Patient engagement isn't just a buzzword; it's the key to success for independent pediatric practices looking to grow and remain independent in a shifting healthcare market....
Imagine starting every visit with a complete picture of the patient's health journey, whether they are new or established. Picture having instant access to everything from a patient's growth chart and immunization records to specialist consultations and ED visits. Then, imagine being able to digitize your entire new patient intake process. No more relying on incomplete information or a parent's recollection....
With kids away at camp and families on vacation, it's not uncommon to see a dip in appointments. However, it doesn't have to be that way. By leveraging the right tools and strategies, you can keep your schedule full and ensure your patients receive the care they need....
In the realm of pediatric care, every detail counts. From tracking growth charts to managing complex vaccine schedules and everything in between, the unique needs of young patients demand specialized tools and expertise. ...
Back-to-school planning in the Spring? Absolutely! Coordinating office visits for all those physicals, vaccines, and school requirements can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be. ...
For pediatric practices, successful vaccine management extends beyond protecting the health of their patients — it also involves optimizing resources....
By leveraging DAR reports, pediatricians can ensure timely well visits, optimize vaccination rates, manage chronic conditions effectively, and make informed decisions for practice growth....
Teen privacy at the pediatrician's office is paramount to ensure that adolescents receive the best possible care, feel comfortable discussing their health concerns, and make informed decisions about their well-being....
For doctors who strive to provide the highest quality of healthcare to their patients, telehealth services are a perfect way to elevate a pediatric practice. ...
In today's digital age, your website isn't just a digital brochure; it's a vital tool for building trust and providing valuable resources to your patients....
Healthcare practices and providers have been implementing electronic health record software at an increasing rate, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services....
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....
Very few things about medical billing are straightforward, but it’s especially true in pediatrics. Proper coding, modifiers, and changes in Medicaid rules and payer guidelines can turn a simple office visit into a minefield of dependencies. Add staffing shortages and the challenge of finding qualified medical billers to the mix, and it further exacerbates the stress of billing for pediatric practices. When it comes to running a pediatric practice, the days of “one size fits all” are over. You can no longer thrive and work efficiently using a generic, non-specialty-specific EHR, and the same is true for billing and revenue cycle...
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...
KPIs help practices achieve their goals by establishing a concrete way to measure their progress. If you don’t track your progress, it’s hard to know which aspects of your practice require improvement. ...
The national impact of an employee shortage is being felt as demand for physical and mental healthcare services outstrips supply. After spending much of the pandemic innovating new ways to keep staff engaged, many practices are now being served termination notices from core team members....
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. ...
Many of us have experienced trauma over the last few years as we’ve been forced to deal with the fallout from the pandemic, geopolitical conflicts, social unrest, and a dire economic outlook. Unfortunately, the youngest among us have not been immune to the trauma either....
Operating a pediatric practice that runs on time is essential not just to your practice families, it’s important to your staff as well. ...
Clinically Integrated Networks (CINs) are at the center of a movement toward improved resource sharing. Understanding the basics of CINs and how they can benefit your patients and your practice is the first step in evaluating whether this may be the right path for you to take. ...
Cultivating the patient-provider connection is essential to delivering an exceptional patient engagement experience at your pediatric practice. It’s up to you to reimagine what the future of medicine looks like. ...
The ability to survive as an independent pediatric practice is contingent on being able to find new sources of revenue, even as reimbursements continue to shrink. But with a tight labor market and the challenges that come with finding skilled staff, it can be a tall order to fill....
One common thread that comes up often in conversations among pediatric providers and their staff is that the last several years have been exhausting. Pediatricians in cities, suburbs, and rural areas alike are burned out and they’re facing what seems like an insurmountable combination of increased expectations and decreased practice resources....
While Medicaid has been used as a way to provide healthcare services to Americans for decades, individuals within the healthcare system, including pediatric providers, do not fully understand it....
ADHD, or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders present in childhood. Despite receiving significant attention throughout the last 30 years, doctors and researchers are still uncovering new potential causes, contributing factors, and treatment options for those with ADHD....
Since early 2020, many pediatric practices have been forced to juggle increased patient demand against new safety precautions and a reduction in the number of people they have on staff. The COVID pandemic has been a significant stressor on the pediatric community, with one survey finding that 60% of pediatricians were experiencing at least one dimension of burnout....
Revenue cycle management is too significant to hand over to just anyone. You need a safe, trusted partner and expert who communicates well and produces results. ...
Recent legislation allows children to take mental health days off from public school, but not all states are on board. See where your state stands, and how you can advocate to include mental health selfcare as a legitimate reason for missed school days....
