By Mark Brousseau
Every organization, regardless of industry, needs to have a records management policy, and they must have a records manager. Nonetheless, it can be an uphill climb convincing top managers to embrace records management, Kevin Joerling, senior project manager, records management, Perceptive Software, said yesterday at the company’s Inspire 2011 user conference at the Wynn in Las Vegas.
Records and information management is defined as the systematic control of records and information throughout their lifecycle, encompassing creation, use, storage, retention, and disposition. “Retention is where we find many companies are not doing a very good job – knowing how long to keep documents,” Joerling said
And this is an area where companies can waste a lot of money, Joerling said: For every $1 spent on disk storage, $3 to $8 per megabyte is spent on managing that storage, he explained. “In some cases, companies don’t even realize this,” he said.
Joerling said records and information is more important than ever because it: reduces storage costs; organizations information for quick retrieval; facilitates litigation risk avoidance; helps protect information assets; and ensures compliance with recordkeeping laws and regulations. To this last point, Joerling said records management is a key part of an organization’s commitment to risk mitigation.
“Liability lawsuits are often decided on the basis of old records,” Joerling explained. What’s more, the loss of records can have more devastating consequences than the loss of a plant, Joerling said, noting that some companies based in the World Trade Center during 9/11 went out of business because they didn’t have backup records.
So why don’t more top execs embrace records management?
For starters, most top execs don’t understand records management. “Records management is not mainstream yet,” he said. “It’s not taught in too many colleges or universities, so business managers coming out of school don’t understand it.” Many organizations also don’t have a records management professional. “Who’s going to be that champion in your company to go to senior management and say ‘We need to look into this because we could get in trouble by not doing it?’” Joerling asked.
Additionally, records and information management benefits can be difficult to quantify. With tight budgets as a result of the recession, this makes it more difficult to persuade senior management about records and information management.
Joerling offered tips for selling top execs on the need for records management:
1. Describe how records management will solve issues facing your organization.
2. Propose a recommended solution, whether it’s hiring a records manager or records management consultant.
3. Detail what will happen if a records management program is not undertaken.
4. Explain when the records management program will be deployed, and how much money, how much time and how many people will be needed for the program.
5. Keep the discussions at a high level and targeted to c-level core concerns, such as how the program ties into the company’s strategic plan.
“It’s an uphill battle because you’re dealing with something that a lot of executives don’t understand and don’t recognize why it needs to be done,” Joerling admitted. But with the growing importance of records and information management, it’s critical that document professionals convince top execs on the need for a program.
What do you think?
Showing posts with label medical claims. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medical claims. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Consolidating patient records
By Mark Brousseau
As they move to electronic medical records (EMRs), one challenge for healthcare providers is how to consolidate electronic access to all of a patient’s documents.
Citizens Memorial Healthcare, which is made up of a hospital, 25 clinics, five long-term care facilities and a cancer center, has licked this problem by using ImageNow from Perceptive Software to tie together documents not captured in its Meditech 5.6 EMR system, including EKGs, radiology reports, outside lab results, wound and surgical photos and registration photos. This integration has allowed Citizens Memorial Healthcare to create a shared medical record across its enterprise.
In its EMR environment, regardless of visit, a patient’s documents are organized under a common number. To access documents related to an account that were not captured at the point-of-service by the EMR, the provider launches ImageNow in the background, allowing documents from either application to be displayed in the EMR system. To speed retrieval, ImageNow indexes documents in several categories; for instance, physicians can view patient diagnostics without having to look through registration documents. Documents also can be retrieved across accounts.
Electronic documents are created at the point-of-registration or via scanning later.
For primary care physicians that don’t have a way to get their EMR records into Citizens Memorial Healthcare’s system, ImageNow provides the ability to “scrape” data off of incoming faxes. As faxes come in to Citizens Memorial Healthcare, they are placed in a workflow queue where an employee triggers the technology.
“Our long-term goal is to have a true interface with Meditech for these documents. But we don’t have that in place now. ImageNow has provided that availability,” Tim Roberts, IS specialist, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, said yesterday during a presentation at Perceptive Software’s Inspire 2011 user conference in Las Vegas.
As they move to electronic medical records (EMRs), one challenge for healthcare providers is how to consolidate electronic access to all of a patient’s documents.
Citizens Memorial Healthcare, which is made up of a hospital, 25 clinics, five long-term care facilities and a cancer center, has licked this problem by using ImageNow from Perceptive Software to tie together documents not captured in its Meditech 5.6 EMR system, including EKGs, radiology reports, outside lab results, wound and surgical photos and registration photos. This integration has allowed Citizens Memorial Healthcare to create a shared medical record across its enterprise.
In its EMR environment, regardless of visit, a patient’s documents are organized under a common number. To access documents related to an account that were not captured at the point-of-service by the EMR, the provider launches ImageNow in the background, allowing documents from either application to be displayed in the EMR system. To speed retrieval, ImageNow indexes documents in several categories; for instance, physicians can view patient diagnostics without having to look through registration documents. Documents also can be retrieved across accounts.
