HIPAA Compliance and Telemedicine

The Benefits of a Patient Portal for Patients and Healthcare Providers

Patient portals are valuable tools that empower patients with their health information. Furthermore, they offer healthcare providers a number of advantages.

Patient portal technology can enhance efficiency, boost engagement, minimize the need for phone calls and other administrative tasks, and more. Ultimately, patient portal technology not only saves providers time and resources but also enhances the quality of care they provide.

Access to Medical Records

A patient portal is an online tool that gives patients access to their medical records. They have become popular in many health care settings, offering features such as physician appointment summaries, notes and lab results.

Patient portals not only offer convenience, but they can also reduce costs and enhance efficiency for healthcare providers. Especially helpful to those suffering from chronic illnesses, patient portals give them more control over their healthcare decisions.

Click here to learn more about the NextGen Office Patient Portal

The American Medical Association (AMA) suggests physicians and office staff make a concerted effort to explain portal use to their patients, as well as motivate them to utilize the technology. This may involve providing detailed information about the portal on the clinic website or by asking them to register for a patient account prior to their initial visit.

Studies have revealed that older patients are less likely to use a patient portal than younger ones. Therefore, when devising your patient portal strategy it's essential to factor this in as it could significantly impact how effective it is utilized within your practice.

Patients with access to a patient portal tend to be more satisfied with their overall care experience and the technology has been shown to reduce in-person visits. They also find it simpler to communicate with their provider and request medication refills.

According to a study published in Health Services Research, the patient portal can improve adherence to medications and reduce emergency department visits. Furthermore, it allows for the discovery of mistakes within an electronic medical record.

A patient portal can be an invaluable aid for all types of patients, but especially those with chronic illnesses or who have difficulty making appointments or communicating with their doctors. Not only does it speed up payment processing, get lab results quickly and request prescriptions, but it also saves time and money in other ways as well.

Despite the potential advantages of patient portals, their implementation has proven challenging for most practices. This could be due to lack of awareness, inability to access it or insufficient understanding about how best to utilize it.

Self-Scheduling Appointments

Scheduling appointments online has become a top priority for patients, as research shows it can increase patient satisfaction and loyalty. Furthermore, it reduces phone wait times and transfers, providing easier access to same-day or next day appointment availability.

Many health systems, like UCSF Health, now utilize a patient portal to allow their patients to self-schedule appointments. This helps guarantee that patients get the care they need without having to wait in line or become frustrated by long wait times.

Patients who utilize a patient portal to schedule their appointments save time waiting in the office and spend more quality time communicating with their provider about medical needs. Furthermore, they save money since they no longer need to pay for an errand-based appointment.

Though most healthcare systems have been slow to adopt this technology, they should take advantage of its benefits for patients. Here are three ways to maximize the value of a patient portal:

First, ensure the self-scheduling feature works with your EHR's calendar. This way, any times patients request through the patient portal will automatically be copied onto your main schedule.

Avoid clashes with existing appointments by giving your staff an accurate picture of available blocks for each day. Nevertheless, it may still be necessary to contact or text patients to confirm their appointment times.

Second, if your EHR does not offer one-way sync to Google or Outlook, you will need your staff to copy all self-scheduled appointments onto the EHR's calendar. While this task may take a bit of time for front desk personnel, it will save both of you from having to contact patients to confirm appointments.

Finally, set aside a time block for self-scheduled appointments. This will give your front and back office support staff an organized view of when they can manage other aspects of the practice.

Ultimately, the success of your patient portal will depend on how users use it and whether you are fulfilling their needs. Set clear objectives to measure progress with the portal and determine if your practice has achieved its desired outcomes.

Convenient Communication with Your Provider

Patient portals enable patients to communicate securely and conveniently with their providers. These systems give patients the power to view doctor visits, obtain test results, request medication refills or discuss any medical-related matters. Furthermore, these portals give physicians a window into their patients' health which helps them make more informed decisions about their care.

Patient portals offer patients the convenience of scheduling appointments and self-managing their healthcare needs, saving office staff the trouble from answering phones or managing appointments face-to-face. This increases physician efficiency by allowing them to focus on more important tasks like treating complex cases, diagnosing illnesses, and crafting effective treatment plans.

Though some patients may be wary of patient portals, many others find them invaluable resources in their healthcare journey. A Geisinger study revealed that those with patient portals experienced better medication adherence and felt more engaged with their care overall.

Promoting patient portal use requires setting clear objectives and priorities for your practice, creating policies to determine who is responsible for sending information to patients, and making the portal user-friendly. Once implemented, education of all users - including patients - is essential in order to guarantee they are using it appropriately and effectively.

Ideal is for patients to receive instruction on using their patient portal from either their nurse or front office staff before they see a provider. This ensures the proper people are trained on communicating with patients via the portal and any queries are promptly addressed.

It is essential for patients to comprehend how to avoid common errors and the significance of privacy, particularly when handling sensitive data. Doing this increases their comfort with the patient portal and increases their likelihood of remaining loyal to a particular practice.

Despite its shortcomings, patient portals remain an integral component of any healthcare organization's IT strategy. This is because they provide numerous advantages to both patients and providers alike: better communication, increased patient involvement, improved health outcomes, and reduced administrative expenses.

Access to Test Results

Patient portals enable patients to log on at any time to check their health records, send messages to their provider and access test results. These tools save time, reduce costs and promote patient engagement.

