Marie Reid, office manager at Women’s Wellness in Marrieta, GA wanted a simple EHR and practice management system for her busy providers. NueMD’s ease of use and robust features let her practice focus more on patients and less on software. Watch the video and see why Marie thinks NueMD is the ‘perfect system’.
 

Transcript:

Nuesoft is the perfect system. You don’t need to be computer savvy to use the system. And a lot of our providers are not computer savvy. Already they are busy seeing patients. You want a system that you can just get to, the information is there. And Nuesoft customize the system for the provider. If you’re an ENT and I’m doing OBGYN, I don’t need to know about the ear, nose, and throat. I want to know about what goes on with the female system. And Nuesoft customize it, it’s there. You don’t need to run through a list to find what you want. It’s there.

Like this report that I have, it’s not from Nuesoft. And I’m trying to figure out what they’re telling me. They’re doctors, they’re not supposed to have complicated stuff. With Nuesoft reports, it’s so simple and easy. For example, there’s $2000 in my thirty days, which is good. You want her to have the understanding, without you being able to explain to her. Not only that, I don’t have to print a bunch of reports to get what I want.

All the important information that you need is highlighted. So you don’t have to spend time on the phone to go through a lot of the fields, that is not necessary to make an appointment. So Nuesoft capture the six or the seven key important points. Once you have that, it’s done. With an EHR and practice management, what we pay compare to other systems that we have used in the past, it’s very affordable. That’s what makes it so remarkable. You’re getting a system that you can afford, you’re getting an excellent system wherein it suits your needs. It’s a win-win situation for us. We’re very happy with the system. Go Nuesoft.

Dr. Bill Martin Jr. has been using NueMD in his practice for nearly a decade.  Efficiency and ease of use are just a few of the reasons that Dr. Martin has stuck with NueMD for so long.  Both he and his staff have found it invaluable to their practice.  Watch our latest video to see other reasons why Dr. Martin loves NueMD!
 

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Special thanks to Kim Dunn, office coordinator at Women’s Wellness in Marietta, GA, for taking time out of her busy day to tell us about how NueMD has helped her become more efficient in her everyday tasks. Watch the video to see what Kim had to say.

Data security is a primary focus for future audits. Robert Anthony, deputy director of the HIT Initiatives Group at CMS, believes that healthcare providers can improve their security protocols to ensure that pertinent information isn’t accessible to anyone other than authorized personnel. However, Anthony stated that medical offices can’t simply copy protection plans – they must be unique for every practice.

“They need to have something in their risk analysis that is specific to their EHR. It doesn’t have to be all about the EHR. It needs to be stated and indicated that it’s about your practice,” Anthony said.

Modern Healthcare notes that risk assessment is required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Healthcare providers must perform routine security checks to ensure that patient data is always protected from hackers. Updating security applications and keeping information safe should be a concern for every medical professional.

Additionally, Anthony noted that documentation has been a problem in the meaningful use program. Some EHR systems don’t automatically log dates of data entry and exchanges, but healthcare providers must be able to prove that these functions were completed.

“So I always suggest that providers make a print or electronic copy of the actual report that they used for attestation so they can show those numbers when an auditor requests supporting documentation,” Anthony told EHR Intelligence.

Printed copies and screenshots are acceptable forms of documentation for many audits, so medical professionals can choose the most convenient recording solution for their needs.

Through the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal government has been encouraging healthcare providers to adopt EHR systems and adhere to the standards of meaningful use. The primary goals are to improve services for patients and reduce costs for medical treatments. To that end, both offices recently released a progress report on the current state of their various programs and initiatives.

In the report, the offices described participation as “robust.” Approximately 388,000, or 73 percent, of healthcare providers in the U.S. are registered for the incentive plans offered through Medicare and Medicaid. By March 2013, 233,000 of these medical professionals had received at least one incentive payment for “meaningfully using EHR technology.” These findings show that monetary incentives are effective for encouraging the adoption of EHR software. Physicians can receive regular payments for years by implementing cutting-edge resources and capitalizing on key features to improve services for patients.

E-prescribing made huge strides over the last few years,due in part to the implementation of the Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program. According to the report, only 0.8 percent of doctors’ offices used the technology at the end of 2006. By January 2013, that figure increased to 53 percent. Additionally, 94 percent of pharmacies in the U.S. now use e-prescribing software.

Overall, the progress report shows that the ONC and CMS have been successful in encouraging the use of health IT. However, the agencies have no plans to rest on their laurels, because there are still improvements that can be made. For instance, there will be a growing focus on interoperability so that patient information can be accessed from any location and different systems, which helps to ensure that medical professionals always have pertinent data when making healthcare decisions.