Electronic documents are created at the point-of-registration or via scanning later.
For primary care physicians that don’t have a way to get their EMR records into Citizens Memorial Healthcare’s system, ImageNow provides the ability to “scrape” data off of incoming faxes. As faxes come in to Citizens Memorial Healthcare, they are placed in a workflow queue where an employee triggers the technology.
“Our long-term goal is to have a true interface with Meditech for these documents. But we don’t have that in place now. ImageNow has provided that availability,” Tim Roberts, IS specialist, Citizens Memorial Healthcare, said yesterday during a presentation at Perceptive Software’s Inspire 2011 user conference in Las Vegas.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Start ARRA Awareness Training Now
By Mark Brousseau
If they haven’t done so already, companies in the healthcare space should conduct organizational awareness training on ARRA and HITECH, Mary Rita Hyland, AVP, regulatory affairs, The SSI Group, Inc., told attendees at the Medical Banking Project Boot Camp at HIMSS10 this afternoon.
Organizations also should conduct a HIPAA and HITECH gap analysis to identify any products, procedures and services that need to be updated and modified, Hyland told attendees. As part of this exercise, organizations need to identify and coordinate technical or product updates, as well as coordinate and implement policy and procedural updates. “Operationally, ensuring compliance with HITECH’s security and privacy provisions is, to a large degree, an IT function,” Hyland noted.
Once they’ve reviewed their systems, policies and procedures, organizations need to audit and assess their compliance. “You don’t want to wait for an audit to be done on you by a whistleblower or someone else in the industry who doesn’t believe you are in compliance,” Hyland warned. “Audits are going to be important in meeting the guidelines and maintaining your compliance.”
If they haven’t done so already, companies in the healthcare space should conduct organizational awareness training on ARRA and HITECH, Mary Rita Hyland, AVP, regulatory affairs, The SSI Group, Inc., told attendees at the Medical Banking Project Boot Camp at HIMSS10 this afternoon.
Organizations also should conduct a HIPAA and HITECH gap analysis to identify any products, procedures and services that need to be updated and modified, Hyland told attendees. As part of this exercise, organizations need to identify and coordinate technical or product updates, as well as coordinate and implement policy and procedural updates. “Operationally, ensuring compliance with HITECH’s security and privacy provisions is, to a large degree, an IT function,” Hyland noted.
Once they’ve reviewed their systems, policies and procedures, organizations need to audit and assess their compliance. “You don’t want to wait for an audit to be done on you by a whistleblower or someone else in the industry who doesn’t believe you are in compliance,” Hyland warned. “Audits are going to be important in meeting the guidelines and maintaining your compliance.”
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Economy and Medical Banking
By Mark Brousseau
With the current economic slowdown affecting virtually every individual and business today, the need to keep costs as low as possible has magnified some of the key trends that were already brewing in the medical banking services field prior to the downturn, says Maureen Turo (maureen.turo@bnymellon.com), vice president, Healthcare Market Specialist, The Bank of New York Mellon. These trends include revenue cycle improvements that provide a clear business case for saving time and money, and a partner with proven success in finding the right solutions.
There are numerous medical banking services available to help both payers (commercial insurers) and healthcare providers (institutional and professional). The most widely accepted services focus on improving the efficiency and amount of payments collected and posted by providers, Turo notes. Such services include automated EOB data lift, point of service systems, electronic processing and payment-to-contract analysis services.
"Healthcare providers are paying particular attention to those solutions that automate their payment processes for faster outstanding accounts receivables resolution," Turo says. "Automating payment processing frees resources (both staff and technology) to focus on other important payment collection tasks, such as resolving denied and under-paid claims."
Turo says an increasing number of healthcare providers are also looking for vendors to help them build and analyze the business case supporting these new services. "Although many medical banking services do not have any capital expenditure outlay, the services nonetheless require multiple levels of approval due to their impact on numerous back-office functions and financial systems," she explains. "Projects with the strongest business cases are the ones most likely to capture the provider’s attention."
In addition to needing a strong business case to implement these high-impact services, providers increasingly require strong references of potential vendors. They want to talk to other healthcare organizations that have implemented similar services to learn about the process and results, Turo says. Dealing with multiple (and sometimes antiquated) systems, as well as limited IT and project management resources, providers need assurance that a new service will address their most critical issues.
"Until more is known about the anticipated federal healthcare reform, I believe these trends will persist, with automation continuing to drive efficiencies in the healthcare industry," Turo says. "As providers experience success implementing various medical banking services, more will do so. Healthcare providers may not want to be on the leading edge of using these medical banking services, but they will not want to be left behind."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
With the current economic slowdown affecting virtually every individual and business today, the need to keep costs as low as possible has magnified some of the key trends that were already brewing in the medical banking services field prior to the downturn, says Maureen Turo (maureen.turo@bnymellon.com), vice president, Healthcare Market Specialist, The Bank of New York Mellon. These trends include revenue cycle improvements that provide a clear business case for saving time and money, and a partner with proven success in finding the right solutions.