Recently, a study has revealed that patients can become frustrated and anxious when unable to access their lab results promptly. This frustration often prompts them to conduct online searches or contact their physicians in search of more information.

Though not a common issue with all patient portals, it's essential that yours includes an easy method for patients to reach you with any queries or problems. This is particularly pertinent if they have recently switched doctors since their last visit.

One solution is to include a link to your doctor's office in your patient portal. This will make scheduling appointments and canceling visits much simpler for patients. Furthermore, you can set up reminders and e-mails so they are always informed of upcoming visits.

Some healthcare organizations have also integrated patient portals into their marketing initiatives. This may include signage in provider offices and hospital rooms, computer stations available in public areas, as well as buttons that encourage patients to utilize the portal.

Our goal is to encourage more patients to utilize the portal and give them useful information that allows them to make informed decisions about their healthcare. By providing these materials, along with patient-centric training, we hope to increase patient satisfaction while decreasing costs for healthcare organizations.

A 2014 federal rule granted patients direct access to their laboratory test reports from labs subject to HIPAA. While many are pleased with this new capability, some are worried about how the information will be communicated and understood. A study revealed that nearly two-thirds of those who accessed their results through patient portals didn't receive any explanatory interpretation or notes regarding them. As a result, many patients reached out to their doctors in order to learn more about the tests and what they meant for their health status.

You have undoubtedly heard of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-Health IT) 2015 Edition Cures Update Health IT certification and the importance of medical providers using a certified vendor. Even so, there is still a large amount of uncertainty around it. So, what is the 21st Century Cures Act? And why is it so important for small practices?

What is the 21st Century Cures Act?
The 21st Century Cures Act was a bipartisan law signed by President Obama on December 13, 2016. The bill set out to increase choice and access to patient care options and streamline medical research and medicine delivery.

To achieve this, the bill put in place a set of rules to prevent information blocking and the subsequent denial of patient information that follows. The goal: ensure patient data sharing and patient access to data and support changes in care plans, providers, or insurance plans.

What is information blocking?
Information blocking is when anyone who deals with the storage of electronic health information (EHI) interferes with the access or exchange of EHI, whether intentionally or not.

Having a Cures-certified EHR solution is one of the easiest ways to avoid unintentionally violating the Cures Act. Certified HIT will reduce your odds of accidentally blocking access to important patient data and being penalized.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), in partnership with the consulting group Guidehouse, is ramping up its data validation and audit (DVA) process for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Providers and groups are currently receiving audit notifications for the 2017 and 2018 reporting periods.

Award-winning, Cloud-based EHR Enables Small Practices to Meet Interoperability Requirements

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is tracking an outbreak of monkeypox that has spread across several countries, including the United States. The CDC is urging healthcare providers in the United States to be alert for patients who have rash illnesses consistent with monkeypox.

NextGen Office EHR/PM urges clients to remain up to date on the latest information from the CDC on signs and symptoms, prevention, and treatment.

Monkeypox Vaccine Update

The American Medical Association (AMA) added two new CPT codes to describe the two smallpox and monkeypox virus products currently available for vaccines on Friday, July 29, 2022. 

NextGen® Office is Only EHR to Empower Podiatrists with Community Data at Point of Care

CGM has advised us that Microsoft will end support for Microsoft SQL Server 2012 on July 12, 2022.

Dear Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical, and Lytec MD Users,

Many of you have been part of the Practice Partner/Medisoft Clinical/Lytec MD (“Practice Partner”) family for decades. Over that time the landscape of the EHR market and regulatory requirements have changed dramatically. CGM (CompuGroup Medical), the owners of Practice Partner/Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD, have made considerable investments into these programs to keep them compliant with regulations in the last 6 years.

Healthcare delivery is changing, and the technology that has enabled providers to offer a virtual, contactless experience is here to stay. An integrated solution that fosters convenient care delivery and aligns well with your existing workflow can offer patients the access they need now and sets your practice up for a more successful future.

The 21st Century Cures Act, known more simply as the Cures Act, became law in 2016. This bipartisan legislation sought to increase choice and access for patients and providers. To achieve these goals,
the law authorizes funding to help address the opioid epidemic and improve mental health services, and streamlines approval for new drugs, devices, and treatments.

Also included in this law are provisions to prevent information blocking and update requirements for health IT certification. These provisions have major impacts on the regulation of medical practices.

The CMS’s 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule took effect on January 1, 2022, becoming the first major physician payment rule put forward by the Biden administration. The final rule is complex; indeed, it’s 2,414 pages long. While it includes many changes to Medicare policies and programs, overall, the final rule does not represent a major departure from the policies of the previous administration. Value-based reform is a bipartisan initiative that has now been extended through several administrations.

NextGen Office EHR/PM is now interfaced directly to CMS’s QPP site. 

Our latest release features an interface to the CMS Quality Payment Program or QPP for effortless uploading of electronic clinical quality measures or eCQMs.

Cloud-based NextGen Office Takes #1 Spot in Small Practice Category for First Time

There are many factors to successfully expanding and operating a medical practice. As a practice grows, costs grow. Gary Wietecha, MD, knows firsthand the challenges and strengths of introducing a New EHR system for not only practice growth, but long term sustainability.

A medical practice’s cash flow is an important gauge of its overall financial health, but there are additional metrics that will highlight areas of concern where improvement may be needed to ensure long term financial success.

*** Edit: AUC is now set to begin January 1, 2023***

After being delayed several times the CMS Appropriate Use Criteria or AUC  program will officially begin on Jan. 1, 2022. This will have significant operational and financial impacts on your practice.

