The pressure to contain costs in the nation’s health care system is mounting. One area where the government is keenly interested in making changes is to promote the quality of care rather than the sheer volume of care being provided. To that end, there is a move to streamline the methods healthcare organizations use to report the level of quality they deliver to each patient. Of particular note is the fact that the Department of Health and Human Services is making changes in how Medicare payments will be paid for in connection with the quality and costs of the services. Modernizing how Medicare will pay doctors for quality is designed to save taxpayers money and help the entire system run more efficiently. In order to get up to speed on the legislative efforts involved, you’ll need to become familiar with the terms MACRA, MIPS and APM.

It often seems that people are far busier today than they were in recent years, and this is reflected in part by their growing use of smartphones while on the go. Trying to stay constantly connected with friends, family and coworkers with a portable device that you keep with you at all times for research as well as entertainment can make for some frazzled nerves and increased frustration. It’s no wonder that patients may seem less engaged when they come to your medical organization, with so many distractions pulling at them and fighting for their attention. Getting them more involved in healthcare discussions and their treatment plans should be of paramount importance. It’s clear that now is the time for you to prioritize patient engagement.

The more efficient healthcare providers become in the services they provide, especially to patients who are covered through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the more resources we will have at our disposal. To that end, CMS recently released some tips to help eligible professionals, hospitals and critical care hospitals as they attest to meaningful use this year. If you don’t comply with the meaningful use criteria, your organization won’t be eligible to get the financial incentives offered by the government for CMS patients. It’s in your best interest to do your part, so here are four tips for successful meaningful use attestation.

The success of any given country or even a civilization over the long run has a great deal to do with the overall health of its people. By paying close attention to the medical prospects of a group in the face of common ailments, for example, researchers can detect patterns and come up with methods to treat emerging problems before they get too out of hand. From controlling the number of people who fall ill to infectious diseases to dealing with the growing issue of violence in crowded cities, monitoring the health of groups is an important aspect of our medical system.

As part of its efforts to control costs and improve how we provide healthcare to people in the United States, the government established a program designed to open floodgates of information from medical organizations. The Physician Quality Reporting System or PQRS is a program through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Doctors working in their own practice or in a group practice are encouraged to provide reports to show what quality of care they offer to patients through Medicare. This information is valuable and the government established incentives to encourage participation. With that in mind, read on to learn more about the importance of reporting PQRS data.

With the shift away from a "fee-for-service" framework toward a more consumer-centric "value-based" healthcare delivery model, physicians have had to take a proactive approach to marketing their practice similar to the way retailers and consumer goods entities attract and retain clients. While designing effective marketing campaigns may not be the major focus for most healthcare providers, it should be a priority. In this new environment, strengthening engagement strategies is imperative for financial stability.

Back in 2009, President Obama signed the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act. It gave the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services authority to create programs designed to improve the level of safety, efficiency, and quality of the health care delivered in this country by focusing on developments in health information technology. To that end, the government is making an effort to promote and encourage medical practices to start using such important tools as electronic health record software and electronic health information networks.

How happy are your current patients with your medical practice? Are you doing everything in your power to make them feel at ease, respected, and listened to? What is the waiting room experience like? The answers to these questions can help determine the future success of your practice. When patients are comfortable and pleased with how the staff treats them (and this includes the amount of forms the staffers make them fill out), they will be more inclined to stay on with you, as well as recommend your services to their friends, family, and neighbors.

From taking an extra moment to engage in small talk with a patient to offering children a lollipop after getting a vaccination, medical practices are always coming up with ways to improve the relationship between doctors and patients. With the advent of highly affordable computer systems and widespread adoption of high-speed Internet capability within most people’s reach, the potential to improve doctor-patient relationships is made easier with patient portals.