There are numerous medical banking services available to help both payers (commercial insurers) and healthcare providers (institutional and professional). The most widely accepted services focus on improving the efficiency and amount of payments collected and posted by providers, Turo notes. Such services include automated EOB data lift, point of service systems, electronic processing and payment-to-contract analysis services.
"Healthcare providers are paying particular attention to those solutions that automate their payment processes for faster outstanding accounts receivables resolution," Turo says. "Automating payment processing frees resources (both staff and technology) to focus on other important payment collection tasks, such as resolving denied and under-paid claims."
Turo says an increasing number of healthcare providers are also looking for vendors to help them build and analyze the business case supporting these new services. "Although many medical banking services do not have any capital expenditure outlay, the services nonetheless require multiple levels of approval due to their impact on numerous back-office functions and financial systems," she explains. "Projects with the strongest business cases are the ones most likely to capture the provider’s attention."
In addition to needing a strong business case to implement these high-impact services, providers increasingly require strong references of potential vendors. They want to talk to other healthcare organizations that have implemented similar services to learn about the process and results, Turo says. Dealing with multiple (and sometimes antiquated) systems, as well as limited IT and project management resources, providers need assurance that a new service will address their most critical issues.
"Until more is known about the anticipated federal healthcare reform, I believe these trends will persist, with automation continuing to drive efficiencies in the healthcare industry," Turo says. "As providers experience success implementing various medical banking services, more will do so. Healthcare providers may not want to be on the leading edge of using these medical banking services, but they will not want to be left behind."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Consumers Want Electronic Health Information
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Deloitte’s 2009 Survey of Healthcare Consumers includes some interesting data regarding consumer interest in electronic health records:
… 9 percent of respondents have a computerized personal health record (PHR) compared to 8 percent in 2008
… 57 percent want a secure Internet site that would enable them to access their medical records and pay medical bills, among other things
… 42 percent want access to an online personal health record connected to their doctor’s office
… privacy and security of health information is an issue: 38 percent are very concerned versus 24 percent who are not at all concerned
… 60 percent believe that the government should set standards for how medical information is collected, stored, exchanged and protected, while other view this as a role for health plans (21 percent) and employers (5 percent); 14 percent say no entity should set standards
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Deloitte’s 2009 Survey of Healthcare Consumers includes some interesting data regarding consumer interest in electronic health records:
… 9 percent of respondents have a computerized personal health record (PHR) compared to 8 percent in 2008
… 57 percent want a secure Internet site that would enable them to access their medical records and pay medical bills, among other things
… 42 percent want access to an online personal health record connected to their doctor’s office
… privacy and security of health information is an issue: 38 percent are very concerned versus 24 percent who are not at all concerned
… 60 percent believe that the government should set standards for how medical information is collected, stored, exchanged and protected, while other view this as a role for health plans (21 percent) and employers (5 percent); 14 percent say no entity should set standards
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Healthcare Spending Plans
Posted by Mark Brousseau
The tight credit markets are challenging healthcare providers' ability to access capital, according to the first survey in HFMA's Healthcare Financial Pulse project. More than 70 percent of all survey respondents forecast at least some cutbacks in such capital expenditures as IT systems, medical technology, and facilities construction.
The tight credit markets are challenging healthcare providers' ability to access capital, according to the first survey in HFMA's Healthcare Financial Pulse project. More than 70 percent of all survey respondents forecast at least some cutbacks in such capital expenditures as IT systems, medical technology, and facilities construction.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Few Americans Using PHRs
Posted by Mark Brousseau
Consumer demand for accessing personal health records (PHR) online is now at more than 70 million Americans, according to Cybercitizen Health v8.0, the latest consumer study and strategic advisory service from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research.
Despite significant interest in this type of service, only 7 million U.S. adults actually use PHRs.
Compelling offerings from vendors ranging from Google, WebMD, and Microsoft to multiple insurers and employers have sparked buzz around PHR in the past year. But for average consumers not motivated by a serious illness, significant barriers such as privacy concerns, lack of understanding, and doubts to PHR efficiency hinder adoption.
“Despite the rapidly increasing supply of PHR platforms, consumer adoption of PHRs is unlikely to show significant growth in the absence of major physician participation,” said Erika S. Fishman, Director of Research at Manhattan Research. "Education and awareness building will be critical in establishing the need for a PHR in the mind of American consumers. In a time when our country has not made health IT and electronic medical records a priority, it is understandable why consumers may not see the value in putting in the effort to keep a PHR on their own, unless they are highly motivated to do so because of an illness."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Consumer demand for accessing personal health records (PHR) online is now at more than 70 million Americans, according to Cybercitizen Health v8.0, the latest consumer study and strategic advisory service from pharmaceutical and healthcare market research company Manhattan Research.