The recent pandemic has changed patient behavior and expectations across all age and population segments. Everyone,  including your patients have had their “new normal” redefined in a variety of ways. 

The No Surprises Act will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022, requiring healthcare providers and practices to comply with new regulations that help protect patients from unexpected medical bills.

If you’re sending controlled substance prescriptions electronically you’re using either a soft-token on your smartphone or a hard-token device (or both) to receive a 6 digit One Time Pin or OTP from Dr.First

NextGen Healthcare, Inc. (Nasdaq: NXGN), a leading provider of ambulatory-focused technology solutions, today announced it has achieved a significant milestone by enabling more than 500,000- patient visits through its NextGen Office telehealth solution in 2020.

Medical offices today face new challenges to profitability and sustainability, especially in the wake of the recent COVID-19 public health emergency. Faced with declining reimbursement rates, medical practices are pressured not only to increase efficiency in care delivery, but to reduce the expenses associated with billing, submitting claims, and getting paid. These challenges, coupled with a high turnover for on-staff billing personnel are important reasons to focus on your total revenue cycle process or consider outsourcing to a professional RCM provider.

Revenue Generation through remote Patient monitoring - Webinar replay 

In case you missed it below is the recording of our recent Remote Patient Monitoring or RPM webinar.

To view the replay of the webinar click below

21ST Century Cures Act Webinar Replay: The Information Blocking Rule is Now Effective

If you missed our Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical, Lytec MD webinar on 21st Century Cures and Information Blocking you can watch a replay of our webinar and download the presentation slides by clicking the links to each below:

Your doctor will (remotely) see you now

Medicare’s new rules created a $30 billion market overnight.

The senior population in the United States, those with Medicare coverage, have the highest risk for mortality when infected with COVID-19. 73% of those hospitalized for the virus have a preexisting condition and COVID-19 kills 13% of patients 80 and older.

In 2019, Medicare introduced reimbursement for Remote Patient Monitoring or RPM, often making it no cost to seniors with at least one chronic condition¹. Even during “normal times,” going to a medical office or clinic for seniors has been logistically challenging, as approximately half have transportation barriers to get to their doctor. With the COVID-19 pandemic, going to the office can be life-threatening, as it heightens their risk of infection.

A robust Revenue Cycle Management or RCM program will boost your practice's efficiency, enhance patient convenience and most importantly maximize your practices revenue.

Addressing a growing need for virtual senior care at home, remote patient monitoring or RPM provides longitudinal patient health data in real-time, crucial for managing care for patients with chronic conditions.

Missed patient appointments are a huge source of frustration, inefficiency and lost revenue for all medical practices. 

What is the 21st Century Cures Act (CURES) and what it does it mean to your practice? The 21st Century Cures Act  was signed into law by President Obama on December 13, 2016, has broadly impacted medical practices and the healthcare industry as a whole. The CURES act also includes“interoperability and information blocking” rules aimed at advancing interoperability between health IT systems and granting patients easy access to their data.

Remote Patient Monitoring 101- Webinar replay 

In case you missed it below is the recording of our recent Remote Patient Monitoring or RPM webinar.

AVS Medical has entered into a partnership with 100Plus, the leader in the emerging field of Remote Patient Monitoring or RPM.

With the recent approval of the two new COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer-BionTech users of the Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD EHR's need to add both vaccines to their Health Maintenance templates.

On Friday December 1st 2020, CMS released the final Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) slated to take effect on January 1, 2021.

Starting January 1st 2021 the new CMS Evaluation and Management or E/M coding scheme goes into effect for outpatient visits. A long overdue and welcome change for providers who are tired of counting bullet points to drive the final code.

Following is a detailed description of the changes along with a video replay of a recent Practice Partner E/M 2021 Changes Webinar and a copy of the slides.

There are some big and exciting changes ahead for E&M Coding in 2021! 

Starting January 1st 2021 the new CMS Evaluation and Management or E&M coding scheme goes into effect for outpatient visits. A long overdue and welcome change for providers who are tired of counting bullet points to drive the final code

This is the first major overhaul of the outpatient E&M services in over 25 years. The stated purpose is to reduce the administrative burden on providers, give them more time to spend with patients and provide compensation for non-face to face patient care that in the past has not been reimbursed.

In this blog post you’ll learn strategies to avoid missed revenue and save staff time by using smart efficiency improvements, such as checking insurance information up front. You’ll also learn how you can get back to caring for patients, not chasing payments—and the secret to achieving strong financial outcomes. Finally, you’ll discover how you can get paid quickly, easily, and fully—all while addressing your patient demands for an improved, more efficient experience.

Many practices are finding that their first EHR system or current system lacks newer features to assist them with MIPS requirements and reporting, doesn't have enough vendor support or is lacking in technical advances of new features and user friendliness. Practices are now faced with a decision of finding a new EHR to replace their current system. It can me extremely stressful, time consuming and frustrating to do all the research and find the right fit for your practice in a timely manner, but if you have a well thought out plan on how to address the replacement of your EHR, it can be a much more enjoyable process.  Whether you're looking to buy your first EHR, seeking to replace your EHR, or consolidating EHRs to a single, integrated solution, this guide will help you in the process.

The new Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD version 11.2 includes the new Enterprise RX functionality. Providing you with an improved and easier workflow for managing patient medications, prescribing new medications, an entirely new refill process, recording allergies and adding and changing pharmacies.

