As technology advances for physicians with EHR Software, it also advances for patients. We live in a world of laptops and smart phones. May people prefer to communicate by e-mail than by telephone.
Our Intergy by Sage EHR Software offers a feature call Practice Portal. The Practice Portal facilitates the patient/provider “connection” by giving patients access to a wide array of online information and services through secure, online communications. Your patients can:
- Receive General Practice Information
- Request an Appointment
- Request a Prescription Refill
- Submit New Patient Registration Forms and Pre-Visit Questionnaires
- View their lab results, immunization data, medications, health conditions, and more
In addition to these features you can reduce staff phone time by exchanging real-time, secure email messages with patients instead of phone calls. For more information about our Intergy by Sage Practice Portal and how it works with our Intergy EHR Software, contact
Bradford Scott Data Corporation. We will be happy to set up an EHR Demo for you to see how our products can help your practice.
75% of the public supports the movement of
electronic health records, but will the technology really make us safer? Here are my top 5 favorite reasons for thinking that they will....
- Less trips to the doctor's office - When we can email our doctors instead of having to set appointments for every little thing, like a prescription refill, we will be saving time and money! Less time taken off of work, less money spent in gas, and less time spent waiting in the lobby will always be positives in my book.
- Access to your medical records on vacation - With EHR technology being rapidly embraced, it's just a matter of time before doctors and hospitals will be able to share our medical records. If I'm off getting married in Vegas, and I need to seek medical attention, my doctor from the Hoosier state can send my info with a touch of a button. I don't know about you, but I don't like having to re-take tests and blood work if I don't have to!
- No more leaving messages and calling back for lab results - How many times have you called for your results, only to be told to call back later? Wouldn't it be nice if we could just log on and see the results for ourselves? Very nice!
- No more hauling X-rays and medical files - If we are referred to a specialist, that physician will need our past records, tests, and/or X-rays. But what id they could just retrieve them like a digital picture? No more sorting through papers, waiting for faxes, or hauling them yourself.
- Prescriptions - When prescriptions are transmitted electronically, the system automatically checks for interactions and correct dosage. Do you go to more then one doctor for more than one reason? Now you don't have to worry if the pharmacist will catch it. Electronic prescriptions have saved millions already, and the doctor gets a kick-back right now from Medicare, what's not to love?
If your physician is not taking advantage of
electronic health records, it's time for you to ask why. With the
ARRA(Stimulus) incentives that are available, it has never been a better time to make a move.
Why consider an
Electronic Medical Records System?
• Improved Coding - With better documentation tools, your coding will be more accurate. Where there is more accuracy, better patient care and, in most cases, higher reimbursements will follow.
• Storage - Where are you putting those charts? Keeping them on-site takes up too much space and keeping them off-site takes up too much of your money. Use your space for another exam room and use your money for whatever you want, not renting the unnecessary.
•
e-Prescribing - Did you know that, on average, your staff spends 10 minutes handling prescription refill calls alone? How many of these calls are they taking each day? You're paying them how much per hour?
• Malpractice Premiums - Did you know that some insurance carriers offer discounts to those providers using
EHR? It's true... Some even offer discounts all the way up to 20%, and for you specialty practices out there, this type of saving would more than cover the cost of your EHR.
• No More Chart Pulls - With an average cost of $5 per chart pull, how much money would your practice save? The average is 30 chart pulls per day, what would you do with an extra $39,150 per year?
If you wait until you are forced to implement an
Electronic Health Records system, will you end up with one that you have no control over? Call us today to view a demo of Intergy EHR. Intergy EHR meets all of the Stage 1 criteria to receive your incentives.
It's not a question of "if", it's a question of "when".
The use of
electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is effectively preventing adverse drug reactions and reducing medical costs, according to researchers from Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
A recent study, posted in
Archives of Internal Medicine, found that 7.3% of e-prescribing attempts resulted in alerts. Of the 279,476 alerts that were studied, physicians overrode 91.1% of them. Even though the electronic prescriptions technology was over-ridden in those cases, it still helped prevent 402 adverse drug issues. Here are more things that those alerts likely prevented:
- 3 deaths
- 14 permanent disabilities
- 31 temporary disabilities
- 39 hospital admissions
- 34 emergency room visits
- 267 physician office visits
This study was taken from only the first half of 2006 Massachusetts prescription data, and it is estimated that the use of
electronic prescriptions ended with an overall savings of $402,619.
