Every practice or business needs a brochure. Some brochures, if not done correctly, can become ineffective if not put together properly. There are 6 common mistakes to avoid when creating a brochure.
1. Objectives not being clearly stated. What is the main objective of the brochure? Clearly define the goals you want and what type of call to action that you want achieved by the patient or client.
2. Using generic templates. Not all brochures are created equal. In this day and age of visual stimulation, people can easily tell if a template was used.
3. Choosing the wrong brochure size. Decide what you are using your brochure for, how you plan on using the brochure to market, and then decide what size will work best for your needs. Do not base this off of content.
4. Not putting the heart of the practice or business into the brochure. People want to make a connection and to establish a relationship.
5. Copying the competition's brochures. One of the main goals of marketing is to get noticed and differentiate the practice or business from the competition. Following suit with how the competition's brochures look is defeating the purpose.
6. Visually pleasing isn't everything. Just because your brochure is visually pleasing does not mean it will succeed. At the base of any brochure is content and calls to action.
Friday, May 27, 2011
New Mammogram Recommendations?
November 2009
Dr. Mehmet Oz is everywhere. You can’t turn on the TV, read the newspaper, or even walk down the street without seeing his face or an advertisement about his TV show. Of course I am a fan of his on Facebook, along with 192,647 others. America has been undeniably tuning into the healthcare industry recently with the upcoming healthcare reform bill. Since healthcare is such a hot topic right now, the media has been coving a story on early mammogram detection.
Yesterday Dr. Oz posed the question via his Facebook page, “So what do you all think of the new recommendations that women not get mammograms until age 50, instead of age 40?” Amazingly, 2,629 people responded. Most people were outraged that the government and insurance agencies could even be suggesting this. For years the American Cancer Society has been preaching early detection, with women receiving mammograms at age 40 and self breast examinations. For the government and insurance agencies to say now that there is no supportive evidence of early detection being beneficial just boils down to money since it costs more money for women to be undergoing the mammograms at an early age.
Below is a statement from Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society.
“The American Cancer Society continues to recommend annual screening using mammography and clinical breast examination for all women beginning at age 40. Our experts make this recommendation having reviewed virtually all the same data reviewed by the USPSTF, but also additional data that the USPSTF did not consider. When recommendations are based on judgments about the balance of risks and benefits, reasonable experts can look at the same data and reach different conclusions.
“With its new recommendations, the USPSTF is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them. The task force says screening women in their 40s would reduce their risk of death from breast cancer by 15 percent, just as it does for women in their 50s. But because women in their 40s are at lower risk of the disease than women 50 and above, the USPSTF says the actual number of lives saved is not enough to recommend widespread screening. The most recent data show us that approximately 17 percent of breast cancer deaths occurred in women who were diagnosed in their 40s, and 22 percent occurred in women diagnosed in their 50s. Breast cancer is a serious health problem facing adult women, and mammography is part of our solution beginning at age 40 for average risk women. "
To read the full statement: american cancer society
Dr. Mehmet Oz is everywhere. You can’t turn on the TV, read the newspaper, or even walk down the street without seeing his face or an advertisement about his TV show. Of course I am a fan of his on Facebook, along with 192,647 others. America has been undeniably tuning into the healthcare industry recently with the upcoming healthcare reform bill. Since healthcare is such a hot topic right now, the media has been coving a story on early mammogram detection.
Yesterday Dr. Oz posed the question via his Facebook page, “So what do you all think of the new recommendations that women not get mammograms until age 50, instead of age 40?” Amazingly, 2,629 people responded. Most people were outraged that the government and insurance agencies could even be suggesting this. For years the American Cancer Society has been preaching early detection, with women receiving mammograms at age 40 and self breast examinations. For the government and insurance agencies to say now that there is no supportive evidence of early detection being beneficial just boils down to money since it costs more money for women to be undergoing the mammograms at an early age.
Below is a statement from Otis W. Brawley, M.D., chief medical officer, American Cancer Society.