In case you missed it - please join us for a replay of our recent webinar on using the NextGen Office cloud based EMR to create and deploy a virtual practice.

Deliver High Quality Healthcare Anytime, Anywhere, and on any device: desktop, laptop, phone, iPad, Android, Mac etc. using the your NextGen Office patient portal and the built-in, secure telemedicine feature.

The current pandemic has changed the face of health care in many ways. Tools such as telemedicine and online patient portals have now become not only the new normal, but are required to meet patient expectations. They have redefined safe and effective delivery of healthcare services. A robust patient portal with built in telemedicine is now expected by patients, and is crucial in patient retention and care delivery.

August update includes CoverMyMeds Auto Start Prior Authorization feature to facilitate and streamline the electronic prior authorization or ePA when a Prior Authorization is required, saving provider and staff time.

Virtual care isn’t going anywhere, in fact patient’s are now expecting it and are assuming their providers can deliver. Learn about how the tools in the NextGen Office Patient Portal can help.

The Virtual Waiting Room feature is now available in the NextGen Office EHR/PM, powered by Doctible. Screen your patients for COVID-19 automatically and get their health status prior to arrival.

Recommended Workflows for Podiatrists to Document MIPS CQMs

This article describes how podiatrists can document and report performance of MIPS clinical quality measures (CQMs) (formerly known as Registry measures). The recommended workflows apply to APMA MIPS app/Registry users and all other clinical registries. We use Quality ID 126 as an example.

The COVID-19 crisis has changed the way healthcare is delivered. Integrated virtual visits provide a safe, effective alternative to the traditional in-office visit, especially for routine and follow-up appointments.

Virtual visits are critical to maintain care continuity during the coronavirus pandemic. Beyond the crisis, patients will not only expect the convenience and autonomy they've grown accustomed to, but will want additional mechanisms to engage with their healthcare. Given this new normal, a virtual visit solution that integrates with your EHR and PM is essential. When you add virtual visits to your existing workflow, you optimize your time and enhance efficiency, safety, and convenience for patients. Connect with patients on any device and maintain productive engagements, whether patients see you in the office or via video. With an integrated solution, patients can schedule appointments, pay bills, and participate more actively in their own health.

As stay-at-home orders begin to lift, it’s time for practices to think about rebuilding office visits. A great way to get started is by targeting canceled appointments. To make this process easier, following are  instructions on how to pull a canceled appointment report in Medisoft .

Practices can run this report to quickly see patients that canceled in a specific date range and DO NOT HAVE A FOLLOW UP scheduled.

Maryland-based Psychiatry Clinic Unifes Care with NextGen Office

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic many medical providers closed their offices to patients or saw a drastic reduction in patient visits. As practices look to opening to patients again there is likely a backlog of canceled appointments which you may want to reschedule for the future. This post demonstrates how to use Lytec's appointment schedule and reports to assist in contacting patients who need to reschedule.

If you're a busy provider taking care of patients in a nursing home or other long term care facility you may find you current EHR is not designed for your unique workflows, both from a clinical documentation and from a billing perspective. 

Learn how to use the new MRPORT report tool  in Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD to upload patient demographics to the UpDox Telemedicine app.

Google has recently updated the Google My Business (GMB) platform for healthcare providers and other medical professionals. This new
functionality offers two healthcare related links in the GMB Dashboard.

In case you missed our recent webinar on how to setup and use the NextGen Office E-Visit - Telemedicine module please read below and watch a replay of the webinar.

How to Create and Send a Patient Broadcast Message from the updox patient portal in practice partner, medisoft clinical and lytec md

COVID-19 Lab Results in Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical or Lytec MD.

When receiving the new COVID-19 lab result through your Quest or Labcorp Interfaces, the result will automatically fall to your exception files until the result code is manually added to your Interface's Crossref file. For the time being, you can manually edit the exceptions and load them into the software for the results to show in your patient's chart. However, you can fix this permanently and not have to edit and load the exceptions each time by adding the COVID-19 test code to your software and crossref file.

To add the code to your Crossref file, please complete the following steps.

The NextGen Office cloud based EHR/PM solution has many easy to use, intuitive software tools that help today’s overworked medical practices become more efficient and productive.

But today healthcare providers may face a possible dramatic increase in demand due to the widespread coronavirus outbreak. We thought that this might be a good time to review one of the most powerful NextGen Office EHR tools, the E-Visit or telemedicine feature included in the Premium Patient Portal.

In this continuing blog post series of getting the most out of your NextGen Office Patient Portal we're going to cover how the practice can print out a portal invitation and hand it to the patient. This is a simple, easy and effective way to engage with your patients and help drive patient adoption of this powerful tool. 

The NextGen Office Patient Portal is an extremely useful and powerful tool that fosters patient engagement by allowing your patients to perform a variety of functions all designed to save provider time, increase patient engagement and satisfaction! 

Read on to see how patients can check in online to the YourHealthFile Patient Portal, from the convenience of their home or in your waiting room!

The NextGen Office EHR/PM Patient Portal is an extremely useful and powerful tool that fosters patient engagement by allowing your patients to securely message your practice and participate in their care. The following is the first in a series of educational videos showing how you can email patient's an invitation to join and how the patient can respond

In this post, you’ll learn strategies to avoid missed revenue and save staff effort by using smart efficiency improvements, such as checking insurance information up front. You’ll also learn how you can get back to caring for patients, not chasing payments—and the secret to achieving strong financial outcomes. Finally, you’ll discover how you can get paid quickly, easily, and fully—all while addressing your patient demands for an improved, more efficient experience.

