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.

Efficiency should be the name of the game at your medical practice, but not at the expense of giving patients less time and attention, of course. Areas where you can make up the time include patient communications with staff, issuing lab results and carrying out data entry. For many busy medical practices that already have set up electronic health record software, adding a patient portal to the mix is an ideal way to streamline common procedures and save both staff and patients a lot of time and effort. If you have been on the fence about using an EHR and a portal, read on for three ways patient portals can improve your practice’s efficiency.

It has been a little more than a year since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or CMS began paying for chronic care management services separately under its Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The new payment scheme began January 1, 2015. This is something worth paying attention to, since approximately two out of every three patients on Medicare are contending with at least two chronic conditions, according to a recent report from CMS.

The type of medical organization you run has a great deal to do with whether many of your patients will require transitional care management, but TCM is an issue you should stay on top no matter how often it comes up of because industry and government updates can influence the way you do business.

With the arrival of every new technological innovation, we have to create new terms to cover the devices and systems we develop and implement. This is especially the situation in the fields of medicine and healthcare, given the pace of developments and the often-crucial nature of the new items being created. A case in point has to do with the terms “telehealth” and “telemedicine.” With so many people using these words without bothering to be precise in their definitions, it’s no wonder that medical professionals and patients alike become confused when confronting either term.

We’re all in this together. The health of individuals is one thing to consider, while the health of an entire population is an entirely different matter and one that medical organizations must always keep in mind when examining and treating patients one at a time.

The following excerpt is from an article found on Harvard Business Review. It was written by William B. Weeks, MD and James N. Weinstein, DO. ------------------------------------------------- In health care, value accrues to patients, insurers, and society at large. We believe that patients’ perceptions of value are what really matter and that insurers and society derive more value when patients are served well.

How much time, energy and money is your medical organization devoting toward boosting patient engagement? If you’re not sure of how much you’re expending, you won’t be able to figure out if you are getting the best return on your investment.

The following excerpt is from an article found on EHR Intelligence. It was written by Sara Heath. ----------------------------- When it comes to patient engagement, efforts must go beyond checking boxes. Patient engagement is increasing in importance in the healthcare industry, with several initiatives requiring patient access to health information and other patient engagement functionalities such meaningful use and accountable care organizations. However, creating a genuine connection with a patient and then getting him to engage with his care outside of the doctor’s office can often present quite a challenge.

Many physicians and clinicians initially embraced patient portals primarily as a means to establish asynchronous communication in a secure environment and encourage patient registration volume as required by MU Stage 2. This allowed staff members to engage in vital conversations with consumer-patients without lengthy telephone calls, enabling more efficient resource allocation and eliminating many time-consuming telephone calls.