Electronic prescribing is a ARRA incentive requirement. Sage Intergy EHR V5.5 is CCHIT 2008 certified and includes this feature, and Bradford-Scott also offers a stand-alone version as well.
Contact us today.
Another big customer has upgraded to Sage Intergy! One of Bradford-Scott's largest and oldest customers has made the leap and upgraded to
Sage Intergy 6.0. Soon they'll reap the benefits that Intergy has to offer, including electronic prescriptions, integrated claim status, and state of the art billing.
They are also looking into EHR adoption.
Sage Intergy EHR is one of the most successful electronic health records products in the nation, providing solutions to thousands of providers nationwide.
If you're ready to upgrade your office to the best Indiana EHR system available, give us a call.
Bradford-Scott is also a provider of Kentucky EHR, Illinois EHR, Ohio EHR, and Michigan EHR, and we provide the best service and support in the Midwest. Contact medical sales at 317-713-2065 or reply to this blog for more information.
Cheers,
Mike
Is your practice using an electronic script writing software? If not you might want to invest in one. This is not only a more secure way to submit patient medications to the pharmacy, but there is also a kickback offered to all medical offices that are using a true e-script medical software product from Medicare. This functionality will also be required for your practice to qualify for meaningful use and receive government stimulus money.
Bradford-Scott's EMR system allows the doctor, or medical practice, to send and answer prescription requests directly from within the Electronic Medical Records Software. This causes little disruption to the doctors day as he can quickly answer the request while seeing patients. The newest feature of the E-scripting software will allow the doctor to submit controlled substances electronically. This will also save the doctor time in writing out prescriptions.
With the combination of the a more secure way to submit patient prescriptions, and the ease of use to the doctor and clinical staff, eprescribing is a valuable asset to any medical facility.
The push is on for electronic health records (EHR) and a large component of that is e-prescribing.
If you haven't gotten on the bandwagon, consider these benefits to your practice:
- Quickly create/view any prescription
- Improved patient care - decreased errors and pharmacy calls
- DUR checks
- Formularies for insurance plans
- Electronic requests from the pharmacy for refills
As you can see from just this short list, the benefits easily outweigh your current paper method.
Additionally, in June of this year, a new law allowing electronic prescriptions for controlled substances - class II through V was approved by the DEA. This was done in order to provide a greater use of e-prescribing than was currently available.
Bradford-Scott Medical Corporation offers a web based application as well as our Intergy EHR software which includes e-prescribing as one of its' features.
Our prescription for you?
Give Bradford-Scott Data Corporation a call today at 317.713.2065. Whether you are ready to start with e-prescribing or electronic health records our team of medical consultants are ready to help you!
If you haven't heard of the ARRA Program yet, you're probably in the minority. ARRA stands for the
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. Full details can be found on the Bradford-Scott website, but here's a quick summary:
President Obama initiated the ARRA program to aid physician offices in EHR adoption. With the adoption of electronic health records, practices can benefit from rebates by showing meaningful use. By demonstrating successful use of electronic prescriptions and some other criteria, your practice can receive Medicare incentives that can ultimately help pay the cost of moving to EHR.
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation is proud to be the most successful Indiana EHR provider, and we also have several Ohio EHR and Kentucky EHR customers. For an EHR demo or to find out more about the software and services we offer, you can check the
Sage Intergy EHR information on our website or reply to this post. Here's to your future success in the world of electronic medical records.
Cheers,
Mike
It's cleaning day here at Bradford-Scott Data Corporation. Every spring we take a day to make sure everything sparkles, re-organize and get rid of accumulated clutter.
Have you thought about making a clean sweep in your office?
How much room do your paper charts take that could be used for more productive space?
What about those charts that are no longer active but need to be kept for at least seven years?
