With the iPad, you can use any Allscripts EHR solution via Citrix or even RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol).  While it’s nice to be able to access the full software application on the iPad, it might be easier if there there were an application developed specifically for the iPad. As you may have seen at ACE 2010 in Las Vegas, Allscripts is also working on their own iPad App for a more fluid user experience. Codenamed Project Wombat, the Allscripts iPad Application is designed exactly the way you would expect an iPad app to look.  Clean, simple, intuitive.  We’ll have to wait a little while until it comes out, so while we’re waiting, it might not hurt to configure your iPad to access your full EHR application.

Today we set up our Allscripts Enterprise v11.1.7 Environment to allow for access by an iPad.  By downloading an App called “Citrix Receiver” and making some changes to our Citrix environment, we were successfully able to use Enterprise from the iPad.  In my experience, Enterprise EHR works very much like you would expect it to, except on a super-light, easy to use device.  There are downsides though, one being that the iPad does not have the processing power to run Dragon Medically Speaking.  That means that if you choose not to use a v11 form, you’re stuck with a keyboard.  The soft keyboard takes up far too much real estate, so if I were to use this regularly to access the EHR, I would certainly invest in a hard keyboard docking station.  See the video below:

MBA HealthGroup, the leading provider of electronic health record services in Vermont, announced today that Vermont Information Technology Leaders, Inc. (VITL), the non-profit health information exchange and Vermont’s only Regional Extension Center, has selected MBA HealthGroup as a VITL Preferred Partner.

VITL’s role in Vermont is to improve quality and efficiency of Vermont’s healthcare system through the use of health information technology, and the partnership between VITL and MBA HealthGroup will allow both organizations to collaborate in the interest of increasing the utilization of health information technology to improve patient care. MBA HealthGroup’s expertise in EHR implementation, training, support, and hosting as well as practice management and revenue cycle management will allow them to work with VITL to assist physicians in their transformation from a paper to an electronic world.

“We’re right here in Vermont. We’ve been working with Vermont physicians for twenty years, and spent the last five years helping them implement electronic health records. Now, with a connection to VITL, physicians can begin really using the data within their EHR, as well as the data that exists for any patient across Vermont,” said Ethan Bechtel, Director of Strategy for MBA HealthGroup. “We’re excited to be able to help physician practices achieve ‘Meaningful Use’, and begin sharing data statewide through VITL’s health information exchange. Our goal is and has always been to improve patient care wherever we can, so this is a great opportunity for us to use technology to achieve that goal.”

See the press release here: http://www.prweb.com/releases/electronic-health-records/mba-healthgroup/prweb4048394.htm

In January, 2010, our team of Allscripts EHR experts has completed their certification from Allscripts in “Advanced Interface Education”, which will allow us to develop and maintain all Allscripts interfaces in our own environment in addition to other Allscripts clients across the country.

Vermont Receives National Award for Physician e-Prescribing Thanks to Efforts by Local Healthcare Firm

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) June 22, 2009 — The State of Vermont was awarded “Most Improved State in E-Prescribing” at the 4th Annual Safe-Rx Awards on Monday, June 22 in Washington D.C. The Safe-Rx Award recognizes how e-prescribing enhances patient safety by providing a more secure, accurate and informed prescribing process. Governor Jim Douglas was in attendance as one of several presenters and as the recipient of Vermont’s award. Governor Douglas was accompanied by Sandra Bechtel and Lauren Parker, founders of MBA HealthGroup. MBA HealthGroup is the largest implementation, support, and hosting provider of Electronic Health Records to Vermont physicians.

MBA HealthGroup was recognized by SureScripts for being a key contributor to Vermont’s e-prescribing success in its State Progress Report on E-Prescribing, a summary of key Vermont e-prescribing statistics from 2006 to 2008. “The e-prescribing solutions MBA HealthGroup has rolled out in Vermont have not only improved upon the patient experience, but have made it safer to be a patient in Vermont. The sooner every physician in this country is e-prescribing, the better off we’ll all be as patients” said MBA HealthGroup CEO Sandra Bechtel.

“E-Prescribing has been an easy way to improve patient care through automatic allergy and drug interaction warnings, and quickly facilitates prescription writing and refills” said Dr. Joe Haddock, a practicing Vermont physician at Thomas Chittenden Health Center in Williston, VT.

The Safe RX Awards is hosted by Surescripts, which is the nation’s largest electronic prescribing network. Surescripts created the Safe-Rx Awards to recognize the outstanding leadership shown by states and stakeholders across the country that have helped to make the prescribing process as safe and efficient as possible. The Awards also serve to educate the public about the role of technology in prescribing medications and the benefits for patients, pharmacists and physicians.

MBA HealthGroup is a full-service healthcare firm that specializes in healthcare consulting, medical billing/revenue cycle management, e-prescribing solutions, and electronic health records implementation and support services. For almost two decades, MBA HealthGroup has provided solutions to physicians, medical practices, and hospitals throughout the country.

How often are you encouraged to start a business in one of the worst economic downturns in the history of the United States?  While healthcare hasn’t been hit as hard by this economic downturn as other industries (travel, auto, etc.), we’re certainly not immune to the economic fluxuations in healthcare.  When patients have high deductible health savings accounts (HSA) or copays, they may choose to just wait out that fever they’ve had until it goes away rather than going in to see their doctor.  So while there are some reasons for not starting a practice when the economy is in turmoil, I believe there are more benefits than most people know.

1. Interest rates are at historic lows.  It may not be as easy to get startup financing from a bank as it was a few years ago, but if you do, you’ll be paying less interest.  If you’re looking for capital from the SBA (Small Business Association), you’ll find that their loan fees have been reduced dramatically due to their access to stimulus funding.