Despite significant interest in this type of service, only 7 million U.S. adults actually use PHRs.
Compelling offerings from vendors ranging from Google, WebMD, and Microsoft to multiple insurers and employers have sparked buzz around PHR in the past year. But for average consumers not motivated by a serious illness, significant barriers such as privacy concerns, lack of understanding, and doubts to PHR efficiency hinder adoption.
“Despite the rapidly increasing supply of PHR platforms, consumer adoption of PHRs is unlikely to show significant growth in the absence of major physician participation,” said Erika S. Fishman, Director of Research at Manhattan Research. "Education and awareness building will be critical in establishing the need for a PHR in the mind of American consumers. In a time when our country has not made health IT and electronic medical records a priority, it is understandable why consumers may not see the value in putting in the effort to keep a PHR on their own, unless they are highly motivated to do so because of an illness."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
The Credit Crisis and Medical Banking
By Mark Brousseau
How has the global credit crisis impacted the healthcare automation space?
“All companies are re-evaluating how much they can invest and where they can invest,” Paula Fryland, senior vice president and managing director, Corporate Banking, PNC Bank, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “At PNC Bank, we have made a conscious decision to identify a couple of investments in the space of innovation that we think are critical to the bank, and healthcare is one of those. We have a commitment to invest tens of millions of dollars in the healthcare space. There is no sense that there is any retreat from that investment.”
“There are no numbers coming out to suggest you should stop investing in healthcare,” she added.
Fyland told the crowd of 48 attendees that healthcare is a tremendous opportunity for financial institutions. “The potential was significant to begin with, it is growing, and healthcare is ripe with opportunity because it is very inefficient. If your bank has been ignoring healthcare, shame on you,” she said.
“There isn’t a company or institution that hasn’t been effected by the economic crisis over the past six months,” said Al Briand, division head, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, product management and strategic development. “Some of the organic volumes that drive business growth are not there. So what we need to do as an institution is become more diligent about preparing for the future and identifying those areas where the investment will pay off. We can’t count on the increases in revenues like we did in the past. Healthcare is firmly in our growth area and we continue to invest.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
How has the global credit crisis impacted the healthcare automation space?
“All companies are re-evaluating how much they can invest and where they can invest,” Paula Fryland, senior vice president and managing director, Corporate Banking, PNC Bank, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “At PNC Bank, we have made a conscious decision to identify a couple of investments in the space of innovation that we think are critical to the bank, and healthcare is one of those. We have a commitment to invest tens of millions of dollars in the healthcare space. There is no sense that there is any retreat from that investment.”
“There are no numbers coming out to suggest you should stop investing in healthcare,” she added.
Fyland told the crowd of 48 attendees that healthcare is a tremendous opportunity for financial institutions. “The potential was significant to begin with, it is growing, and healthcare is ripe with opportunity because it is very inefficient. If your bank has been ignoring healthcare, shame on you,” she said.
“There isn’t a company or institution that hasn’t been effected by the economic crisis over the past six months,” said Al Briand, division head, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, product management and strategic development. “Some of the organic volumes that drive business growth are not there. So what we need to do as an institution is become more diligent about preparing for the future and identifying those areas where the investment will pay off. We can’t count on the increases in revenues like we did in the past. Healthcare is firmly in our growth area and we continue to invest.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Banks See Healthcare Opportunity
By Mark Brousseau
Why do banks want to be at the table in the discussion about healthcare automation? Because it’s a good business to be in, Al Briand, division head, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “The reality is that it boils down to the business case being there for the healthcare transaction model,” Briand told attendees. “Now, we’re going to investigate whether we can play an even bigger role beyond transaction processing.”
Briand noted that BNY Mellon has deemed healthcare as a growth market from a business and strategy perspective. “The opportunity is there to invest,” he said, noting common elements of need underlie the traditional bank cash and payments business and that of healthcare transaction support. “The synergies of healthcare and treasury management element provide servicing efficiencies.”
Briand said standardization is the key to unlocking the power of technologies such as those for medical banking. “Standards allow technology to be leveraged in a very valuable way,” he said. “Standardization is really the key to accelerating the progress of medical banking and addressing the complexity in the healthcare and banking areas. A lot of different parties need to be involved.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Why do banks want to be at the table in the discussion about healthcare automation? Because it’s a good business to be in, Al Briand, division head, BNY Mellon Treasury Services, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “The reality is that it boils down to the business case being there for the healthcare transaction model,” Briand told attendees. “Now, we’re going to investigate whether we can play an even bigger role beyond transaction processing.”
Briand noted that BNY Mellon has deemed healthcare as a growth market from a business and strategy perspective. “The opportunity is there to invest,” he said, noting common elements of need underlie the traditional bank cash and payments business and that of healthcare transaction support. “The synergies of healthcare and treasury management element provide servicing efficiencies.”