When patients cancel their appointments last minute (or don’t show up), it affects your bottom line and weakens practice efficiency. By using NextGen Office to create and implement new policies that encourage patients to adhere to scheduled appointments, you’ll be able to capitalize on the revenue you were expecting and provide the level of care the patient needs.

The Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) of 2014 established the Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Program to increase the rate of appropriate advanced diagnostic imaging services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Examples of such advanced imaging services include:

Switching to a New Specialty EMR to Enhance Podiatric Care

A passion to get people back on their feet

Have you configured your NextGen Office for the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) transition?

Calling all podiatrists! - Looking to get a step ahead for MIPS in 2020? NextGen Healthcare has partnered with the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) as its preferred EHR vendor.

We have worked with APMA to integrate NextGen Office EHR/PM,  a cloud based Podiatry EHR solution with the APMA MIPS app and Registry. The APMA MIPS app and Registry are free APMA member benefits; however, for a fee, APMA non-members can take advantage of these resources as well. The next registration deadline for the APMA MIPS app and Registry is December 13. To learn more about the APMA MIPS app and Registry and how to register, review our FAQs below:

APMA Registry FAQ
Have questions about the APMA Registry?
ANSWER:
NextGen® Office has partnered with the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) to provide our podiatrists a direct connection between our EHR and the APMA MIPS app and Registry.

What are the APMA Registry and APMA MIPS app?
The APMA Registry is an online repository of data designed to help build the evidence base around podiatric medicine and surgery. The data collected in the APMA Registry helps support legislative-, regulatory-, and research-related efforts.

NextGen Office has integrated with the APMA Registry. As a provider who enrolls in the APMA Registry, you are able to monitor your MIPS score using the APMA MIPS app. The APMA MIPS app enables you to track your performance and submit data directly from the app to CMS for MIPS Quality, Promoting Interoperability, and Improvement Activities. The integration between the APMA Registry and NextGen Office offers podiatrists more flexibility in reporting options and seamless transmission to CMS.

Webinar Replay - In Case You Missed It

Studies have shown and the data support the fact that the widespread use of technology is driving patients to seek out health care providers who offer the convenience of telemedicine visits for routine care and the ongoing management of chronic conditions.

What is Telehealth?

The rapid advance of technology in the form of high speed internet everywhere and the explosion of smartphones and tablets is rapidly changing how and where medical care is delivered to increasingly  tech savvy patients both young and old. According to the Health Resources Services Administration telehealth or telemedicine is the “use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration” From the patient’s perspective telemedicine is when they video conference with the health care provider from their smartphone, tablet or computer instead of being seen in the office.

The NextGen Office cloud based patient portal has a new Custom Check In process designed to save you time in the exam room and increase patient usage of your portal.

Let’s face it, using an EHR to document a patient encounter can sometimes be a slower process than the old way of just scrawling a handwritten note -especially when you’re trying to focus your attention on what the patient is saying.

But at the same time providers and patients alike have come to appreciate the benefits of using an electronic health record - real time anywhere access across a wide variety of devices, electronic connections, sharing and easily recalling/reusing data are some of the many benefits that offset the time added by using a cloud based EHR.

So how can you have it both ways?

One powerful strategy to save time in the exam room is to encourage and train your patients to enter their subjective and historical information before coming to your office, from the comfort of their home or even on an iPad in your waiting room. (along with signing off on your practice forms)

This information then flows immediately and seamlessly into NextGen Office EHR where it can be reviewed and pulled into the encounter with the tap of a button. Saving valuable provider time, allowing you to focus more time and attention on the patient.


Making It Even Better: The New Custom Check In Process in NextGen Office
A new premium Patient Portal feature - Custom Check-In allows you to create custom check-in processes per appointment type. Presenting your patients with a more streamlined process to complete documentation in the subjective section of your encounter specific to the type of visit before arriving to the office.

The NextGen Office Patient Portal includes a number of other time saving and patient satisfaction benefits such as built in Telemedicine.

What is a custom check-in process?
The Custom Check-in Processes page enables you to create customized check-in processes for patients to complete on the Patient Portal. You can select which forms to present to patients in the Patient Portal that are specific to appointment types. Patients can then complete the documentation before the appointment, saving providers and staff time in the exam room.

How Does Custom Check-in Benefit Our Office?
The new features enable you to create check-in processes specific to appointment types: For example, for pediatric clients, the office could create appointment types and custom check-in processes for each stage of well visits. Parents could then complete the information on the Patient Portal for their children, populating the note for the medical team.

Or a primary care practice could have a custom check in for new patients and a second custom check in for follow ups, Med Checks, Annual Wellness Visits etc.

This benefits the patient by eliminating the need to enter lengthy, redundant information leading to greater patient satisfaction and patient adoption of your portal.

How to Create a Custom Check-in Process

Navigate to Administration: Custom Check-in Processes
From the menu bar, click Admin.
Below Premium Portal Management, click Custom Check-in Processes.



Click Add Custom Check In Process


Enter the desired name, in this case Well Child 1 Year


Add the desired custom form(s) from the list on the left to the Custom Check in


Then assign the appointment type from the list on the left by dragging it to the right side


Example - Staff Schedules a Well Child 1 Year Appointment
Select Schedule > Calendar > Day View.
Click an appointment time.
For Type, select Well Child 1 Yr - 30 min.
Complete the form.
Click Save Appointment.


