The U.S. healthcare industry, marked by its global leadership in spending, faces mounting pressures due to evolving care models, supply chain disruptions, regulations, labor shortages, and rising costs. To navigate these challenges, healthcare leaders are prioritizing quality care delivery while also optimizing administrative operations, including revenue cycle management (RCM). Outsourcing RCM has become a key […]
Telehealth has gained widespread acceptance among numerous medical practices and hospitals owing to its convenience, accessibility, and effectiveness in curbing the spread of infectious diseases. However, it’s important to recognize that telehealth is not exclusive to large institutions; small practices can also reap its benefits. Telehealth, also known as telemedicine, revolves around utilizing technology to […]
CMS is looking to modernize the ACO reporting process by mandating the use of electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs). However, accountable care organizations (ACOs) are concerned that the lack of healthcare interoperability will make electronic ACO reporting near impossible. “CMS must avoid making eCQMs mandatory until standard data fields exist across EHRs, and true interoperability […]
Getting shots into arms has been a top priority for healthcare providers since the federal government gave the green light to several COVID-19 vaccines. But while speed was key for immunizers, medical coding efficiency has taken a major hit. At the heart of the issue is the way two major COVID-19 vaccines were created, Amber […]
As organizations adjust to new treatment types, resource needs, and customer demands, payers and providers are looking for ways to minimize costs, enhance care, create awareness, and broaden relationships. Here are the top eight trends businesses can currently track into 2021: The future of healthcare will be marked by the re-engineering of clinical care and […]
Most of us who work in healthcare are intimately familiar with the unintended consequences electronic health record (EHR) systems have had on our nation’s physicians, with many feeling they’ve been turned into administrative clerks who now spend more time entering data to a computer than seeing patients. This is perhaps one of the most […]
Doctors are fond of complaining that they didn’t go to medical school in order to practice business, but independent physicians do spend much of their time on their practices’ finances. That requires mastering revenue cycle management (RCM), the financial process practices use to administer all the functions associated with claims processing, payment, and revenue generation. […]
About 60 million Americans live in rural areas and depend on local hospitals for care. In 2019, a record 18 rural hospitals closed, bringing the total closures since 2010 to 124, according to the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research. With almost 700 more rural hospitals at risk of shutting, the need for strategies to boost […]
A 2016 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that for every hour physicians spend in direct face-to-face clinical time with patients, they spend nearly two additional hours on desk work. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), this administrative burden is one of the primary complaints of its members, and prior authorizations top the list of […]