Briand said standardization is the key to unlocking the power of technologies such as those for medical banking. “Standards allow technology to be leveraged in a very valuable way,” he said. “Standardization is really the key to accelerating the progress of medical banking and addressing the complexity in the healthcare and banking areas. A lot of different parties need to be involved.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Stimulus Sparks High-Tech Opportunities
By Mark Brousseau
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), recently signed into law by President Obama, provides welcome news to technology suppliers who are facing a 0.1% 2009 U.S. growth rate, new research from IDC's Industry Insights Companies, reveals.
"With all the uncertainty surrounding the specifics of the new economic stimulus package, one thing is certain – there will be a large amount of government money flowing towards technology spending," said Meredith Whalen, Group Vice President and General Manager of IDC's Vertical Market Business Units. "This new government money will flow to both the private sector and directly to federal, state, and local government."
Included in the $787 billion ARRA package is approximately $20 billion in funding for healthcare IT, including incentive payments to physicians who implement and use eligible electronic medical records systems under the conditions laid out in the law.
"The approximately $20 billion in ARRA funding allocated to healthcare IT investment will have a positive impact and will begin the transformational process the U.S. healthcare industry so desperately needs to remain viable and competitive," said Health Industry Insights' Program Directors for Healthcare Provider IT research, Lynne A. Dunbrack and Marc Holland. "That said, even if implementation proceeds as intended, a number of issues still loom."
Health Industry Insights believes the combination of near-term stimulus funding for patient care, coupled with significant long term incentives and investments in new core health IT infrastructure will accelerate the move toward digital patient information. New Medicare and Medicaid stimulus money will ease cost pressures for many providers, while direct incentives to physicians and hospitals should ensure aggressive implementation of new patient information systems starting in 2011. Between now and 2011, expect significant new spending on standards development and core federal infrastructure.
Industry Insights analysts believe it will be imperative for the vendor community to be both aggressive and agile in their strategy to capture this newly addressable market. This once-in-a-lifetime flood of new technology money requires a new way of finding and following opportunities. Success will not come from traditional business development via relationships and RFPs. While some of these new monies will be allocated via grants and accelerated acquisitions contracts, there will be new ways of engaging with the Government.
"Technology monies will not necessarily be identified as such, but as an element of new and urgent government initiatives," said Teresa Bozzelli, COO and Managing Director, Government Insights. She added, "Vendors must understand when and how to upsell existing contracts when expediency is critical. The vendors must also offer new engagement models to the government, where reward is directly tied to the results achieved against the promise of the economic recovery designed within the stimulus package."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), recently signed into law by President Obama, provides welcome news to technology suppliers who are facing a 0.1% 2009 U.S. growth rate, new research from IDC's Industry Insights Companies, reveals.
"With all the uncertainty surrounding the specifics of the new economic stimulus package, one thing is certain – there will be a large amount of government money flowing towards technology spending," said Meredith Whalen, Group Vice President and General Manager of IDC's Vertical Market Business Units. "This new government money will flow to both the private sector and directly to federal, state, and local government."
Included in the $787 billion ARRA package is approximately $20 billion in funding for healthcare IT, including incentive payments to physicians who implement and use eligible electronic medical records systems under the conditions laid out in the law.
"The approximately $20 billion in ARRA funding allocated to healthcare IT investment will have a positive impact and will begin the transformational process the U.S. healthcare industry so desperately needs to remain viable and competitive," said Health Industry Insights' Program Directors for Healthcare Provider IT research, Lynne A. Dunbrack and Marc Holland. "That said, even if implementation proceeds as intended, a number of issues still loom."
Health Industry Insights believes the combination of near-term stimulus funding for patient care, coupled with significant long term incentives and investments in new core health IT infrastructure will accelerate the move toward digital patient information. New Medicare and Medicaid stimulus money will ease cost pressures for many providers, while direct incentives to physicians and hospitals should ensure aggressive implementation of new patient information systems starting in 2011. Between now and 2011, expect significant new spending on standards development and core federal infrastructure.
Industry Insights analysts believe it will be imperative for the vendor community to be both aggressive and agile in their strategy to capture this newly addressable market. This once-in-a-lifetime flood of new technology money requires a new way of finding and following opportunities. Success will not come from traditional business development via relationships and RFPs. While some of these new monies will be allocated via grants and accelerated acquisitions contracts, there will be new ways of engaging with the Government.
"Technology monies will not necessarily be identified as such, but as an element of new and urgent government initiatives," said Teresa Bozzelli, COO and Managing Director, Government Insights. She added, "Vendors must understand when and how to upsell existing contracts when expediency is critical. The vendors must also offer new engagement models to the government, where reward is directly tied to the results achieved against the promise of the economic recovery designed within the stimulus package."
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Healthcare Privacy Concerns
By Mark Brousseau
Health IT and electronic health information exchange have tremendous potential to improve health care quality, reduce costs, and empower consumers, Deven McGraw, executive director, Health Privacy Project/Center for Democracy & Technology, said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN.