“The American Cancer Society continues to recommend annual screening using mammography and clinical breast examination for all women beginning at age 40. Our experts make this recommendation having reviewed virtually all the same data reviewed by the USPSTF, but also additional data that the USPSTF did not consider. When recommendations are based on judgments about the balance of risks and benefits, reasonable experts can look at the same data and reach different conclusions.
“With its new recommendations, the USPSTF is essentially telling women that mammography at age 40 to 49 saves lives; just not enough of them. The task force says screening women in their 40s would reduce their risk of death from breast cancer by 15 percent, just as it does for women in their 50s. But because women in their 40s are at lower risk of the disease than women 50 and above, the USPSTF says the actual number of lives saved is not enough to recommend widespread screening. The most recent data show us that approximately 17 percent of breast cancer deaths occurred in women who were diagnosed in their 40s, and 22 percent occurred in women diagnosed in their 50s. Breast cancer is a serious health problem facing adult women, and mammography is part of our solution beginning at age 40 for average risk women. "
To read the full statement: american cancer society
Benefits and Purchasing Tips For An EMR
Prescription drugs are the second most abused category of drugs. About 70 percent of Americans - approximately 191 million people - visit a health care provider, such as a primary care physician, at least once every 2 years. Thus, health care providers are in a unique position to prescribe needed medications.
We have all heard stories, have known someone, or have seen the TV show, Intervention, as to how addicts easily obtain prescriptions from multiple physicians in order to abuse prescription drugs. But what is stopping a person from obtaining various prescriptions from multiple different physicians?
The healthcare industry and the President’s 10 year EHR incentive plan is trying to combat this issue by first having physicians implement an EMR system. An EMR means “Electronic Medical Record”, which is an electronic version of a patient’s paper chart. It is a comprehensive record of a patient’s prescriptions, medical history, test records and diagnostic images. EHR and EMR sound like the same term, but EHR means “Electronic Health Record” and is a comprehensive collection of a patient’s healthcare records that will eventually be accessible by any physician in the country via the National Health Information Network.
A patient’s medical history becomes sharable national data. An EMR is the first step to achieving a national EHR system. By implementing a national, sharable system, physicians will have a clear and comprehensive view of a patients medical record which will in turn decrease the number of prescriptions given to a patient.
There are many EMR companies and products to research when purchasing an EMR. Consider the following points when evaluating an EMR for a medical practice.
1. Understand the needs of the practice
Given the wide range of EMR companies, products, and features, consider writing out a list of what the practice wants most of an EMR in order to evaluate the financial impact.
2. Study workflow
Document and make a detailed diagram of the tasks performed and who currently performs them at each stage of the patient’s visit in order to study the workflow in a paper environment.
3. Quantify the changes
Where and how will implementing an EMR save time and money?
4. Billing
Will implementing an EMR help generate additional revenue in the billing department by ensuring accurate coding?
5. Negotiate
EMR companies will negotiate on price due to increased competition. Haggle away.
6. Install and train
After investing a lot of money into the EMR system, make sure staff is trained properly in order to see increased revenue and an efficient work flow.
7. Eliminate paper charts
Don’t allow the practice to get stuck managing paper records and an expensive EMR simultaneously. Obtaining an EMR is a financial opportunity; don’t let it become a liability.
It will take time for the national EHR system to be fully operational but the necessary steps are being taken now to insure that one day it will be harder for patients to abuse prescription drugs.
We have all heard stories, have known someone, or have seen the TV show, Intervention, as to how addicts easily obtain prescriptions from multiple physicians in order to abuse prescription drugs. But what is stopping a person from obtaining various prescriptions from multiple different physicians?
The healthcare industry and the President’s 10 year EHR incentive plan is trying to combat this issue by first having physicians implement an EMR system. An EMR means “Electronic Medical Record”, which is an electronic version of a patient’s paper chart. It is a comprehensive record of a patient’s prescriptions, medical history, test records and diagnostic images. EHR and EMR sound like the same term, but EHR means “Electronic Health Record” and is a comprehensive collection of a patient’s healthcare records that will eventually be accessible by any physician in the country via the National Health Information Network.
