Articles related to PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

Dr. Marc Agronin discusses the evolving landscape of telepsychiatry, emphasizing its potential and challenges, especially for the elderly.

Streamlining Oncology Communication: A New Approach to Patient-Physician Messaging A recent study presented at the 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting has shed light on the significant workload that secure patient-physician portal messages place on oncologists, prompting a call for more efficient triaging systems. Key Points: “Secure messages are now a part of healthcare delivery that directly benefits our patient access to their providers, but this comes at the expense of increased workload for oncologists.” Brandon Anderson, MD, lead author of the study and an internal medicine resident at Kaiser Permanente’s San Francisco Medical Center in California

Boost your clinical efficiency and reduce patient no-show rates by implementing strategies like patient education, increased accessibility, appointment reminders, and sharing examination reports with primary care providers. Reducing patient no-show rates is crucial for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of health care facilities. Research has identified various reasons behind appointment no-shows, such as emotional barriers, lack of understanding, transportation issues, financial concerns, long wait times, and difficulties with work or childcare. To address these challenges, strategies like patient education, increased accessibility, appointment reminders, and sharing examination reports with primary care providers can be implemented. Patient no-shows have a significant impact on health care facilities, resulting in missed follow-up visits and decreased efficiency. Outpatient no-show rates before the pandemic ranged from 23.1% to 33.6%, while telehealth appointments during the COVID-19 pandemic had a lower no-show rate of 7.5%. However, physical presence is often necessary for proper eye examination and essential tests. Understanding the causes behind no-show rates is essential in finding solutions. Patients may lack awareness of the importance of their appointments or experience hesitancy as time passes and their condition improves. Feeling disrespected within the health care system and long waiting times are other factors contributing to no-show rates. To […]

Navigate the rapidly changing landscape of patient communication, as we explore the ins and outs of charging for MyChart messages. The COVID-19 pandemic has swiftly transformed the dynamics of healthcare communication. Consequently, healthcare providers increasingly rely on telehealth visits and digital communication tools to connect with patients. A significant offshoot of this shift is the growing trend of charging for MyChart messages. Healthcare systems have begun charging for the time providers spend responding to messages. Some hospitals have even expressed plans to bill up to $50 for MyChart messages. This new approach was permitted through changes to the 2020 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes. The revised codes introduced three new time-based categories, thereby allowing providers to bill for time spent addressing patient-initiated messages over a week. Despite these changes, not all services come with a price tag. As per the Cleveland Clinic, any work taking under five minutes or any service that leads to an in-person consultation will not be charged. Furthermore, no fees apply to prescription refill requests, appointment requests, and follow-up care related to a surgery performed within the last 90 days. However, specific services can be billed. For instance, messages necessitating a clinical assessment, ordering a test […]

Modern independent optometric practices must push forward with expanded scopes of practice, persevere through reduced reimbursements from vision plans, and effectively compete with online retail, according to Dr. Jennifer Williams, one of the three partners at the Pelham Eye Center in Pelham, Alabama.

In a randomized controlled trial at three US hospitals over six months in 2021, the researchers randomized 30 attendings to prioritize seeing patients who were expected to be discharged that day before seeing other patients. Marisha Burden, MD, FACP, a professor of medicine and division head of hospital medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and Angela Keniston, MSPH, an assistant professor and director of data and analytics for the division of hospital medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, discuss the study’s findings.