It's time to make a change for the better and move to an electronic medical record software system(EMR). Not only will you find that you can store patient charts electronically, but you can also scan EOB's and other material taking up space in all those file drawers. With our SAGE Intergy product, you can set security levels for access, so confidential information is protected.
Changing to an EMR system will also provide benefits you didn't"t expect -
Increased efficiency in your office - with instant access to charts, electronic prescriptions and lab orders as well as results, just to name a few. Once you have implemented an EMR system, you will also notice that patient care has improved as well.
An added bonus to implementing an EMR system now, is the ARRA Regulations that provide Medicare or Medicaid incentive money for implementing an EMR and meeting the meaningful use criteria. Early EMR adoption can also increase the amount of incentive available per physician.
Are you ready to make a change, but not sure where to start?
Let our
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation medical sales consultants discuss the ARRA Rules and the SAGE Intergy EMR product with you and start you on your way.
Last Saturday I took my son and his friend to Holiday World. We got to ride a bunch of rides, water slides, and roller coasters. By far the highlight of the trip was the Voyage. Ranked the #1 wooden coaster in the world, it is speedy and thrilling, If it's not the best coaster I've ever ridden, then it's at least the best wooden one, even supplanting The Beast which had been my favorite for over two decades.
Technology in the health care industry is similar to the roller coaster industry. While there are some old systems that are tried and true, technology is exploding right now. Electronic health records have become more useful and essential. Electronic prescriptions are in full swing and go hand in hand with the CMS incentive program.
Is your current system a Beast? It's time to take a Voyage to the future. Let us give you an EHR demo and prove to you what
Sage Intergy EHR can do. EHR adoption is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. Give
Bradford-Scott a call at 317-713-2065 or reply to this blog.
Cheers,
Mike
Have you begun ePrescribing yet? Bradford-Scott introduced the ability to do so in 2008, and since then several customers have taken advantage of this new technology. Our current customers with
Sage Intergy EHR,
Intergy by Sage, MENDS and Navigator all have the ability to begin eRx transactions!
According to the article "E-Prescribing Expected to Rise in Wake of DEA Rule, CMS Incentives", the number of electronic prescription transactions tripled between 2008 and 2009. Thanks to the relaxation of the controlled-substances restrictions, electronic prescriptions are expected to increase in 2010.
How can eRx capability save your practice money? You'll qualify for the CMS Incentive payment and you'll save office staff time and paper usage. In 2012, CMS is going to institute a penalty for not prescribing electronically, so you can avoid that as well once you make the move to eRx. To find out more about how
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation can provide you with ePrescribe, electronic health records, or any of our other products' features, contact us through this blog or call 317-713-2065.
Cheers,
Mike
The use of
electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) is effectively preventing adverse drug reactions and reducing medical costs, according to researchers from Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
A recent study, posted in
Archives of Internal Medicine, found that 7.3% of e-prescribing attempts resulted in alerts. Of the 279,476 alerts that were studied, physicians overrode 91.1% of them. Even though the electronic prescriptions technology was over-ridden in those cases, it still helped prevent 402 adverse drug issues. Here are more things that those alerts likely prevented:
- 3 deaths
- 14 permanent disabilities
- 31 temporary disabilities
- 39 hospital admissions
- 34 emergency room visits
- 267 physician office visits
This study was taken from only the first half of 2006 Massachusetts prescription data, and it is estimated that the use of
electronic prescriptions ended with an overall savings of $402,619.
Electronic prescribing is a ARRA incentive requirement. Sage Intergy EHR V5.5 is CCHIT 2008 certified and includes this feature, and Bradford-Scott also offers a stand-alone version as well.
Contact us today.
Are you actually getting paid for the work that you do? With the increased popularity of
electronic health records, practices are streamlining paperwork, reducing transcription costs, increasing patient volume and more efficiently writing prescriptions. All of these are crucial to daily work flow and cost control, but is your practice, in fact, increasing it's revenue?
Current studies show that approximately 40% of E&M visits are under-coded by physicians, i.e. the level visit coded is less than the actual level of work performed and documented. Physicians will often deliberately under-code to avoid audits, thereby leaving thousands of dollars on the table. This is an obvious disservice to the provider and ultimately only benefits the insurance companies.