In this tip, Natasha shows you how to easily setup or change your login credentials so you can avoid those pesky security credential login issues.

Video Transcript:

Hi, my name is Natasha.

Today I’m going to show you how to avoid security credential login issues.

From the home screen, click “Practice Setup” – “System Administration”

Click the “Groups” tab

Under your group code, choose your group.

Under “Location”, choose your location.

Under “Modules”, click “Login”

Under “Functions”, click “Access”.

Then, click “Save”.

Thanks for watching!

Nothing makes us happier than seeing a client get excited about using NueMD!  Watch this short client testimonial video to see why Lynn Day, Office Manager from Mt. Vernon Family Medicine, loves using NueMD to manage her practice.

Video Transcript:

I’m not kidding when I say I love this software.

I’ve talked this software up quite a bit because it is.

To access the information remotely is so easy.

If a patient needs me in the middle of the night, I can get up and go to my home computer and still access the software.

It looks the same as it does on my desktop here.

It was very quick to learn how to use the software.

Very little training software whatsoever.

We recently added a nurse practitioner and it took no time at all to add her to the system and we were sending claims and everything within minutes.

Less time on paperwork. The electronic claims have been phenomenal.

The appointment reminders that the software can do has been great for making sure that our patients get here on time and when their supposed to be.

We’ve had less missed appointments that way.

It really has made us a lot more responsive to our patients.

For smaller practices such as our self, the larger software packages are out of reach financially.

However, NueMD has quite a few different ways that they can bill and the price is incredible.

It has made it a lot more possible for us to do more with the software than we were able to before.

In this week’s tip, Robert shows you how to save more time in your daily A/R routine by easily posting patient payments to multiple tickets from the same statement.

Video Transcript:

Hi my name is Robert

Today I’m going to show you an easy way to post patient payments to multiple tickets that are from the same statement.

From home screen, go into Statements module.

Change the process from Overdue and New to All

Access the patient account or responsible party account

Click Refresh

That will pull up all tickets on the given statement

To post to the individual tickets from the statement screen, just simply choose one of the tickets, click on the line, then click on the ticket icon at the top.

That will take you into the ticket where you can post the payment

Save that ticket. Click OK. Then simply click the Back button to go back in to the statement screen.

If you click Refresh again, it will only show the tickets that are remaining that need the payments posted.

Just follow those steps: Clicking on the ticket, going to the ticket icon, and finish posting the entire payment.

Then you’re done.

Thanks for watching!

RCM starts as soon as the patient walks in the door. Every patient goes through the same check in, and there are many mistakes and omissions that can be made which can affect the revenue cycle.

MGMA estimates that the average practice loses approximately 30 percent of their potential revenue due to not collecting patient payments up front, along with re-filing costs, statements and time spent to manage AR. Now that we know, how do we address this potential problem?

I’ve devised a checklist of the most important steps during the intake process that should be applied to every patient, new or returning:

• Demographics and Insurance Entry: The most basic task is arguably the most important. This step can make or break your first pass success rate of claims filed. It’s crucial to make sure all data entered is accurate, which leads us to our next step.

• Insurance Verification: This used to be a potentially lengthy task; however, with e-verification being ubiquitous, it is now simple to check every patient.  Most practices, however, stop checking current patients, restricting it to new patients and those who have changed insurance policies. I believe insurance coverage should be verified for every patient, as it serves a dual purpose — ensuring that the insurance information is up to date and that your practice’s demographics are correct.

• Pre-Authorization: Not every visit will require this step.  Nonetheless, you should be sure any pre-authorizations are handled prior to any procedures being performed.  Identify the reason for each patient visit.  Is it for a follow-up office visit or for a procedure?  If you have checked the eligibility and benefits for the patient, you have a head start on determining whether or not the service will require prior authorization.  Keep an open line of communication with your back office staff so you are aware of the specific procedures that have been authorized prior to the procedure.

• Co-Pay Collection: This is basic, but I’ve sent out more statements for a simple co-pay than I’d care to recall. Collecting this up-front saves time and, more importantly, ensures that the co-pay is collected at all. Some patients may never come back to your office or they may simply forget.  While the co-pay can be relatively small, these amounts combined often amount to a significant revenue stream for a practice.  Keep in mind that any time you send a statement, you are taking time and money out of your practice.

• Balance Review and Settlement:  Every effort should be made to collect the patient’s outstanding balance at the start of the visit. This enables the practice to save money on processing statements and helps to keep your accounts receivable up to date. You may never get a chance to collect that balance again, so stop it from becoming another write-off!

By implementing a solid set of best practices for your front office, you will ensure that your practice’s cash flow and reimbursements are healthy, steady and predictable. What’s more, you’ll also save money on reduced follow-up, statement processing, and write-offs.