It’s pretty difficult to imagine any business setting up shop today without using computers and special software for whatever industry it is set in. The same goes for the medical profession. Chances are that you either have heard of electronic health record systems and know that you need to deploy one in your practice, or you have been laboring with some kind of generic application to store patient information, and it has not been able to meet even your most basic computational requirements.

The more actionable information that you can collect on the patients you treat in your practice, the more opportunity you and your staff have to provide excellent, state-of-the-art care. These days, many medical practices are looking beyond the confines of their own data center and are starting to migrate some of their computational infrastructure into the cloud. Cloud computing services provide a range of advantages to organizations large and small, and the medical profession in particular stands to benefit a great deal because of the convenience and ease of data management.

Savvy physicians and medical practice managers alike know how important it is to take full advantage of the software and computer technology supporting their daily work in examining, diagnosing, and treating patients. This means that while you may have installed a radiology information system on the premises, you aren’t necessarily getting everything out of it.

You’ve probably seen first-hand or have heard from your colleagues how patients who don't receive adequate levels of after care services can often wind up relapsing and/or need to be readmitted.

What enables doctors and nurses to “see” patients without the patient needing to come into the office or the medical professional having to make a house call? The answer is telemedicine.

In modern healthcare, more attention is being paid lately to the level of quality we provide to our patients, rather than emphasizing how much (the quantity) care is being doled out to them. To that end, the U.S. government has lately been promoting Alternative Payment Models or APMs in support of the goals of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

When you first entered the medical profession, patients typically were asked to make reimbursements for treatment under a fee-for-service system. That is a natural aspect of providing healthcare in a capitalist country like the United States, where the focus can sometimes be on profits rather than on achieving the highest standards of care.

Does your medical organization currently provide care for Medicare or Medicaid patients, or are you planning to begin offering service to them in the near future? You should know that the government has a keen interest in streamlining how we deliver healthcare in the United States, with an emphasis on quality over quantity. To that end, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (also known as CMS) launched its Medicare and Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs in 2011 to encourage eligible providers to demonstrate Meaningful Use.

In any business, it will typically take a lot more time, effort and other resources to attract new customers than it does to retain them. The same typically holds true in healthcare organizations. Better patient engagement fosters trust between patients and the professionals treating them and is key for maintaining continuity of care. There are also financial considerations to keep in mind, of course, that will motivate practices to do their best to engage with each patient to keep them happy and satisfied with the services they receive.

We all have our own roles to play as we do our part to promote health in society. From the patient perspective, special attention to preventative care, nutrition, exercise, and getting vaccinations when recommended by a physician are examples of what ordinary people can do to cut down on the costs of healthcare in this country. From the perspective of medical practices, getting ready for MACRA and MIPS is an essential aspect of streamlining healthcare services and being more efficient in how we diagnose and treat each patient.