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Headlines- October 9, 2006 Commentary
and Opinion by Robert L. Michel: WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A HUGE PARADIGM SHIFT IN E-HEALTHCARE and every ob-gyn can be on the cutting edge of this important trend. I am speaking about offering patients a way to transact business with your ob-gyn group practice using your Web site. Current technology makes it fast, relatively inexpensive, and rather easy for even a small ob-gyn group to develop a Web site with sophisticated services. What puzzles me is why all doctors, and not just ob-gyns, seem slow to offer their patients a way to interact with their group over the Internet. Statistics tell the story. A new study by the Center for Studying Health System Change, in Washington, D.C., shows that, of those physicians with an e-mail system in their practice, only 24% used e-mail to communicate with their patients during 2004-05. It will surprise you to learn that, just four years earlier, in 2000-01, that percentage was 20%, close to the same number as today.
The survey shows that, once again, healthcare is way behind other Studies show,
too, that patients want to communicate with physicians This is why I recommend that your ob-gyn group revisit its Internet strategy. For a modest investment of time and money, you can have a sophisticated Web portal for your patients. That puts your group on the cutting edge of the e-healthcare trend. It is also likely to boost your group’s revenue. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atlanta Group’s Web Portal Generates New Patients Giving patients access to information helped group boost new patient volume by 17% CEO
Summary: Healthcare has long trailed banks and airlines in adopting
computer technology. Now ob-gyn groups see the benefits of using Web-based
portals to let patients pay their bills, view medical records, and make
appointments. Some groups also let patients interact with physicians electronically
about common ailments. One ob-gyn group in Atlanta found that, by promoting
its Web portal to technology-savvy patients, it increased patient volume
by 17%. Savvy ob-gyns should be developing their own Internet strategy
with an ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Using Technology To Bring Physicians, Patients Closer As Web portals catch on, more ob-gyn groups will allow patients access to medical records CEO Summary: Web portals bring patients closer to their physicians. As perceptive ob-gyns understand this shift in consumer preferences, they are leveraging Internet technologies to gain market share. Another significant benefit is that the ob-gyn group generates substantial productivity improvements and increased profits when it lets patients use the Web for paying bills, checking test results, and communicating with staff and physicians. Best of all, ob-gyn groups can get on the Internet without the expense of buying and installing an electronic medical record system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Managed Care Update: Employers’ Health Costs Continue to Rise in 2006 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- More Parents Take Steps To Collect Cord Blood As an ancillary service, cord blood banking is another source of revenue for ob-gyns CEO Summary: Across the ob-gyn profession, cord blood banking is still a new concept to many physicians. Several companies currently pay ob-gyns to collect umbilical cord blood during deliveries. While the income may be modest, these firms position ob-gyns to meet future demand. Currently, cord blood can be used to treat some 70 diseases, a number that is expected to grow in the future as researchers develop new uses for stem cells. This is why consumer demand is increasing and the percentage of parents interested in storing cord blood for their children is likely to rise from 5% today to as much as 20%. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Expert Offers Coding Tips to Boost Reimbursement Consultant says coding should accurately reflect what care is delivered in the exam room or OR CEO
Summary: It would seem like good business practice to ensure
that all coding reflects what actually has happened in the exam room or
OR. But some practices do not always follow this rule, says a coding expert.
What’s more, government efforts to penalize physicians in fraud
and abuse cases have clouded some physicians’ judgment on this issue.
Accurate and appropriate coding— without overcoding or undercoding—is
the proper approach to compliance. To accomplish this, physicians must
understand coding fundamentals, including ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OB-Gyn Strategies: Baptist Hospital Hires 4 Vandy MFMs for High-Risk Service Nashville hospital is an example of a private hospital bolstering specialty expertise and research projects ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTELLIGENCE: Late and Latent
Look for the next briefing on Monday, October 30, 2006. |
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