Medical Practice Trends

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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_17.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 21-Leveraging the Resources of Health Information Exchanges" ] 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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_18.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 18-Meaningful Use Update 1" ] 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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_16.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 16-Why Practices Should Implement EHR Sooner than Later" ]

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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_14.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 14-Getting the Most Out of Your Medical 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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_13.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 13-Mobile Devices and Apps in Medicine" ]

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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_11.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 11-Five Best Practices for EHR Implementation" ]

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 [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_10.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 10- EMR and the Marketability of Your Practice" ]

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? [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_9.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 9- The Challenges of Integrating a New Technology into the Medical Practice" ]

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? [smart_track_player url="http://mptaudio.s3.amazonaws.com/$emed$podcast/MPT_podcast_8.mp3" title="MPT Podcast 8- Recent Changes in the Enforcement of the HITECH Act" ]

From the folks of AHIMA (American Health Information Management Association) comes a nice and concise overview of the final rule of the Meaningful Use provisions for electronic medical records implementation. AHIMA is one of the largest associations of health information management (HIM) professionals and was founded in 1928 - which I am pretty sure pre-dates the use of electronic medical records. This first in a series of white papers offers a basic description of the final rules. We covered some of the specifics in previous posts CMS Final Rule Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. But if you are new to all of this and just want to get your feet wet, here is a good place to start: CLICK HERE to download the PDF