A patient’s medical history becomes sharable national data. An EMR is the first step to achieving a national EHR system. By implementing a national, sharable system, physicians will have a clear and comprehensive view of a patients medical record which will in turn decrease the number of prescriptions given to a patient.
There are many EMR companies and products to research when purchasing an EMR. Consider the following points when evaluating an EMR for a medical practice.
1. Understand the needs of the practice
Given the wide range of EMR companies, products, and features, consider writing out a list of what the practice wants most of an EMR in order to evaluate the financial impact.
2. Study workflow
Document and make a detailed diagram of the tasks performed and who currently performs them at each stage of the patient’s visit in order to study the workflow in a paper environment.
3. Quantify the changes
Where and how will implementing an EMR save time and money?
4. Billing
Will implementing an EMR help generate additional revenue in the billing department by ensuring accurate coding?
5. Negotiate
EMR companies will negotiate on price due to increased competition. Haggle away.
6. Install and train
After investing a lot of money into the EMR system, make sure staff is trained properly in order to see increased revenue and an efficient work flow.
7. Eliminate paper charts
Don’t allow the practice to get stuck managing paper records and an expensive EMR simultaneously. Obtaining an EMR is a financial opportunity; don’t let it become a liability.
It will take time for the national EHR system to be fully operational but the necessary steps are being taken now to insure that one day it will be harder for patients to abuse prescription drugs.
6 Tips For Keeping Employees Happy
Keeping employees happy in a medical office translates into an efficient working environment. One unhappy employee can cause disruptions for the other employees, creating a domino effect. Keep employees motivated to facilitate the practice’s goals and priorities. Here are some tips on keeping your employees happy and productive.
1. Outline every employees job responsibilities and functions
By listing out job responsibilities, it is easier to see which project priorities are being put aside and who should be responsible for those projects. If an employee is not suited for a particular project, delegate the project to someone else. This will ensure that projects get done on time and the employees work on projects that are suited for them. Keep in mind as well that most medical practices promote employees based on longevity rather than performance. Listing employee’s job functions will provide a clear view of which employees should be promoted based on performance.
2. Create a Team Leader approach.
Promote one person from each department to be Team Leader of their respective department. Once a month the Team Leaders should host a meeting to discuss solutions to problems, how to streamline current processes, collaboration of different departments, and future goals of each department. This will foster a team approach.
3. Establish a performance evaluation system
Once the list of employee’s responsibilities are clearly defined, it is easier to establish a performance evaluation system to ensure that the employee is meeting their goals and to assess accomplishments and behaviors. The key is to implement the performance evaluation system fairly. The system must remain the same for every employee. Exceptions cannot be made.
4. Continuing education
Help employees grow professionally by allowing time for continuing education. This will boost the employees self worth in the practice as well as keep the practice as a whole up to date on current industry techniques and procedures. The practice administrator or office manager is not the only person who should be attending continuing education seminars.
5. Identify and reward initiative
If an employee has gone above and beyond, reward the employee. The reward does not need to be extravagant; it just needs to be meaningful. The small things are what matters most.
6. Fun
The best employees are employees who enjoy going to work each day. Have a little fun throughout the day; it will motivate your employees to come to work with a smile. Celebrate birthdays and anniversaries. Again, the small things are what truly matter.
Upcoming Facebook Changes- Listen Up Marketers!
12/08/2009
Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites in the world. This past week, Facebook announced it supassed the 100 million-member mark in the U.S. and has 350 million members worldwide. The United States is the first country to reach this threshold.
What does this mean for businesses? Think of the reach Facebook has for potential customers. By building a presence on Facebook, a business has access to the world’s largest advertising market. Also, with Google’s move to begin including status updates, video and other content from Facebook, a company also stands to help increase traffic to brand pages.
It is important to note that Facebook is constantly changing. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, posted a letter regarding the future of Facebook back in October. The upcoming changes are very important to marketers and businesses that use Facebook as a primary presence since the upcoming changes are directed towards how brands can leverage Facebook.