Learning to communicate with patients online has been a central hallmark of the COVID-19 pandemic for pediatric practices. However, evaluating whether your practice is succeeding in this area can be a challenge. The scope of communication in healthcare varies, and there’s no one standard metric that providers can use to measure their progress....
Many young children and teens struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, organizations like Duck Cup Memorial Fund are stepping into the fray to bring more awareness to this issue. Sara Jutz, the Executive Director of Duck Cup Memorial Fund, recently spoke on the PediaTricks podcast to share more information about how their organization is working to meet this moment, and make mental health and suicide prevention a much easier subject to speak about openly. ...
Social media can be polarizing, but there are many benefits that can be gained from using it as a patient engagement tool in your practice. Having open lines of communication with patients and their families is an important step for practice success, and social media can play a significant role in making this happen....
Some of the best summer activities can also help children decompress from a stressful school year, which can help improve troubling mental health symptoms. As social distancing measures are now relaxed, and more activities become available, children may need some encouragement to step outside of their comfort zone and get more engaged in a world that may still feel overwhelming. You should be ready to listen to their concerns and work with them to find activities that feel both fun and safe. ...
It’s no surprise that pediatric mental health issues have skyrocketed to unrivaled levels as children have been forced to navigate the challenges that have come with the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Desperate for ways to address this growing concern, healthcare professionals across the United States are coming together to share ideas about programs, policies, and best practices that will positively impact the mental health of youth and adolescents in the US....
Each May, we celebrate National Children’s Mental Health Week to underscore the importance of nurturing positive mental health among our nation’s youth. This year, from May 1st-7th, the awareness week will emphasize the vital importance of building strong emotional health for children’s long-term development and overall wellness....
It is no surprise that children and youth mental health has suffered greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic. With schools forced to switch back and forth between remote learning and in-class education, it has been very difficult for teachers and school personnel to keep up with the surging demand for resources. ...
For many parents, raising kids that have a healthy relationship with social media can be a challenge. Why? Because social media is ubiquitous....
With pediatric practices all over the country feeling understaffed and overworked, it is crucial to ensure you are using the correct tools for practice efficiency and workflow optimization....
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....
One of the most challenging aspects of working in, or managing a pediatric practice, is defining success. Let’s take a look at the many forms of pediatric success and which resources can help practices be more successful in their work....
Are you looking to make a positive change in the way your practice deals with payers? You have the power to make this happen....
Instead of trying to change the reality of your patient’s busy lives, clinicians should be working diligently to make every visit easier. ...
One strategy to help with the increasing patient responsibility of healthcare costs, is to implement and enforce a strong financial policy....
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,...
Quality initiatives are an essential part of becoming recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH). However, quality is essential for all pediatric practices, not just those seeking the PCMH designation....
What happens when a practice decides to work with an electronic health record they’ve never used before? As you can imagine, the lift is neither a simple or easy one, and it takes special people with unique skills to help that along....
Pediatric care providers need to ensure that patients with health needs requiring follow-up, as well as those due or behind on their well visits, are receiving the care they need. This is also vital to having a healthier population and increasing practice revenue. And that’s where something like “DAR” comes in. Using a Tool for Patient Recall DAR stands for Demographic Analysis and Recall. It's a powerful tool for analyzing demographic data that's integrated in OP. Based on the findings, it recalls specific patient and practice information. Let’s say that I’m a busy clinician. I want to know how DAR can help my...
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...
If a pediatric practice has some extra down time, pause and remember the financial health of your practice starts with having an appropriate fee schedule. While contractually the payers determine how much they are going to pay you for each service you provide, it starts with how much you charge. Scheduled Processes and Procedures At a minimum, at the beginning of the year, your practice should have a scheduled process and procedure for updating your fee schedule so you can be sure you are not leaving money on the table (and in the insurance company’s pocket.) The AAP has resources for pediatricians...
As a pediatrician, your primary goal is to deliver the best possible healthcare to your patients. Just as it's important for your patients to have regular check-ups as part of their wellness, it's also critical to regularly evaluate your pediatric office's financial health. But how? There are some key analytics that you can consistently examine to stay on top of your practice's financial well-being, while successfully planning for the future. Whether your billing is done in-house or outsourced, here are 3 data analytics you should always have included in your monthly and yearly billing reports. 1. Number of Days in Accounts Receivable (A/R) You...
Everybody needs education, and that may be doubly true when it comes to your pediatric EHR. To put it simply: education is power. Power to do your job more effectively. Power to contribute and make decisions. Power to be able to use the software competently — and by doing so, to provide better patient care. In other words: no matter how advanced your EHR is, if you’re not engaging in ongoing education, you’re limiting the effectiveness of your system, your people, and your practice as a whole. Why is Training Necessary? Of course, when you first adopt a system, you need training in...
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