Simply defined, vendor consolidation in healthcare IT is the process of reducing the number of vendors you engage with, while carefully choosing partners who can still fulfill all or most of your needs....
As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, it’s critical that pediatricians and pediatric practices have a robust system for managing and sharing important patient information. In this blog, we’ll discuss the essential technology tools you should be using to share information to be in compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act. We also provide best practice guidelines and a FREE workbook to help you develop your own information sharing policies. Understanding the Implications of the 21st Century Cures Act The 21st Century Cures Act is a federal law that contains a number of provisions that impact information sharing in healthcare. Title IV...
Interoperability is a big word that is often used when discussing healthcare efficiencies and workflows, but what exactly is interoperability? In the context of healthcare, interoperability refers to the ability of any tool to manage, access, and transfer data between different providers or health systems. ...
When we initially chose to become a PCMH, it was purely a financial decision. However, as we dug through the policies and best practices, we began to see how much of an impact it would have on our patients and their families....
Patient care gaps are created when we fail to follow up with patients referred to specialists, sent for a diagnostic test, or recently prescribed medication. How can you most efficiently and effectively handle these workflows?...
Implementing an EHR and practice management system is a substantial commitment that involves a lot of work and potentially a lot of changes for everyone in your pediatric practice....
Providing quality pediatric care takes collaboration between parents and primary care physicians. How is effective management of referrals and transitions of care vital to the success of that partnership? ...
Breaking up is hard to do, but that doesn’t mean you should stay! Don’t let the challenges of implementing a data transfer hold you back from switching to a better pediatric EHR system. It might well be a challenging process, but it will be worth it over the long term. The adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) among pediatricians was already almost 80% in 2012, according to a study by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Many of those practices who implemented EHRs back then are now reaching the point of needing to upgrade their systems. This often means changing software vendors,...
When we think about information — and specifically, about patient information — one of the first things to come to mind is the problem of taking it with you. Of course, the days of the bulky paper chart that has to be scanned in (or worse, photocopied) and provided to the patient and their family is long gone, but the issue hasn’t disappeared; it’s simply changed with the technology we use to record and disperse information. We’re still left with the same questions: how can we make the process seamless for the patient and family? How can we ensure its...
Operating a pediatric practice that runs on time has always been important. Staying on schedule is essential because it affects everyone's workflows and keeps appointments on track. Happy patients = a happy practice. Here are five tips for fostering an environment where everyone runs on time. 1. Have an Honest Baseline It’s important to be honest and realistic with yourself. Start by measuring your baseline. Look through your data, appointment by appointment. For example, perhaps you’ve been scheduling all ADHD rechecks as 20-minute visits, but you occasionally conduct those appointments and notice patients who are not stable on their medications. This means encounters...
When we work hard at preventing diseases through vaccines, everyone wins: Families, communities, and our pediatric practices. To succeed at keeping patients current with vaccines, you need a clinical decision support (CDS) tool that takes the guesswork out of the schedule. Here are five ways a CDS tool will help your practice. 1. Patient Population Knowledge Giving good care to your patients starts with understanding who they are. For example, do you have a way to identify all 5-year-old patients so you can contact them over the summer and remind them of school-mandated vaccines? Can you identify and close care gaps for...
The patient referral system is one of the most important pathways within pediatric healthcare. Ideally, it operates smoothly to ensure that all patients, regardless of socio-economic background, gender, or race, are able to take steps towards good health. In a recent issue of Pediatrics, a study confirmed that there were several factors that affected the pediatric referral system negatively, ranging from race and zip code to whether the patient had public insurance. The authors of the study also noted what factors made a positive impact on whether referrals were scheduled quickly and attended by patients and their families. There are a...
The ever-changing landscape of healthcare means that primary care physicians face tough competition. Pediatricians recognize that on-demand care options like urgent care centers and retail clinics are taking pediatric patients away from their medical homes. However, research suggests that the greatest threat to traditional healthcare is direct-to-consumer telemedicine. During the winter months, more children get sick, and many families are so busy that they find care where it is most convenient. By offering telemedicine at your practice, you can improve accessibility when these situations occur. Don’t let uncertainty hold you back. Your patients are better off seeing you via telemedicine — gaining...
Keeping your personal information safe is important, but when someone else entrusts you with their information, you have an obligation to protect it diligently and at all costs. This is especially true for medical practices, which are among the most heavily targeted because they contain an abundance of private information that hackers love to get their hands on. Here are three strategies you can implement immediately to help protect your patient’s data. Cloud Technology Cloud-hosted applications are a great way to be proactive when initiating security measures within your practice. They will provide automatic, regular data backup and recovery while keeping your...
In addition to toothy smiles and reward stickers, pediatric practices run on efficiency. Streamlined systems are essential for providers, administrators, staff members, patients, and their families. This is especially true when prescribing medications, including controlled substances. In pediatrics, the most common controlled substances are typically ADHD medications. These maintenance drugs are extremely important to your young patients, and a delay in receiving them can affect the patient's entire family. Are you wondering whether electronically prescribing these medications is valuable for your independent pediatric practice? Here are five benefits of electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS). 1. Streamlined Clinical Workflow When you’re working within your...
[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column][vc_column_text] In a typical day, how do patient records move through your pediatric office? If you're still using paper charts, it's more than like that your administrative staff pulls files for scheduled patients and creates records for new patients. Your nurse or medical assistant probably updates those files with each patient’s vitals. Pediatricians and other clinical staff spend an untold amount of time taking copious notes as they see each patient. Then, each file gets passed back through the nursing team for more updates and back to the administrative staff for payment processing and...
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