Currently, posting content on the Wall of Facebook Pages is the customary way to spread a branded message by allowing Fans to comment, share, or like the content. With the upcoming changes, businesses will need to further adapt by adding custom content to the Page to highlight promotions, applications, and links.
A second change will come with the News Feeds. If a business were to update content, it appears in the Fan’s feeds section. The change will be that content will be surfaced based on a Facebook algorithm. This algorithm will factor how people connect with the content that is being published. If people frequently visit a Page, leave comments, or even like the content, the more Facebook will place your updates into their feeds. Just publishing content, like the majority of businesses do now, will no longer be enough to get ranked on Fan’s Pages. Facebook will be putting marketers in a position to strategize more and engage their audience.
Another change that is in the works is with email. Facebook’s new email will have the capability to build direct communication channels with Facebook fans outside of Facebook. Businesses will be able to collect email addresses from Facebook users through Facebook Pages and application, which will allow marketers to build email lists much easier.
With the changes that Facebook is looking to implement, innovate marketers will be able to connect with their target market more efficiently. Businesses will still be able to set up their business page, market their presence, and take advantage of the new changes.
Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites in the world. This past week, Facebook announced it supassed the 100 million-member mark in the U.S. and has 350 million members worldwide. The United States is the first country to reach this threshold.
What does this mean for businesses? Think of the reach Facebook has for potential customers. By building a presence on Facebook, a business has access to the world’s largest advertising market. Also, with Google’s move to begin including status updates, video and other content from Facebook, a company also stands to help increase traffic to brand pages.
It is important to note that Facebook is constantly changing. Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, posted a letter regarding the future of Facebook back in October. The upcoming changes are very important to marketers and businesses that use Facebook as a primary presence since the upcoming changes are directed towards how brands can leverage Facebook.
Currently, posting content on the Wall of Facebook Pages is the customary way to spread a branded message by allowing Fans to comment, share, or like the content. With the upcoming changes, businesses will need to further adapt by adding custom content to the Page to highlight promotions, applications, and links.
A second change will come with the News Feeds. If a business were to update content, it appears in the Fan’s feeds section. The change will be that content will be surfaced based on a Facebook algorithm. This algorithm will factor how people connect with the content that is being published. If people frequently visit a Page, leave comments, or even like the content, the more Facebook will place your updates into their feeds. Just publishing content, like the majority of businesses do now, will no longer be enough to get ranked on Fan’s Pages. Facebook will be putting marketers in a position to strategize more and engage their audience.
Another change that is in the works is with email. Facebook’s new email will have the capability to build direct communication channels with Facebook fans outside of Facebook. Businesses will be able to collect email addresses from Facebook users through Facebook Pages and application, which will allow marketers to build email lists much easier.
With the changes that Facebook is looking to implement, innovate marketers will be able to connect with their target market more efficiently. Businesses will still be able to set up their business page, market their presence, and take advantage of the new changes.
5 Tips To Improve Overall Practice Workflow
One of the top priorities in a medical practice is to have an efficient workflow process. If your practice is struggling with the management of its workflow, follow these quick top five tips.
1. Adopt an EMR with e-prescribing.
By maintaining all prescriptions electronically, this eliminates staff from having to pull a patient’s chart in order to view which prescriptions are needed.
2. At the time of the patient’s visit, issue all prescriptions and refills
Going beyond just using e-prescribing, think about when the patient’s next visit to the office will be. If the patient is not due to return for another 6 months, provide the patient with enough prescriptions to last until the next visit. This will eliminate unnecessary calls for refills.
3. Staffing
Review the busy times of the office and have enough staff to sufficiently cover the time that is necessary to run the front office and have the physician seeing patients on time. One of the biggest complaints about medical practices is the long wait times. The last thing a medical practice needs is to lose patients due to staffing issues and the physicians running behind. Also, create staggering hours to ensure all times are covered without having to pay for overtime.
