Medical Practice Trends

MPT Podcast 27 - How To Tell If Your Practice Is Well-Managed, with guest Mary Pat Whaley of ManageMyPractice.com This Issue (8:04): Warning signs that your practice has management issues Why hiring your spouse as your manager may cost you in the long run Standard benchmarks that typical practices should be aware of The importance of being a 'calm' practice Click the play button to hear the podcast Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 27 - How To Tell If Your Practice Is Well-Managed, with guest Mary Pat Whaley of ManageMyPractice.com This Issue (8:04): Warning signs that your practice has management issues Why hiring your spouse as your manager may cost you in the long run Standard benchmarks that typical practices should be aware of The importance of being a 'calm' practice Click the play button to hear the podcast   Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 26 - Social Media and the Medical Practice, with guest Joseph Kim MD, President of Medical Communications Media Inc. This Issue (9:41): How specialty social media can be valuable for physicians Should you engage your patients on a social media site? How to stay on the right side of the law Patient portals and communicating safely with patients Click the play button to hear the podcast Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 24 - Scanning Paper Records Into Your EMR System: Setting Up An Action Plan, with guest Mary Pat Whaley of ManageMyPractice.com. Ms. Whaley discusses some tips and best practices based on her extensive experience advising medical practices. This Issue (8:12): The importance of 'storyboarding' your strategy for paper chart conversion How to decide if you need more employees for your conversion process Scanning vs. indexing When to know if you need to outsource the scanning process How much of the old paper record do you need to convert?  

MPT Podcast 22 - Is a Concierge Practice Model Right for You? with guest Mike Meikle, Hawkthorne Group. This Issue (3:29): What is a direct pay reimbursement model? Who typically opts out of insurance reimbursements? What motivates physicians to change to a 'concierge' practice model?   Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 21 - Leveraging the Resources of Health Information Exchanges, with guest Mike Meikle, Hawkthorne Group. This Issue (5:08): What is a Health Information Exchange? How can you keep your practice from being left out in the cold? Ways your small practice can leverage technology larger entities are using   Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 18 - Meaningful Use Update 1 This Issue (3:37): What's the latest on the Meaningful Use incentives? Important deadlines for Eligible Providers Why it might be best to wait until 2012 to declare MU Some proposals for grace periods Important links: Government's Certified HIT Product List Website CMS EHR Incentive Programs   Right-click to download

MPT Podcast 16 - Why Practices Should Implement EHR Sooner Than Later, with guest Chris Mertens, VP of the Personal Systems Group for Hewlett-Packard. This Issue (06:30) Why waiting can cost you money How timing uncertainty could make your project longer than anticipated How proper coding and quicker payments can lead to a faster ROI  

MPT Podcast 14 - Getting the Most Out of Your Medical Software, with guest Mary Pat Whaley of ManageMyPractice.com This Issue: We only use 10% of the features of most software If you don't push training, no one will get any better Some basic principles apply to most software  

MPT Podcast 13 - Mobile Devices and Apps in Medicine, with guest Mike Meikle, Hawkthorne Group. This Issue: Why are doctors turning to mobile devices? Is the iPad all it's cracked up to be? What are some drawbacks to these devices? Future trends  

MPT Podcast 11 - Five Best Practices for EHR Implementation, with guest Chris Mertens, VP of the Personal Systems Group for Hewlett-Packard. This Issue: Why you should take a good look at your processes before purchasing an EMR system How to minimize lost productivity Why installation of an EMR system is not the final step in the implementation process  

MPT Podcast 10 - EMR and the Marketability of Your Medical Practice, with guest Mike Meikle, Hawkthorne Group. This Issue: Besides financial incentives for implementation, EMR may offer some marketing benefits Patients may perceive a practice without EMR as not being "cutting edge" Far from being impersonal, EMR in the practice may actually be more humanizing  

MPT Podcast 9 - The Challenges of Integrating a New Technology into the Medical Practice, with guest Chris Mertens, VP of the Personal Systems Group for Hewlett-Packard. This Issue: Why healthcare providers are skeptical of implementing EHR despite its reported benefits What are some other concerns physicians have, such as cost or loss of productivity? What are some issues related to the quality of patient care?    

MPT Podcast 8 - Recent Changes in the Enforcement of the HITECH Act and the Impact on Your Practice, With Guest Mike Meikle, Hawkthorne Group. This Issue: Possible civil and criminal penalties a medical practice can face What do the new HITECH Act provisions mean to your medical practice? What are potential penalties for violating the HIPAA regulations? What proactive measures can you take to protect yourself and your practice?    

From the folks at Aetna Health, here is a graphic demonstrating the timeline for health reform 2010-2020. Click on the chart or the link below to download it.