. Tweet staff to remind of lunch event at work (forget the brown bag or remember your potluck offering.)
11. Tweet patient that medical records are ready to be picked up or have been sent.
12. Tweet patients that auto payment will be drafted tomorrow.
13. Tweet patients to take meds (especially meds that change: z-pack, coumadin.)
14. Tweet staff to turn payroll in, managers to look over payroll.
15. Tweet lab tech to go to exam room # for lab work.
16. Tweet x-ray tech to go to exam room # to escort patient to x-ray.
17. Send notice to patients when new info is on website.
18. Tweet patient that earlier appointment is available when patient no-shows.
19. Order lunch for physicians.
20. Announce new services, physicians, locations.
21. Let patients know when flu shots are available.
22. Remind patients about drugs (interactions, refills, take meds.)
23. Remind patients to take blood sugar, blood pressure.
24. Alert patient ride that patient is ready for pickup.
25. Alert referring physician that new test reports are available for them via the web.
26.. Tweet staff to give them inclement weather update.
27. Tweet patients to remind them of support-group meetings.
28. Tweet patient that last payment in payment plan is less or more due to EOB notice.
29. Tweet patients about drug recall.
What great ideas do you have for Twitter?