4. Telephone Auto-Attendant
Most medical practices today have an auto-attendant for their telephones. Have the recording be short and to the point. Have no more than 3 options for incoming calls. Patients don’t want to waste time, so provide a short directory.
5. Website
Have an interactive website where patients can schedule appointments, request prescription refills, get test results and complete all forms for registration.
1. Adopt an EMR with e-prescribing.
By maintaining all prescriptions electronically, this eliminates staff from having to pull a patient’s chart in order to view which prescriptions are needed.
2. At the time of the patient’s visit, issue all prescriptions and refills
Going beyond just using e-prescribing, think about when the patient’s next visit to the office will be. If the patient is not due to return for another 6 months, provide the patient with enough prescriptions to last until the next visit. This will eliminate unnecessary calls for refills.
3. Staffing
Review the busy times of the office and have enough staff to sufficiently cover the time that is necessary to run the front office and have the physician seeing patients on time. One of the biggest complaints about medical practices is the long wait times. The last thing a medical practice needs is to lose patients due to staffing issues and the physicians running behind. Also, create staggering hours to ensure all times are covered without having to pay for overtime.
4. Telephone Auto-Attendant
Most medical practices today have an auto-attendant for their telephones. Have the recording be short and to the point. Have no more than 3 options for incoming calls. Patients don’t want to waste time, so provide a short directory.
5. Website
Have an interactive website where patients can schedule appointments, request prescription refills, get test results and complete all forms for registration.
HITECH in a nutshell
In 2009 the government passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. Within this law, more than $19 billion dollars has been allocated to encourage the adoption of health information technology by physicians and hospitals. This bill is called the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or HITECH Act. Another term is called “Meaningful Use”.
In light of the new demands and requirements that the HITECH Act has put on healthcare organizations, as well as the introduction of more severe penalties, organizations need to get started with a strategy immediately.
Is your EMR software company testing its compliance? Most of the criteria that will be mandated is available to review, but may be updated as time goes on. Can your office handle implementing some of the changes within this act? There could be some flow changes to occur in order to comply with those objectives. Is your billing agency compliant and taking steps to report to CMS your HITECH coding? That’s a big question that seems to elude most practices that do not directly bill from their EMR.
While CMS publishes updates, Euthenia Marketing will keep you posted so you can keep apprised of the many changes occurring in our field.
For more information go to the Medicare site for Meaningful Use Overview:
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/30_Meaningful_Use.asp
According to the act, physicians are eligible to receive up to $44,000.00 over a 5 year period showing they are using an electronic medical record in a meaningful way. After the attestation year of 2011, CMS will have a method in place to prove your compliance. CMS just released the governing body to certify all EMR’s.
In light of the new demands and requirements that the HITECH Act has put on healthcare organizations, as well as the introduction of more severe penalties, organizations need to get started with a strategy immediately.
Is your EMR software company testing its compliance? Most of the criteria that will be mandated is available to review, but may be updated as time goes on. Can your office handle implementing some of the changes within this act? There could be some flow changes to occur in order to comply with those objectives. Is your billing agency compliant and taking steps to report to CMS your HITECH coding? That’s a big question that seems to elude most practices that do not directly bill from their EMR.
While CMS publishes updates, Euthenia Marketing will keep you posted so you can keep apprised of the many changes occurring in our field.
For more information go to the Medicare site for Meaningful Use Overview:
http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/30_Meaningful_Use.asp
Children And Internet Safety
Who are your children chatting with or e-mailing? What are they doing when they are online? What websites are they looking at online?
Here’s some easy tips to all those weary parents out there concerned about keeping their children safe while surfing the web.
Harmful and inappropriate material can come from just about everywhere on the Internet, in an e-mail or instant message, through accidentally finding a pornographic website, in chatrooms, bulletin boards, or news groups. You know, you’ve accidentally done it many times just as I have.
There are actually more serious problems that can occur. Children may be solicited online in regards to sex. This may occur in seemingly safe situations. For example, your son or daughter might enjoy playing chess online at one of many gaming web sites. In most of these games it is possible to type conversation while playing the game. This conversation may begin innocently and then proceed over a day or weeks into sexual topics.
