5 Things Your Practice Should Be Thankful For This Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we at Power Your Practice have been reflecting on what the holiday means to us and things we should be thankful for – health, our families and friends, and, um, higher page views and more email newsletter subscriptions?

In all seriousness, we’ve taken a look at some of 2012’s large-scale announcements, trends, and innovations and singled out the ones we think you should be most thankful for. A toast to you all, friends.

ICD-10 Extension
Earlier this year, the US Department of Health and Human Services postponed the October 2013 compliance date. CHIME followed up with an open letter to HHS, stating the delay was a perfect “middle ground” for both sides of the aisle.

The extension gives your practice more time to fine-tune revenue cycle operations, adopt the new coding system in tandem with Meaningful Use criteria to reduce IT project redundancy and now you have another year to figure out to assuage the drop in coder productivity expected in the months following ICD-10 adoption.

ePrescriptions
Earlier this year, a Surescripts study suggested that ePrescribing is linked to an increase in first-fill medication adherence, which leads to an estimated $140 to $240 billion in healthcare savings and improved health outcomes over the next decade.

It’s important that patients are more proactive about their health and engage more in their care – it makes your job easier. ePrescriptions not only make your life easier, but your pharmacist will appreciate not having to read that infamous physician handwriting.

Not to mention, adherence to medication plays a huge part in lowering readmissions, and out if 76.5% of ePrescriptions are retrieved, then patient health improves.

Enhanced Security
Power Your Practice spoke with ECRI Institute VP of Health Technology Evaluation and Safety James P. Keller, Jr. about their yearly “Top 10 Health Technology Hazards” list last year. He cautioned against “inadequate attention to change management” is more of an issue these days.

That is because, in many ways, the adoption of systems like electronic health records (EHRs) is safer than sticking to paper ways. If your EHR adheres to the HIPAA Security Rule’s best practices, you’re far less likely to suffer a security breach.

We’re talking encryption, internal control, and natural disaster recovery, none of which are offered by paper records. Learn how to dispose of your equipment properly here and you’re in the clear.

Innovations in Doctor-Patient Connectivity
Sometimes we’re unsure about the immediate influence of smartphones in your practice, but we can probably all agree that the more than 3,660 medical apps on the market are changing the way you connect with patients.

Smartphones can record conversations between a doctor and patient, sharing lab results becomes easier, secure messaging is going mainstream and of course, there are mobile EHRs, where you can access intelligence at the point of care.

Health, Family, Friends, Patients
Most of all, you should be thankful for your own health, and the wellbeing of your family, friends, and patients. Thanksgiving is as much about others as it is about giving thanks that we can continue being there for our loved ones and others who depend on us.


In other words, we at Power Your Practice wish you a great and safe Thanksgiving. Enjoy and see you Monday!


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