Medical Billing Blog

CMS Starts Meaningful Use Audits for EMR Adopters

Posted by Barry Shatzman on Thu, Aug, 09, 2012 @ 14:08 PM

Under the 2009 federal economic stimulus package, health care providers who demonstrate meaningful use of a certified electronic health record system qualify for Medicare or Medicaid incentive programs.

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Practice Management Considerations During EMR Chart Conversion

Posted by Barry Shatzman on Tue, Jul, 24, 2012 @ 14:07 PM

With the advent of Electronic Medical Records implementation industry wide, it is likely that you too have taken the plunge and purchased an electronic solution for your practice’s patient management.  But once you’ve purchased your Electronic Medical Record (EMR) you will also have to decide what to do with your existing patient files, and figure out the best way to use them in conjunction with your new EMR.  When beginning any medical chart conversion effort, it is important to make sure the information you’re loading into your EMR will be of the most value to you on a day to day basis.  It’s a good idea to determine which patients are active, and which are no longer likely to seek care from your practice.  In most cases, patients who have not been in to seek care for a period of 18 to 24 months would be classified as inactive.  In the case of these patients, it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of time and energy importing their charts to the EMR, so records for these patients can be moved to your archives, and retrieved in the event they do happen to return for care.  You can then convert the chart prior to their visit, and have the information in the electronic format when they come back. 

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Legal Issues To Consider When Implementing An EMR

Posted by Ali Ziehm on Wed, May, 09, 2012 @ 12:05 PM

Ralph Sitler III, JD--Many areas of industry welcome new technology with open arms, especially the medical field.  Physicians and other health care professionals are always trying to find new and intrepid ways to improve patient care, increase efficiency, and boost the bottom line.  However, there are often new risks associated with adopting new technology.  This article aims to make physicians aware of some of these risks and help avoid potential legal issues concerning use of EMRs. 

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EMR's and Cash Flow

Posted by Barry Shatzman on Thu, Feb, 16, 2012 @ 12:02 PM

At my last EMR conference, there were well over 600 EMR’s on the market.  Some were certified but even more were not.  From the latest research according to Mark Anderson from the AC Group, less than 12% of the physicians are using their EMR programs as they were promised or intended.  A recent survey indicated that 38% of physicians where unhappy with their EMR’s, and many were seeking to get out of their contracts.  Since 2008, more than 5,000 practices have decided to replace or drop their EMR vendors. Many have paid upwards of $40,000 per provider for their EMR products only to find out that the product was oversold, did not meet the practice needs, or found that the vendor went out of business shortly after the implementation.

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