So is this all media hype or are there real instances happening out there? Unfortunately, there are real dangers on the Internet. It's important to tell your children the plain truth about dangers online. This is no different than telling them that they can't play in the street or can't stay out all night.
Other suggestions are to locate computers in a common room such as the den, a playroom or the parent's bedroom rather than in a child's bedroom. Children will be less likely to seek out inappropriate information and parents can more easily monitor the website they are visiting. It is also very important to talk with your children about possible dangers on the web. Let them know what dangers are out there and to come to you if they are having a problem.
Also, take an interest in what they do when they are online. Open communication will not only help in this situation, but can help grow communication between you and your child for the future.
Michele White
Here’s some easy tips to all those weary parents out there concerned about keeping their children safe while surfing the web.
Harmful and inappropriate material can come from just about everywhere on the Internet, in an e-mail or instant message, through accidentally finding a pornographic website, in chatrooms, bulletin boards, or news groups. You know, you’ve accidentally done it many times just as I have.
There are actually more serious problems that can occur. Children may be solicited online in regards to sex. This may occur in seemingly safe situations. For example, your son or daughter might enjoy playing chess online at one of many gaming web sites. In most of these games it is possible to type conversation while playing the game. This conversation may begin innocently and then proceed over a day or weeks into sexual topics.
So is this all media hype or are there real instances happening out there? Unfortunately, there are real dangers on the Internet. It's important to tell your children the plain truth about dangers online. This is no different than telling them that they can't play in the street or can't stay out all night.
Other suggestions are to locate computers in a common room such as the den, a playroom or the parent's bedroom rather than in a child's bedroom. Children will be less likely to seek out inappropriate information and parents can more easily monitor the website they are visiting. It is also very important to talk with your children about possible dangers on the web. Let them know what dangers are out there and to come to you if they are having a problem.
Also, take an interest in what they do when they are online. Open communication will not only help in this situation, but can help grow communication between you and your child for the future.
Michele White
A Smile Goes A Long Way
For years now, I have been face to face marketing for physician practices and for Euthenia Marketing. What I mean by this is that I walk into numerous physician practices a week. In my encounters, I have noticed a few habits that I believe physician offices don’t even realize they are doing, but need to rectify. Here are a few suggestions for better relations between patients, drug reps, and the community in general. What I’m talking about here is a little Internal Marketing.
When someone walks through the door, the receptionist should look up from their desk and SMILE. A smile goes a long way. It’s welcoming and one doesn’t feel like a bother. The receptionist is the PR person. They are on the front line and the face of the practice. Stop and notice what other people see and feel upon entering the practice. The patients are the clients and they can choose to go to another doctor if they don’t feel appreciated and important.
Lunches. One of the only ways for a company to speak with a doctor is by bringing the entire office lunch. This is not my complaint. The majority of office staff do not even introduce themselves at the lunch. Be personable! Especially if someone is taking the time to bring the office lunch. The office manger also needs to distinguish themselves from the rest of the staff. For the most part, the person bringing a lunch has no idea who anyone is. Someone needs to take the initiative and spell out how their office works. Build up a relationship with the people bringing the office lunch. Those people are out and about every day talking to people and are evaluating the practices they enter!
Take some time to examine the practice’s culture. Is it warm, animated, laid-back, friendly, or formal? Is the practice “patient centered?” Is the culture how it was envisioned? Most practices obtain their culture by default without thought or planning. Do employees work as a team to be patient centered? This requires training and an ongoing effort to have a patient center culture. Practices can’t sacrifice relationships with patients and vendors these days. Remember, a smile goes a long way.
When someone walks through the door, the receptionist should look up from their desk and SMILE. A smile goes a long way. It’s welcoming and one doesn’t feel like a bother. The receptionist is the PR person. They are on the front line and the face of the practice. Stop and notice what other people see and feel upon entering the practice. The patients are the clients and they can choose to go to another doctor if they don’t feel appreciated and important.
