It’s not uncommon for people to learn how to use a system to the point of proficiency. Then, they resume going about their daily work routines without giving much of a thought to how they will need to change their behavior when the system is improved and upgraded. Medical organizations from across the country will need to take this fact about human nature into account when they consider their use of Electronic Health Record or EHR software in the face of the impending switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10. Transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10 With the advent of computerization in the medical industry, standards were needed to encourage more precise communication among health care providers, insurance entities, the government, and researchers. The World Health Organization developed and maintains the International Classification of Diseases or ICD code. It is updated once every decade, and the latest code is already gaining ground across the globe. The United States government has extended the deadline for medical organizations to transition to ICD-10 by October 1, 2015. If your organization hasn’t yet begun making preparations for the big change, it’s not too late. It’s important to go with a software company that has a good reputation and a proven track record of excellent customer service to make sure your team will make a smooth transition to ICD-10.

Many of your patients will be in discomfort from illness, injury, and worries about their condition. Even if they aren’t suffering from such problems, they typically will find it more unpleasant the longer they have to wait or fill out what seems like a ceaseless barrage of repetitive paperwork. Prudent owners and managers of medical organizations are quite aware that it’s in the best interest of your organization to make patients feel as comfortable as possible. Accordingly, we’d like to present tips to make your patients fall in love with your practice. Don’t Make Patients Wait While You Call Their Insurance Company Your patients are likely already feeling under the weather or apprehensive about their situation. There’s no need to make them wait at the reception desk while your staff remains on hold trying to reach someone at the insurance company. Use electronic health record or EHR software to communicate quickly and efficiently with insurance entities. Your staff can easily check a patient’s insurance status with a few clicks of the keyboard. The faster you process patients, the quicker your medical team can move them out of the waiting room and get started with diagnosis and treatment.

Many medical practices prefer to remain independent because they are happy with their patient load and the freedom they enjoy in practicing the healing arts as they see fit. However, the price of independence can mean worries about the financial aspects of the business and issues with retaining employees as well as patients. If you’ve ever received an offer from a hospital or other major health organization to sell your medical practice and refused it because you want to keep your practice independent, you may be wondering what you can do to help ensure that you not only thrive but continue to succeed and grow. You should know that the right partnership with software companies can really make a difference in helping your medical practice remain independent without being alone. Your Own IT Department You can consider that an outside software firm will serve as a virtual IT department devoted to helping you and your practice. You’ll want to take advantage of all the training materials and customer help that the software firm provides, of course, and allocate sufficient time for staff training. If you have a medical practice that continues to use an old-fashioned paper-based system to handle patient charts, insurance and other documentation, you will most assuredly want to use the latest in electronic health record and related software solutions.

As a busy healthcare professional, it pays to take advantage of your smartphone or tablet computer so you can remain productive while you are on the go, whether while walking between facilities at your medical organization or when you are away from the office. With their touch-sensitive displays, ability to access the Internet via secure Wi-Fi hotspots as well as through cellular data networks, smartphones are ideal when you need to look up some crucial information, reply to a colleague or make notes on the fly about a patient’s condition. In many cases, apps for smartphones contain a treasure trove of information that you can access even when offline.

Many medical organizations use electronic health records software to help their facilities run more efficiently, enabling them to allocate more time to actually taking care of patients as well as speeding up the process of billing and other vital services. One important aspect of EHR software is how it enables organizations to easily work with the International Classification of Disease or ICD code set.

By now, many medical organizations are realizing the benefits of using electronic health record or EHR systems, and they are preparing to make the transition from the International Classification of Diseases or ICD-9 code set to the new ICD-10 code.

While the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) gave HIPAA-covered entities a reprieve by extending the date for ICD-10 implementation from October 1, 2014 to October 1, 2015, healthcare organizations that use medical billing software need to start the process of becoming ICD-10 complaint if they have not already done so. This transition requires upgrading or replacing current medical billing software in order to accommodate the new ICD-10 codes and training the staff how use the new software, in addition to how to do ICD-10 coding. Moreover, CMS recommends 12 months of internal testing of the ICD-10 compliant systems and 11 months of external testing with business partners. Furthermore, healthcare providers need to make contingency plans in the event there are problems with third party payers during the switch to ICD-10 codes.

With all the upcoming changes to requirements for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, meeting Meaningful Use standards, and the possibility moving away from fee-for-service reimbursements, many healthcare providers have found themselves overwhelmed by the information related to the transformations in the healthcare industry. As a result, some healthcare professionals are confused by contradictory reports about what they need to do to meet the new procedures required of them. One of the changes that will have a significant impact is the change from ICD-9 to the ICD-10 coding, which will affect all professionals in the healthcare who are required to follow HIPAA regulations.

Mental health care has seen a marked increase in demand in recent years. A growth in public awareness, coupled with a decrease in quality care facilities has led many practitioners to find themselves swamped with an influx of new clients, and the subsequent medical records that follow along with them. In addition, the steadily increasing power of both personal and enterprise level technology has significantly shortened the amount of time your average customer is willing to spend waiting for anything related to their own medical care.

Numerous medical practices rely on specialized software to effectively manage their clinical records and billing information. Unlike most other practices, the needs of pain management clinics are unique and therefore require a unique approach to practice management and electronic record-keeping. Any software used by a pain management clinic has to be tailored to meet the charting, billing and management requirements that are unique to each pain management practice.