EHR can be the solution to this problem. Top EHR vendors offer an E/M coding solution that is actually built-in to the patient visit, thereby allowing the software to suggest a code after documentation is completed. There is, in all cases, subjective data that will be entered by the physician, but the completed entry will reflect it as part of the permanent record.
A recent 2-year study was made of a multi-specialty group of 25 providers. The coding of their newly implemented
EHR system reflected the following:
- Compliance increased from 72% to 94%;
- revenue increased 12% overall; and,
- on average, each physician saw 8% less patients during the first year of implementation.
-
If implemented properly, EHR will be the tool you need to insure that you're paid for all of your work. (
For more information about coding, contact Bradford-Scott Data Corporation at 317-713-2075.)
Bradfordscott Data Corp is a Medical Software company that offers many of products that cover all your Medical Practice needs. We currently offer a suite product that is an integrated product that offers Medical billing software and your electronic medical records software all in one product.
This allows for patient flow tracking to be viewed and editing from the Practice Management software and also the EMR System. There are other advantages as well with the schedule, tasking, and charge submission.
Bradfordscott also offers a large range of products to aid your medical office in their needs. Here is a list of a few of our products:
- Medical Billing Software
- Electronic Medical Records
- Claims Billing Software
- Electronic Statements
- Practice Portal
- Lab Portal Transmission
- Patient Portal
- Electronic Prescriptions
- Electronic Patient Charting
- Document Imaging
- Voice Recognition Software
- Computer Hardware
With our products we also offer a range of services to help take care of your office's every need. We offer classroom training, web training, call support, hardware support to name a few.
When shopping Medical Software Vendors, take a look at our products and services, ask for references, request a demo. We would love a chance to help you make your office more efficient and daily jobs easier.
Should I bill in house or outsource it? Most physician offices are faced with this choice at one time or another.
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation works with physicians that use both options. Is one better than the other?
Chris Thorman blogs about medical software at the
Software Advice blog. Thorman has written an article called "
Should You Outsource Your Medical Billing?" In the article, Thorman breaks down advantages, disadvantages, and even projected costs of both methods of billing. Another point he makes is that EHR Adoption makes in house billing easier, especially when the practice management system and the electronic medical records system are integrated.
Bradford-Scott is proud to offer CCHIT certified
Sage Intergy EHR v5.5 which integrates with our billing system,
Intergy by Sage. This suite of products offers electronic prescriptions, integrated charge posting from the EMR note to the billing system, and many other features designed to aid compliance with the EMR Stimulus plan / ARRA Regulations.
For more information about our products, our
local support and service, or to schedule an Intergy demo or an Intergy EHR demo, simply reply to this blog. You can also contact us at 317-713-2065 for more information.
Cheers,
Mike
When I learned to audit charts, the phrase they always drummed into your head was -
"If it isn't documented, they didn't do it".
In other words, you won't get paid for it. That can take your reimbursement down from a level 3 visit to a level 1 - ouch!!
How do you measure up? Many physicians do the work, but fail to document. In addition to being vulnerable to an audit, this also hurts you financially as you tend to under code.
When you purchase an electronic medical records system, the changes for how you do your medical charting can be overwhelming. Things you may automatically check for, but don't always take the time to document are staring you in the face. It does take time to change your habits, but the benefits far outweigh the effort to change.
Why should you care about the benefits?
- Improved and accurate documentation of patient care - everyone being able to read the prescription or your encounter note decreases errors.
- Messages for patient care (ex. rx refills, test results)- again documented in the system, not on sticky notes that get lost.
- Patient chart with information available at a click of a button to multiple users, not left in the trunk of the car.
- With our SAGE Intergy EHR software, the Medcin database calculates the level of the office visit based on the findings you selected or cited during the visit.
What it comes down to is improving care, staff efficiency and increasing revenue. Why would you want to wait to make these changes?
Still unsure? Consider that the
EHR Stimulus for physicians' to qualify for grant money for implementing EHR and meeting "meaningful use" criteria is available over a five year period. That's the icing on the cake!
