What can you do to get ready for ICD-10?

1. The #1 place to begin preparing for the ICD-10 transition is in your chart documentation. Now is the time to assess your current level of documentation. Start this process by performing chart reviews.
2. Schedule documentation education programs with the providers in your practice to prepare for the new ICD-10 codes.
3. Perform an Impact Assessment by identifying every instance in your office where a diagnosis code is used. Start with the patient check in process and follow the patient cycle all the way through check out.
4. Start revising all of the forms used in your practice that currently contain ICD-9 codes.
5. Talk to your top 10 or 20 referral sources to identify how you can work together to get through this process.
6. Assess your staffing needs particularly in managing claims processing and claims denials. The claims denial process will be the most heavily impacted area of your practice.
7. Build up a 6 month cash reserve to help you through this transition. This cash reserve will help you through what’s sure to be a slow-down in claims processing as claims are rejected for inaccurate coding.
8. Don’t lose your ICD-9 codes. You’ll still need to be able to navigate between ICD-9 and ICD-10 since worker’s compensation, disability and auto insurance claims don’t have to comply with ICD-10.

Practices are overwhelmed, but with careful planning and a methodical approach the transition can be managed. The most important point to keep in mind is to start preparing NOW, and you’ll have a better chance of managing the implementation with minimal disruption to your practice.

Join us at 4:30 PM Eastern Time today for the full interview at http://www.healthcarenowradio.com/programs/more-for-your-practice or download the podcast below.

Summary of tasks:

• Locate the appropriate state statute which governs the closing of a medical practice in your state.
• Notify your patients, in writing, of the termination of the practice.  You must include:
  • the date of practice termination and
  • an address at which the records may be obtained from the physician terminating or
  • the address of another licensed physician to whom the records will be transferred.
• Run a notice in the newspaper of greatest general circulation in each county in which the physician practices and in a local newspaper that serves the immediate practice area for four (4) consecutive weeks.  Again, you’ll want to include:
  • the date of practice termination and
  • an address at which the records may be obtained from the physician terminating or
  • the address of another licensed physician to whom the records will be transferred.
• You may post a notice in your facility but that is not required
• Notify your state Board of Medicine of the closing – include the same information contained in the advertised notice
• The physician who the records are transferred to shall be responsible for providing a copy of the complete medical record, upon written request, by the patient or the patient’s legal representative.

If you find yourself in this situation, I’d be happy to talk with you about what we learned while closing my client’s practice. This circumstance is often rife with emotion – having an objective third-party help you think through the steps you need to take can help to relieve some of the stress involved.

How do I securely email when I don’t have a patient portal yet?

My patients are trying to email protected information to me. How do I stop that and give them a secure way to send their information?

Back in February we did a post on QuickDrop which allows users to securely send and receive files of any size and type on mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Today I’d like to tell you about a product called Enlocked which specifically addresses the email security issue.

Enlocked is a secure cloud-based messaging service that allows medical practices to communicate with patients via encrypted email. There are two ways for patients to view messages with Enlocked: 1) they can download an encryption app to decode emails, or 2) they can be sent a message letting them know that they have an email that they can view via Enlocked’s secure website. Enlocked is promoted by Physician’s Practice and is just one of many new ways that the IT industry is helping medical practices to be HIPAA compliant. Learn more about Enlocked on their website at https://www.enlocked.com/Home.html.

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Why is Video so Important?

Video is predicted to be the fast growing social media tool in 2013. It is estimated that video consumption will rise to 1.5 billion users by the year 2015 with online video viewers expected to quadruple. A couple of the reasons for this increase are: 1) videos are fun and engaging – they let you connect with people in a real and personable way, and 2) people have less and less time to read newsletters and other written content – videos are quick to watch and can deliver a powerful message in a few short minutes.

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Workplace perceptions about you develop from a vast array of information that you exude on a daily basis ranging from how you dress, how you speak, how you treat others, your punctuality (or lack of) and how you communicate, especially in writing. With the increasing globalization of the American workforce, you may have developed professional relationships with people you never (or very rarely) see. So what is it they’re basing their perceptions on? It’s a pretty good bet that one of the prime sources of information comes from the way you communicate – by email.

Back when I was in school, grammar and spelling were important subjects. Not only did we have classes specifically in these subjects, but they were also reinforced in any class where we were required to write. As I watch my young nieces and nephew and my grandson enter the school system, I see that spelling no longer has the prominence it once had. And, if you spend any time with teenagers you know that their writing is littered with abbreviations and (purposeful) misspellings that easily convey meaning in a text message, Facebook post or Tweet.

The next time you compose an email, take a critical look at the content and the way it is written. If you were the recipient of that email, what would you think? Are you taking care to ensure that the information is factually correct, that your thoughts flow in an understandable manner and that you have used proper grammar? Pay special attention to your tone. Without verbal inflection and body language for cues, your reader can misinterpret the intent of your email. Did you know, for example, that using all capital letters in an email is considered yelling? Have you used abbreviations or acronyms that may not be easily understood by the reader?

Take care to proofread your emails two, three or four times before you send them. Remember how easily an email can be forwarded to others. You may have a casual relationship with the intended recipient of the email, but he/she can forward it to others who have no prior knowledge of you. If that were to happen, what would their opinion of your professionalism be? Would you be representing your practice in a professional, thoughtful manner? These rules can be expanded to include any type of writing that you do for your practice – reports, patient letters, letters to other providers or vendors, practice policies and procedures, even updating the copy on your practice’s website.

So, what do you do if you know you need to make improvements, or you lack confidence in your writing skills? The good news is there are many resources available to help you, and they’re only a mouse click away. MS Word will help by highlighting misspellings and grammatically incorrect phrases and/or sentences. Fact checking can be accomplished by searching on the web. The more you practice your writing skills the better you’ll become. Here are a few final tips to remember:

• Have you checked the accuracy of your facts?
• Did you use acronyms or industry-specific language that your audience may not be familiar with?
• Would you be comfortable if your email was forwarded to others?
• Did you proofread at least twice for flow and understandability?
• Have you fixed any misspellings or grammatical issues?
• Have you checked the tone of your message to ensure no misunderstandings?
• Lastly, are you proud to hit the ‘Send’ button or print your final draft?