Parent Completes the Well Child 1 Year Custom Check-in Process on the Patient Portal



Patients or their parents/caregivers can use the cloud based Patient Portal from the comfort of their home, or in your waiting room on their smartphone, your check in tablet or other device, speeding up your time to document their visit allowing you to spend more time focusing on them rather than your computer!

If you have any questions or would like assistance please feel free to reach out to us at info@avsmedical.com or call 877-975-9160

In case you missed it!  Learn about the latest NextGen Office integration with CoverMyMeds. 

Important prescribing information for users of Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD.

Enhanced prescription capabilities in NextGen Office will help prevent the illegal acquisition of controlled substances from multiple sources

NextGen Office is working with Appriss Health to enable our providers to quickly and easily check their states Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) database without leaving our application.

PDMPs are designed to help healthcare providers deal with the burgeoning opioid epidemic. They are operated and mandated at the state level to ensure prescribers have the information they need to identify patients who are addicted, or at risk of becoming addicted to these dangerous drugs.

Did you know that 75% of patients use Google to learn about a Medical Practice? Your Practice's Online Reputation could make or break a patient's decision to book an appointment with you. NextGen Office, a top ranked cloud based EHR  has recently partnered up with a service that can help you boost your online reputation. Doctible is a platform that provides patient communication and helps improve your patient retention! Utilizing a service like Doctible can save your office staff valuable time, increase patient satisfaction and even reduce the number of phone calls coming to your office.

E-MDs is now offering integrated Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (“PDMP”) services through our EPCS partner, DrFirst. DrFirst's combined EPCS (Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances) and PDMP solution streamlines your workflow and dramatically reduces the time it takes to check your patients’ prescription history, document your PDMP check, and complete your electronic prescription.  Even if PDMP checking is not mandatory in your state (yet), you will likely agree that the more information you have access to, the better, as you do your part to address the opioid crisis.

The NextGen Office integration with Appriss Health will enable providers to check their state Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Database with out leaving the system. Utilizing a PDMP integration will save providers time and lead to an overall better provider experience. 

An Electronic Prior Authorization (EPA) is an electronic version of the paperwork sent in a secure format to PBMs and pharmacies. CoverMyMeds offers electronic connections and workflows to submit Prior authorizations to insurance companies and pharmacies without having to use paper. Their service covers payers with available electronic connections and also offers the ability to digitally fax PBMs that are still using paper to process prior authorizations.

Introducing Aria Health Services by eMDs – a new, tailored approach to comprehensive health services Aria is the culmination of decades of experience working to provide best-in-class services to thousands of clients. Whether you are a large healthcare  organization, a small practice, or a managed services provider, we know that your needs are unique. That’s why our proven approach, technology-backed methods, and dedication to partnership, are unmatched. We meet the needs of your organization so your providers can focus on what’s important –healthier patients.

The day you've been waiting for is finally here! There are some big, exciting new features that come with the Practice Partner based EHR's most recent update to version 11.2 (Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD) and we're here to share them with you.

Telemedicine and telehealth are the hot new buzz words in health care today. Driven by strong patient demand and large, national health care organizations the ability to have a telemedicine platform in your cloud based EHR is now a necessity.

As a Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical or Lytec MD user, you will need to know all of the very important upcoming dates in 2019!

AVS Medical announces Aria Health Services Line for Healthcare Organizations to Reduce Administrative Burdens and Save Time

One of the key benefits of a cloud based EHR is using the automation it provides to save precious provider and staff time by automating routine, labor intensive task.  Phone calls to and from pharmacies, while important are a big drain on a providers and key staff members time.

Over the past year NextGen Office EHR/PM has been adding enhancements to it’s Best in Klas cloud based EHR/PM solution to allow practices that are enrolled in the CPC+ program to meet the documentation and reporting requirements.

There are some big, exciting changes happening to the Practice Partner based EHR’s (Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD) over the coming week that we wanted you to be aware of.

Reduce patient no-shows: Schedule text message and/or email reminders to be sent to patients before their appointments and increase confirmations with a click of a button.

The ability to send and receive electronic faxes in the NextGen cloud based EHR is one of the many reasons why it's earned the reputation as the best EHR! Despite the fact that NextGen Office has electronic connections to over 200 labs and imaging centers faxing paper is still an option for many facilities.

Access interactive patient education content from right within your EHR. NextGen Office’s integration with Elsevier provides suggested instructions based on diagnosis codes assigned to patients.  To learn more about the benefits of Elsevier's patient education and to see how patient education works within the NextGen Office cloud based EMR works, please continue to read below.

The NextGen Office Premium Patient Portal now includes enhanced modules that allow patients to update their medical information, schedule and request appointments, get convenient e-visits, and make online payments. This offering is in addition to the standard patient portal that meets MIPS requirements. 

eMDs Practice Partner 11.2 has achieved Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC-Health IT) 2015 Edition Health IT Module Certification via Drummond Group LLC, an Authorized Certification Body (ACB) that has been empowered to test software for compliance with the requirements of the federal government’s program. The stamp of approval designates that the software offers the functionality that enables eligible providers and hospitals to meet the requirements of various regulatory programs that require use of certified EHR technology.

NextGen Office EHR/PM Garners Top Score for Overall Satisfaction and Product Functionality in 2019 KLAS Small Practice Ambulatory EMR/PM (10 or Fewer Physicians) Report

IMPROVING THE PATIENT EXPERIENCE - AUTOMATED APPOINTMENT REMINDERS DONE RIGHT

Use new features built in to your Medisoft and Lytec practice management software to prevent missed appointments, reduce no-shows, drive your revenue and most importantly - improve your patient’s experience.