Lunches. One of the only ways for a company to speak with a doctor is by bringing the entire office lunch. This is not my complaint. The majority of office staff do not even introduce themselves at the lunch. Be personable! Especially if someone is taking the time to bring the office lunch. The office manger also needs to distinguish themselves from the rest of the staff. For the most part, the person bringing a lunch has no idea who anyone is. Someone needs to take the initiative and spell out how their office works. Build up a relationship with the people bringing the office lunch. Those people are out and about every day talking to people and are evaluating the practices they enter!
Take some time to examine the practice’s culture. Is it warm, animated, laid-back, friendly, or formal? Is the practice “patient centered?” Is the culture how it was envisioned? Most practices obtain their culture by default without thought or planning. Do employees work as a team to be patient centered? This requires training and an ongoing effort to have a patient center culture. Practices can’t sacrifice relationships with patients and vendors these days. Remember, a smile goes a long way.
Leave It To The Professionals!
Doing things on our own always sounds like a good idea. We'll save money, we tell ourselves, and get the satisfaction of accomplishment. But the truth is that we often end up spending more money and time or completely give up on the task. This is so true in any forum that is out of your comfort zone or knowledge base. Sometimes there’s hidden costs many of us may not understand up front. There's also the issue of the time it takes to learn about the task and the ability to follow through. Weighing the pro’s and con’s of doing a task on your own is the first step to deciding if you are capable of accomplishing it or leaving it up to the professionals. In many cases it is more cost effective to have the professionals do it.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Are you hearing the buzz word: Accountable Care Organization?
Health Care Reform Series Part 1
Accountable care organizations take up only seven pages of the massive new healthcare law, yet has become one of the most talked about provisions.
An ACO is a network of doctors and hospitals that share responsibility for providing care to patients. Think of it as an umbrella of patient care.
In the new law, an ACO would agree to manage all of the health care needs of a minimum of 5,000 Medicare beneficiaries for at least three years to keep costs down by managing those patient’s medical care more efficiently.
Accountable care organizations will be largely based on physician practices that, in turn, may be organized as patient-centered medical homes. We will touch more in this in future blogs so stay tuned because this aspect will likely change.
Many ACOs will also include hospitals, home health agencies, nursing homes, and perhaps other delivery organizations.
There are at least five different types of practice arrangements that could serve as ACOs.
These are integrated or organized delivery systems:
· Multi-specialty group practices
· Physician-hospital organizations
· Independent practice associations
· “virtual” physician organizations
Question: What is the difference between HMO’s and ACO’s?
Answer: The difference lies in the payment structure and level of provider risk involved.
While HMO’s have typically been arranged around capitation, ACO’s recognize variation in regional health care markets and the ability of providers to accept new payment models.
ACOs wouldn't do away with fee for service but would create savings incentives by offering bonuses when providers keep costs down and meet specific quality benchmarks, focusing on prevention and carefully managing patients with chronic diseases.
In other words, providers would get paid more for keeping their patients healthy and out of the hospital
This is the theory behind ACO’s. But will it really work this way? And will this plan keep costs down?
A study commissioned by the American Hospital Association estimates start-up costs for establishing an accountable care organization are many times higher than estimates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Follow us in this journey of Health Care Reform. The healthcare future is certainly changing and we will keep you up to date with any new developments.
What are your thoughts? Comments? Concerns?
David Coblitz (2011). Study: ACO’s Costs Higher Than CMS Says. Retrieved from: http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/aco-accountable-care-organization-study-aha-medicare-cms-42477-1.html?ET=healthdatamanagement:e1797:24923a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HDM_Daily_051611
Jenny Gold (2011). NPR. Accountable Care Organizations Explained. Retrieved from:
Don McCanne, M.D. (2010). What is an Accountable Care Organization. Retrieved from: http://pnhp.org/blog/2010/07/09/what-is-an-accountable-care-organization/
Image by: Trouthout.org. (2011) Flickr. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). Retrieved from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/truthout/4055996347/
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