It seems that people are busier than ever these days, with their attention constantly shifting between the requirements of work, family, and other priorities. The busier people are, the less energy they typically have available to devote to cultivating relationships. However, as the owner or manager of a thriving medical practice, you know just how important and valuable each relationship is with your patients. It takes time and effort to begin a relationship with each new person who comes into your practice, and you don’t want to waste that by failing to cultivate it.

The world of healthcare is transforming, thanks to a revolution in computer systems and our capability to network computers with one another, connecting medical practices with insurance entities and other 3rd parties. Health Information Technology is an important topic that your patients should know more about. Your patients may not know much about the technology underpinning their healthcare, or they may have questions or concerns about healthcare IT that you will want to be able to address.

Since the U.S. government recently extended the deadline for the mandatory transition to the International Classification of Diseases version 10 from ICD-9, many managers at medical practices and other organizations are breathing a sigh of relief because they weren’t quite prepared to make the change yet. If you’re among their ranks, you will want to take advantage of the additional time to get all your ducks in a row and make sure your staff will be in a good position to implement and use ICD-10. Organizations now have until October 1, 2015 to make the switch to ICD-10, giving them one additional year to get ready to use the latest version of the code, which is developed and maintained by the World Health Organization. In the meantime, here are three things to do while waiting for ICD-10.

When patients come to your practice, it’s only natural they may be apprehensive about their situation. Patients and their family members may only know that “something is wrong,” for example, or they could have a fairly good idea about what the problem is because they have gone through it before. Whether they have an injury or present symptoms of an illness or have run into a complication with a chronic condition that your staff has been helping them with for quite some time, you can expect that patients will have pressing questions that need answering as soon as possible.

The world of healthcare is constantly evolving, as researchers make new discoveries and invent new techniques to improve how we take care of patients. At the same time, there are changes in policy and advances in technology that can make it difficult to see very far into the future. However, we can imagine near-term changes more easily. With that in mind, here are five predictions for the healthcare industry in 2015.

Not every patient will be polite, well-behaved, and pleasant during interactions with you and the rest of the staff at your medical practice. Some patients will have anxiety, pain, and fear about their condition or have something else going on in their lives that can cause problems. Your medical organization may see patients who fail to show up for their appointments on a regular basis, for example, or use abusive language or behave in an offensive manner. Staffers and other patients could also be contending with patients who continuously show anger or appear extremely frightened. Here are five tips for doctors and medical practices for handling patients who aren’t easy to deal with.

There is a lot of talk these days about CMS’ impending required change from ICD-9 to ICD-10. The coming change, due to occur on October 1, 2015, is designed to let medical organizations take advantage of a greatly expanded and much more detailed code set. ICD was created and is maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), as the codes are used to communicate medical information worldwide.

In healthcare, change is constant. New methods for diagnosing and assessing medical problems are constantly being developed and improved upon, as are new techniques and treatments to help patients. Healthcare software is very much in the “change” mix as well, a current example of which is CMS’ announcing of the switch to ICD-10 by October 1, 2015.

Medical organizations using electronic health record or EHR software need to get ready for the upcoming switch to the latest International Classification of Disease code set. ICD-9, the previous version of the code, dates back to more than a decade ago and is being phased out around the world. The United States government is requiring all users to begin implementing ICD-10 by October 1, 2015.

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.