Thank you to all who attended our recent NextGen Office “Financial Success as an Independent Practice in 2019 and Beyond” webinar. We hope you found the session valuable. For those who could not attend, you may access the recording below!

Decreasing reimbursements and high deductible insurance plans mean today’s practice must take advantage of technology to ensure staff is working at full efficiency.

One of the most effective and often underutilized software tools available to most practices today is a real time insurance eligibility verification service found in most major cloud based EHR and Practice Management software solutions.

Great News for Practice Partner, Lytec MD and Medisoft Clinical Users!

Patient's today approach their health care much the same way they do other services in their daily lives. In our always on, always connected world there is an expectation that patient’s  can interact with their health care provider in the same way they do with their bank, an airline, grocery store or even ride sharing service.

NextGen Healthcare, makers of the 100% cloud based NextGen Office EHR/PM  is a 2018 Surescripts White Coat Award Recipient

V11.1 requires you add the CEHRT for the Vendor used to report CQM Measures.

It is necessary to add both the eMDs Practice Partner 11.1 product and the QR or QRDA used for reporting into the CMS ID Creator.

Steps on getting the CEHRT number for Practice Partner

In case you missed it, AVS Medical, along with their partners at e-MDs, hosted a webinar on September 18th to help all different types of practice management software users dig deep into their revenue cycle and take look at how they can utilize new strategies to prevent future claim denials. Ryann Philpott, the eMDs RCM manager, shared her wealth of knowledge on claim denials and how to prevent them before they even happen!

AVS Medical is pleased to announce that NextGen Office has partnered with CoverMyMeds® to offer a free service to our providers to electronically process prior authorizations for medications. CoverMyMeds’ electronic prior authorization solution streamlines the medication prior authorization (PA) process, connecting providers, pharmacists, and health plans to help improve time to therapy and decrease prescription abandonment.

Real-Time RX Benefit Check and Electronic Prior Authorization Agreement with CoverMyMeds for Practice Partner, Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD users

eMDs, a leading provider of electronic health records (EHR), practice management systems and Revenue Cycle Management services to over 60,000 providers, announced an exclusive partnership with CoverMyMeds to deliver real-time benefit check and electronic prior authorization (ePA).

The world of healthcare is forever changing and improving. There are always new government regulations, the ongoing fight to limit the burnout of your staff, all while trying to maintain the financial health of your practice. How can you continue to be successful as a practice while also solving the inevitable challenges you encounter on a daily basis?

It may be time to consider outsourcing your billing. By working with a reputable revenue cycle management provider, your practice can significantly improve operational and financial performance. But first, you have to choose the right provider! When exploring your billing partner options, here are the top 10 attributes to look for:

Is it time to explore outsourced billing for your Practice? Whether you're on the lookout for a reliable revenue cycle management provider or you're just seeking ways to improve billing processes within your practice, the following questions can help you make a more informed decision about whether your practice should outsource its billing:

In our last webinar we focused on claim denials at the beginning of the Revenue Cycle Management: The eligibility process and other front desk related processes.

If you didn’t get a chance to see that webinar you can click here to see a replay.

In this webinar, presented on September 18th at 1 PM EDT we’re going to dive further into the revenue cycle and look at coding related denials.

A new study from Black Book Research states that physicians are looking for more advanced Electronic Health Records. The study predicts that 30% of physician practices, with 12 or more doctors, will be looking to swap out their current EHR in the next 3 years. The physicians are looking for more advanced utilities to improve patient care.

According to recent studies the top 3 things that providers find to be the least satisfying aspects of practicing medicine are:

Do you know the difference between a denied claim and a rejected claim?

Many people mistakenly think that they are the same thing and or use the terms interchangeably.

A claim denial is vastly different than a claim rejection and the process of fixing or resolving each are different. Understanding the difference is vital to the business side of your practice and a healthy cash flow.

Do you know the difference between a denied claim and a rejected claim?

Many people mistakenly think that they are the same thing and or use the terms interchangeably.

A claim denial is vastly different than a claim rejection and the process of fixing or resolving each are different. Understanding the difference is vital to the business side of your practice and a healthy cash flow.

Users of Medisoft, Lytec and Practice Partner learn to reduce denials and increase collections

Whether you use Medisoft, Lytec or Practice Partner, every practice’s Revenue Cycle Management is the same. It starts when a patient sets an appointment and it ends when the practice receives payment. It sounds simple enough, but the reality is there are too many opportunities along the way where simple mistakes can cost your practice money.

Approval from the American Podiatric Medical Association

NextGen Office (formerly MediTouch) is a 100% cloud based podiatry EHR solution has earned the Seal of Acceptance by the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA).  The EHR was granted the APMA Seal for its ease of use, workflow adaptability and state-of-the-art technology

CERTIFICATIONS FOR SUCCESS, STAYING AHEAD SO OUR CLIENTS CAN TOO

Money Left on the Table

La Joya’s Neighborhood Doctor – both the name of the practice and a well-earned moniker for its physician, Dr. Norma Cavazos – is a family practice that has been providing high quality care to the people of Mission, TX, for over 20 years. Dr. Cavazos, her three PAs, NP, and the rest of her staff have been using eMDs Solution Series for many years, and recently chose to move to an eMDs hosted service to keep them focused on patients, not technology.