“The public wants health IT, but the public also has significant privacy concerns,” McGraw told attendees. “Failure to build a foundation of trust is an obstacle to achieving greater health IT adoption. For years, there was no progress on resolving the privacy and security issues related to health IT. But the recent stimulus plan bulldozes those obstacles.”
McGraw said the stimulus plan addresses health IT privacy and security issues in several ways:
… Substantive changes to HIPAA statutory provisions and privacy and security regulations
… Enhanced enforcement of HIPAA
… Provisions to address health information by some entities not covered by HIPAA
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Health IT and electronic health information exchange have tremendous potential to improve health care quality, reduce costs, and empower consumers, Deven McGraw, executive director, Health Privacy Project/Center for Democracy & Technology, said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN.
“The public wants health IT, but the public also has significant privacy concerns,” McGraw told attendees. “Failure to build a foundation of trust is an obstacle to achieving greater health IT adoption. For years, there was no progress on resolving the privacy and security issues related to health IT. But the recent stimulus plan bulldozes those obstacles.”
McGraw said the stimulus plan addresses health IT privacy and security issues in several ways:
… Substantive changes to HIPAA statutory provisions and privacy and security regulations
… Enhanced enforcement of HIPAA
… Provisions to address health information by some entities not covered by HIPAA
What do you think? Post your comments below.
The Stimulus Plan and Medical Banking
By Mark Brousseau
Will the stimulus plan, which includes $19 billion for health IT, bring more widespread adoption and interest in medical banking platforms? Charlie Myers, director of operations, special programs and support, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, based in Baltimore, MD, doesn’t think so.
“Unfortunately, when Washington talks about health information technology, they are talking about electronic medical records,” Myers said during a panel discussion at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “Without some effort to go to Washington, D.C. and do some education on Capitol Hill, I don’t think a lot the stimulus plan dollars are going to come this way.”
Another panelist, Christine Smith, product manager-Remittance Solutions, WAUSAU Financial Systems, said, “While the stimulus package may not lead to more widespread adoption and interest in medical banking, I think that consumer-directed healthcare will. Physicians, particularly small ones, will need to become more competitive. And one of the big ways to reduce cost is to take some of the administrative cost out. That’s going to be the big driver of medical banking, not the stimulus plan.”
Laurie Holtsford, director of business office support, Community Healthcare Systems, Franklin, TN, said the stimulus plan could trigger partnerships between healthcare and banking organizations in that some providers may see medical banking as a way to meet rules and regulations without having to build out infrastructure: “I don’t see how providers can build this infrastructure themselves.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Will the stimulus plan, which includes $19 billion for health IT, bring more widespread adoption and interest in medical banking platforms? Charlie Myers, director of operations, special programs and support, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System, based in Baltimore, MD, doesn’t think so.
“Unfortunately, when Washington talks about health information technology, they are talking about electronic medical records,” Myers said during a panel discussion at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. “Without some effort to go to Washington, D.C. and do some education on Capitol Hill, I don’t think a lot the stimulus plan dollars are going to come this way.”
Another panelist, Christine Smith, product manager-Remittance Solutions, WAUSAU Financial Systems, said, “While the stimulus package may not lead to more widespread adoption and interest in medical banking, I think that consumer-directed healthcare will. Physicians, particularly small ones, will need to become more competitive. And one of the big ways to reduce cost is to take some of the administrative cost out. That’s going to be the big driver of medical banking, not the stimulus plan.”
Laurie Holtsford, director of business office support, Community Healthcare Systems, Franklin, TN, said the stimulus plan could trigger partnerships between healthcare and banking organizations in that some providers may see medical banking as a way to meet rules and regulations without having to build out infrastructure: “I don’t see how providers can build this infrastructure themselves.”
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Healthcare Feels Revenue Pressure
By Mark Brousseau
Efforts to cut healthcare costs and do more with less continue to deliver bottom line results, Doug Bilbrey, executive vice president, sales & marketing, The SSI Group, said this afternoon during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. But the next phase of the industry’s evolution will see more pressure to maintain and drive revenue growth to survive.
“With the unprecedented wave of new regulations, heightened awareness of corporate governance standards, and greater investor expectations, the need to make decisive value-producing technology investments will impact long-term healthcare strategies,” Bilbrey said. “These trends already are impacting the industry today, but they are going to have a more profound impact in the future.”
Against this backdrop, Bilbrey said medical banking platforms can help free up specific measureable and currently unrealized potential that can immediately support revenue and asset growth.
“The medical banking industry’s role is to provide visionary leadership,” Bilbrey said.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Efforts to cut healthcare costs and do more with less continue to deliver bottom line results, Doug Bilbrey, executive vice president, sales & marketing, The SSI Group, said this afternoon during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Summit in Nashville, TN. But the next phase of the industry’s evolution will see more pressure to maintain and drive revenue growth to survive.