Talk to one of our medical consultants at
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation today and find out how you can make the change!
Yesterday the health care reform bill was finally passed. Tomorrow, the Senate will review some revisions suggested by the House which try to strengthen the wording and close some loopholes. In the words of the White House web site, the bill should do the following things:
- It expands health insurance coverage to 32 million Americans, guaranteeing that 95% of Americans will be covered.
- It makes health insurance affordable for middle class and small businesses -- including the largest middle class tax cuts for health care in history -- reducing premiums and out-of-pocket costs.
- It strengthens consumer protections and reins in insurance company abuses.
- It gives millions of Americans the same types of private insurance choices that members of Congress will have -- through a new competitive health insurance market that keeps costs down.
- It holds insurance companies accountable to keep premiums down and prevent denials of care and coverage, including for pre-existing conditions.
- It improves Medicare benefits with lower prescription drug costs for those in the ‘donut hole,' better chronic care, free preventive care, and nearly a decade more of solvency for Medicare.
- It reduces the deficit by more than $100 billion over next ten years, and by more than one trillion dollars over the following decade; reining waste, fraud and abuse; overpayments to insurance companies and by paying for quality over
quantity of care.
Hopefully this is all true. I know there are many opponents to reform and I'm not here to debate that, just reporting the news ;)
This reform combined with the ARRA Regulations, Medicare Incentives, and the amount of EHR Adoption there should be this year, makes for one of the largest years of change for health care in recent memory. If you have any questions about EMR adoption or how your practice can keep up with all of these changes, call
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation and we'll hook you up with some answers.
Cheers,
Mike
This week we all sprung ahead to Daylight Savings Time. Has your body figured it out yet? Surprisingly I've been getting up earlier this week than normal. I guess that small of a change didn't affect me so much.
There are many more things going on in these changing times of health care. You're got proposed health care reform, PQRI measures being implemented, and of course the ARRA Program encouraging providers to consider EHR adoption.
Since I've been in the medical software business there have been many changes. When I began, there were blue HCFA forms and bisync electronic claims modems. Now there are CMS Incentive programs for EMR adoption, electronic prescriptions, and Internet electronic claims.
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation has two state-of-the-art products that handle everything listed above and more. Intergy by Sage and Intergy EHR by Sage will change the way your office cares for patients. To find out how you can benefit or to schedule an EHR demo, give our sales department a call at 317-713-2065.
Cheers,
Mike
Even with all the talk about incentives and mandates, many are still wondering why they need an
EHR system. Here are just a few of the obvious reasons.
• Improved Coding - With better documentation tools, your coding will be more accurate, leading to better reimbursements.
• Storage - Keeping paper charts on-site takes up too much space and keeping them off-site takes up too much of your money.
•
e-Prescribing - Did you know that, on average, your staff spends 10 minutes handling prescription refill calls alone? How many of these calls are they taking each day?
• Malpractice Premiums - Some insurance carriers offer discounts to those providers using
EHR.
• No More Chart Pulls - This one speaks for itself. :)
If you wait until you are forced to implement an
Electronic Health Records system, chances are that you'll end up with one that is not a good fit for your practice or specialty. Start looking now and remember to look only at those that are CCHIT certified.
It's not a question of "if", it's a question of "when".
An exciting new product in the
Intergy by Sage line is the Intergy Practice Portal. This product allows patients to interact with your practice in a brand new way! Whether it's on line or via a kiosk, patients can pre-register, view their information and results, and much more. A few of the features of this product include:
- Providing patients a convenient, secure on line option for submitting new patient registration forms, pre-visit questionnaires, appointment requests and prescription refills
- Empowering patients to view their lab results, immunization data, medications, health conditions and more
- Reducing staff phone time by exchanging real-time, secure email messages with patients instead of phone calls
Call
Bradford-Scott Data Corporation today to see how the Practice Portal feature of Intergy by Sage can increase satisfaction and reduce waiting times for your patients! Reply to this blog or call us at 317-713-2065.
Cheers,
Mike
Powered by Compendium Blogware