Personalized Service, Innovative Techniques, Friendly Staff, and Affordable Care

Growing Practice, Growing Expenses

Dr. Christopher Mason and his wife Melissa discovered they had a bit of a problem. The practice Dr. Mason had started, Northeast Texas Women’s Health, where his wife also works serving as the office manager, was growing rapidly. They had rented a new, larger office space to accommodate the higher patient volume. They had hired more staff. However, as Melissa puts it, “Three times the office space means three times the rent.”

New Medicare Beneficiary Identifier starting April 1, 2018

As part of the 2015 MACRA program Medicare has to remove patient 's Social Security Numbers from their Medicare cards by April 2019.  This means important changes for Practice Partner, Medisoft v22 and Lytec 2018 practice management users.

The award winning MediTouch cloud based EHR has now been rebranded as NextGen Office.

An easy to use, friendly, patient web portal is a key element in today's medical practice. Patient use of the NextGen Office patient portal leads to more engaged and happier patients, less work for your staff and results in faster documentation of the patient encounter - getting you out of the office on time with your charting done

A standard among today’s modern cloud based EHR’s is a patient friendly, truly useful Patient Portal.

2020 brings new challenges and changes for many EHR users. Many practices are looking to change from older, outdated client server based EHRs that they’ve had for many years.

Today’s health insurance plans include larger co-pays and higher deductibles making patients responsible for a larger portion of their overall health care costs and most importantly your revenue stream. Making sure that you collect these self-pay balances needs to be a key priority to increase cash flow. Using an online patient portal will enable your practice to get paid faster!

Have you been questioning what the best possible method for charting in an EHR is? In recent years, there have been so many exciting EHR developments but it’s hard to tell which one may be the most beneficial to your practice. Nowadays, doctors are charting from a desktop, their laptops and even on an iPad! What option fits your practice the best? There are so many questions to consider!

Have you ever worried that charting on an electronic device during a patient encounter would have a negative impact on your patient’s experience at your office?

Want to increase revenue growth by improving your front desk efficiency?

In today’s healthcare environment, practices need to do everything they can to optimize their revenue opportunities One way to immediately optimize your revenue is to use an EMR with the ability to complete real-time insurance eligibility verification.

Avoid Lost Revenue and Increase Patient Satisfaction with your EHR Real Time Eligibility Software

Successful claim submission and getting paid fairly and on time starts the minute the patient walks in the front door or calls the office. Today, medical practices need to be taking full advantage of simple, affordable software tools that let the front office quickly and accurately register the patient.

Women’s healthcare deals with a variety of both urgent and long-term treatments, and a powerful OB GYN EHR platform can assist every step of the way. Whether it’s finances, logistics, customer care, or basic medical practice management, an EHR will redefine an OB GYN from the ground up

Here's how:

If you're a new provider just starting your medical practice or an established provider the regulatory and fiscal challenges to success can seem overwhelming. However, it can be done and we'd like to share with you a case study of an Illinois neurologist who has not survived but thrived

Take the case of Illinois based neurologist, Dr. Michael Sergeant and his wife, Beth, who sought the best EHR for their solo practice and ventured into independence after 26 years of co-owning a private neurology practice.

For Beth Sergeant, who spent most of her adult life pursuing art — not a career in medical billing — building a small medical practice with her husband from the ground up proved to be no small task. She soon discovered that finding the best EMR for solo practice was key to surviving and thriving in a state where very few independent neurologists remained. “We’ve found ways to really make the system work for our practice. We could never have gotten by without it and compared to other systems, NextGen Office  has proved to be much better,” says Sergeant.

Beyond the economics and logistics of starting one’s own business, there’s also the fact to consider that being a solo practice means thinking about the office every day, no matter where you are. “We’re not always in the office and NextGen Office allows me to work from anywhere. We don’t have an answering service — we are the answering service — and having access to records 24 hours a day as well as the ability to fax, wherever we are, has been so helpful.”

“I would definitely recommend NextGen Office to other small practices,” Sergeant says. “From set-up, it was never lacking.  I look at people now still using paper, and I think, ‘How do you do it?'”

Read below for the full case study

The Medicare Advantage plan, sometimes called Medicare Part C or an MA Plan are offered by private companies that have been approved by Medicare. Today roughly 25% of all enrollees in Medicare are covered by an Advantage plan.

Billing under an MA Plan can be a lucrative and profitable part of your practice's income stream - but do you know how to optimize your billings to make sure you're receiving the highest level of reimbursement?

Due to the HITECH act and stimulus payments made to providers who adopted health care technology roughly 70% of all medical practices have an EHR. However many of those were implemented in 6 to 7 years ago and were based on older client server technology, requiring costly hardware and even more costly professional IT support.

As we make the change from Meaningful Use/PQRS to MACRA and Value Based Care, it is more important than ever that we embrace the term Patient Engagement. The requirement of patient engagement is not going to go away, so why not make things easier on yourself, your staff, and your patients! To accommodate the ever-changing patient engagement requirements, you’re going to have to find the best tools available to assist and benefit both your practice and your patients.

Online patient portals and Cloud-Based EMR are quickly becoming everyone’s go-to solution for patient engagement. They enable your practice to eliminate the most time-consuming tasks and duties by allowing patients to complete intake forms, fill out medical history, request and schedule appointments and even pay their outstanding bills. Portals also allow for a much more stress free environment in the waiting room and ease the workflow for the staff in the office!