“With the unprecedented wave of new regulations, heightened awareness of corporate governance standards, and greater investor expectations, the need to make decisive value-producing technology investments will impact long-term healthcare strategies,” Bilbrey said. “These trends already are impacting the industry today, but they are going to have a more profound impact in the future.”
Against this backdrop, Bilbrey said medical banking platforms can help free up specific measureable and currently unrealized potential that can immediately support revenue and asset growth.
“The medical banking industry’s role is to provide visionary leadership,” Bilbrey said.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
The Case for Medical Banking
By Mark Brousseau
The healthcare industry could eliminate some $30 to $50 billion a year in cost if it could find a more efficient way to process information, Robert Broadway, vice president, Bethesda Healthcare System in Boynton Beach, FL, said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute in Nashville, TN. And Broadway thinks medical banking is key to achieving these savings.
“Banks are in a unique position to help hospitals like us,” Broadway told the crowd of 100 attendees. “It is something that should happen. Will it happen? I believe that it will. Our institution is looking to the banking industry to see how we can partner on real tools to benefit for our mutual benefit.”
He added that, “the banking platform is universally accepted, it has earned great trust and confidence, and it has a strong emphasis on security.” What do you think? Post your comments below.
The healthcare industry could eliminate some $30 to $50 billion a year in cost if it could find a more efficient way to process information, Robert Broadway, vice president, Bethesda Healthcare System in Boynton Beach, FL, said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute in Nashville, TN. And Broadway thinks medical banking is key to achieving these savings.
“Banks are in a unique position to help hospitals like us,” Broadway told the crowd of 100 attendees. “It is something that should happen. Will it happen? I believe that it will. Our institution is looking to the banking industry to see how we can partner on real tools to benefit for our mutual benefit.”
He added that, “the banking platform is universally accepted, it has earned great trust and confidence, and it has a strong emphasis on security.” What do you think? Post your comments below.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Identity Theft in Healthcare
By Mark Brousseau
As we move closer to the effective date of the FTC’s new Red Flag Rules, identity theft is still a problem in the healthcare industry, Nancy Vickroy, director, healthcare product development and management, TransUnion, LLC, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute.
Vickroy cited a survey that found medical identity theft accounts for 3 percent of all U.S. identity theft cases each year, and represents an estimated cost of $468,000 annually. She also pointed to a recent study from the Identity Theft Resource Center finding that 13 of the 100 breaches reported this year involved a medical provider or insurance company, and could have impacted 98,000 people.
Vickroy offered attendees some tips for developing an identity theft prevention program:
… Choose red flags that make sense in your environment
… Identify departments that interact with individuals with covered accounts
… Determine types of information gathered and how it is verified
… Develop procedures to detect red flags during the life of the account
… Implement identity verification at every step
… Integrate automate solutions to ensure standardized verification processes
… Train staff in policies, procedures and responses to ensure consistent patient experience
… Develop procedures for triggered red flag accounts for exception handling
… Periodically evaluate for effectiveness and modify as needed
… Track down known incidents of identity theft that occurred despite the program and monitor trends
… Use data to make meaningful modifications over time
What do you think? Post your comments below.
As we move closer to the effective date of the FTC’s new Red Flag Rules, identity theft is still a problem in the healthcare industry, Nancy Vickroy, director, healthcare product development and management, TransUnion, LLC, said today at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute.
Vickroy cited a survey that found medical identity theft accounts for 3 percent of all U.S. identity theft cases each year, and represents an estimated cost of $468,000 annually. She also pointed to a recent study from the Identity Theft Resource Center finding that 13 of the 100 breaches reported this year involved a medical provider or insurance company, and could have impacted 98,000 people.
Vickroy offered attendees some tips for developing an identity theft prevention program:
… Choose red flags that make sense in your environment
… Identify departments that interact with individuals with covered accounts
… Determine types of information gathered and how it is verified
… Develop procedures to detect red flags during the life of the account
… Implement identity verification at every step
… Integrate automate solutions to ensure standardized verification processes
… Train staff in policies, procedures and responses to ensure consistent patient experience
… Develop procedures for triggered red flag accounts for exception handling
… Periodically evaluate for effectiveness and modify as needed
… Track down known incidents of identity theft that occurred despite the program and monitor trends
… Use data to make meaningful modifications over time
What do you think? Post your comments below.
It's All About The Data
By Mark Brousseau
Why all the fuss about automating the processing of explanation of benefits (EOB) documents? Foster North, vice president, CareMedic Systems, thinks it’s because the ANSI 835 information set – the electronic counterpart of EOBs – is one of the industry’s most important information sets.
“It’s important because of the information that it provides hospitals on how well their revenue cycle management processes are running,” North said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute in Nashville, TN. “For instance, if you are not able to capture denial information and analyze it in a meaningful way, your hospital likely won’t be able to get paid.”
North thinks there is an opportunity for bank lockboxes to take both the electronic remittances and paper EOBs that come from payers, and put them together in a common repository so providers can review them electronically, post them easily, report the data more effectively, and analyze the data.
In the past, a hospital might have needed 100 people to manually post payments from paper EOBs, North said. “It is a laborious process to post that information,” he said. “But the real return on investment and value in automating this process is the value that bank lockbox providers are able to give their customers from their data-rich remittances on how to improve their revenue cycle.”
North thinks remittance reporting will become prevalent in the future. Other services he sees as key:
… Secondary billing
… Statement fulfillment
… Denial management
… Contract management
… Remote deposit services for independent physicians
“All of these are fair game when you are considering a strategy for the future,” he said.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Why all the fuss about automating the processing of explanation of benefits (EOB) documents? Foster North, vice president, CareMedic Systems, thinks it’s because the ANSI 835 information set – the electronic counterpart of EOBs – is one of the industry’s most important information sets.
“It’s important because of the information that it provides hospitals on how well their revenue cycle management processes are running,” North said today during a presentation at the Seventh National Medical Banking Institute in Nashville, TN. “For instance, if you are not able to capture denial information and analyze it in a meaningful way, your hospital likely won’t be able to get paid.”
North thinks there is an opportunity for bank lockboxes to take both the electronic remittances and paper EOBs that come from payers, and put them together in a common repository so providers can review them electronically, post them easily, report the data more effectively, and analyze the data.
In the past, a hospital might have needed 100 people to manually post payments from paper EOBs, North said. “It is a laborious process to post that information,” he said. “But the real return on investment and value in automating this process is the value that bank lockbox providers are able to give their customers from their data-rich remittances on how to improve their revenue cycle.”
North thinks remittance reporting will become prevalent in the future. Other services he sees as key:
… Secondary billing
… Statement fulfillment
… Denial management
… Contract management
… Remote deposit services for independent physicians
“All of these are fair game when you are considering a strategy for the future,” he said.
What do you think? Post your comments below.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Healthcare Payments Automation and the New President
By Mark Brousseau
During his campaign for office, Barack Obama outlined a healthcare plan promising to “lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.”
The economic stimulus package currently being debated in Congress reportedly includes $20 billion for healthcare IT. The Committee on Ways & Means reportedly stated the IT funds would be used to establish standards, payment incentives and privacy protections to encourage the widespread adoption of healthcare IT.
According to a discussion draft from the House Appropriations Committee, the $20 billion is intended to “cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year by introducing cost-saving efficiencies.”
Dwayne L. McAfee, president and CEO, Payformance Corporation, believes the Obama administration will support initiatives to further automate healthcare payments. More specifically, McAfee anticipates the following:
... A continued commitment to the electronic standards first established by the HIPAA legislation of 1996. He expects that the new administration will support the final rule recently published for transition from Version 4010A1 to Version 5010 of the HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets.
... A continued emphasis on efficient delivery of appropriate healthcare services without administrative burden. McAfee expects efforts aimed at effective information exchange to further reduce administrative overhead.
... A continued commitment to build on the automation foundations in place today. McAfee expects support for accelerated adoption of electronic payments and remittance advices. Furthermore, he expects initiatives aimed at making claim settlement data visible and easily accessible.
McAfee also is optimistic that the new administration will continue support for expanded payer/provider connectivity and efficiency with regard to claim settlement communications.
What do you think? Post your comment below.
During his campaign for office, Barack Obama outlined a healthcare plan promising to “lower health care costs by $2,500 for a typical family by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination.”
The economic stimulus package currently being debated in Congress reportedly includes $20 billion for healthcare IT. The Committee on Ways & Means reportedly stated the IT funds would be used to establish standards, payment incentives and privacy protections to encourage the widespread adoption of healthcare IT.
According to a discussion draft from the House Appropriations Committee, the $20 billion is intended to “cut red tape, prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and help reduce healthcare costs by billions of dollars each year by introducing cost-saving efficiencies.”
Dwayne L. McAfee, president and CEO, Payformance Corporation, believes the Obama administration will support initiatives to further automate healthcare payments. More specifically, McAfee anticipates the following:
... A continued commitment to the electronic standards first established by the HIPAA legislation of 1996. He expects that the new administration will support the final rule recently published for transition from Version 4010A1 to Version 5010 of the HIPAA Transactions and Code Sets.
... A continued emphasis on efficient delivery of appropriate healthcare services without administrative burden. McAfee expects efforts aimed at effective information exchange to further reduce administrative overhead.
... A continued commitment to build on the automation foundations in place today. McAfee expects support for accelerated adoption of electronic payments and remittance advices. Furthermore, he expects initiatives aimed at making claim settlement data visible and easily accessible.
McAfee also is optimistic that the new administration will continue support for expanded payer/provider connectivity and efficiency with regard to claim settlement communications.
What do you think? Post your comment below.
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