2.Real estate is inexpensive and easy to find. Not only have the costs of leasing space dropped, but if you were looking to buy that dream office across the street a year ago and it wasn’t an option, there’s a good chance the owner would consider it now. There is an abundance of office space on the market.

3. Good help isn’t as hard to find. There is a silver lining to a high unemployment rate.  The employment market is competitive.  You can find good people at a reasonable salary everywhere you look.  The key to a successful business (that includes medical practices) is to employ only the best people.  Hold out for the most qualified candidate at the most reasonable wage.

4. Hospitals may foot the bill. It used to be common for hospitals to offer an income guarantee for physicians to start a medical practice in the hospital’s community.  While that still happens, it’s more likely now that rather than income guarantees, that the hospital will pay for you to start a practice including all of your setup costs and consulting fees should you choose to hire a consulting firm.

If you didn’t read my post “Starting a Medical Practices: Top 5 Mistakes Physicians Make“, that will be a good starting point for getting the ball rolling.

Over the weekend I saw a press release about Allscripts Remote (TM), an iPhone application by Allscripts that allows you to connect to your Enterprise EHR (and Professional EHR) databases from anywhere.  I searched the Apple Store and was surprised to see I could download it for Free.  From what I understand, there will be a charge for this product and I’m assuming Allscripts will have to install licenses on clients servers for them to gain access, but they were nice enough to provide sample data so I could play around with the application.

Top 5 Mistakes made when Starting a Medical Practice

To be in private practice or to be hospital employed? For some physicians, it’s a no-brainer, there’s no way they’re going to work for a hospital. They want the independence that business owners get to design their own patient schedules, employ the staff they want, and go on vacation when they choose. Starting a medical practice can be the most rewarding venture, but it can also be painful if not done correctly. I asked some of our consultants what mistakes are the most common when a physician takes the plunge into private practice, and this is what they’ve seen:

5. Not setting a realistic time line to launch your new practice.

Whether a physician is finishing up their residency, or deciding to leave a hospital or group practice, they rarely ever give themselves enough time to start a practice the right way. Many times it’s a “I need to get up and running ASAP, maybe next month if I can”. Unfortunately it isn’t that easy. When starting a practice you have to take into account time to get credentialed for your new practice, time to find a staff, time to implement systems, time to find real estate. Be flexible with deadlines and unexpected delays.

4. Not knowing the financials.

There aren’t many physicians that have a boatload of cash to spend after their residency, so most end up getting business loans from a bank. We don’t necessarily recommend writing a business plan for every practice, but we always make sure the financial plan and proforma is adequately constructed. Make sure you have conservative 3 year projections and a line of credit that will cover you for the first 3 months even if you don’t generate any revenue. Remember, insurance carriers don’t always pay you instantly, sometimes it takes months. It also never hurts to have best and worse case scenarios in your proforma just so you know what you’ll need to do if you don’t get as many patients from the start as you expected. To calculate revenue, determine your expected payor mix and use the carrier websites to see if they post what they pay for specific office visits and procedures. Leave no stone unturned, estimate the cost of EVERYTHING down to the magazines in the waiting room.

3. Hiring the wrong people!

Recruiting and hiring is a skill. Get help to ensure you bring in highly motivated staff that are as invested as you are. If you’re going to be in a fast paced practice, hire staff that can keep up with you. Hiring the wrong people can be extremely expensive considering how much you will invest in them to learn your IT systems, equipment, and workflow processes.

2. Choosing the wrong EHR/PM for your practice.

If you aren’t familiar with health information technology, good luck acclimating to the ever-changing and complicated environment. There are over 300 EHR/PM vendors out there and 95% of them are NOT right for you. You can also expect a good number of those vendors to be acquired, go out of business, or not be able to support you in a way that works for you. Right now the safe bet is to start on http://www.cchit.org/, which is the only EHR certification board out there, and look at which vendors are certified. While there are some incredible EHRs out there that haven’t been certified, the HITECH stimulus package is promising incentives for only “certified” products. Always choose the EHR first, and then make your Practice Management system decision.

1. Not asking for help from someone who knows business.

Let’s face it, medical school is just not geared around teaching physicians how to start a medical practice. The majority of physicians also don’t have the time to sit down and read books on how to start a practice in the hopes that it will actually guide them to success. This is a process with a million variables that requires expertise. At the very least, talk to family and friends that know business. In an ideal situation, you’d bring in an expert to help you with starting your own practice (read: 9 steps to Successfully Starting a Medical Practice). In the long run, the upfront investment in the expertise will not only save you time and money but it will generate more money than you could have without consulting with an expert.

If you’re considering starting a practice of your own, contact us for a free consultation.

Related:

9 Steps to Successfully Starting a Medical Practice

All providers who enter the medical field generally do so to meet a common goal, providing good care to their patients. With this goal in mind it is often conflicting to set a price to the care provided. It is even more challenging to make financial decisions that can impact your patients directly or indirectly. Ultimately physician and provider owners of medical practices must face this dilemma and be successful with their choices to stay in business. MBA HealthGroup can provide practices with many ways to access the financial health and well being of the practice in a practice evaluation. There are some important elements that can be easily implemented to ensure the practice enjoys good financial health. Although these suggestions cannot single handedly solve financial challenges, if implemented they will create solid footing from which a practice can thrive and grow.
Tips for medical practice financial health:
1. Payment at the time of service: Collecting co-pays and any cash payments before the visit ensures some form of collection is happening. People expect to pay when they visit a provider office, however they usually will not offer it unless requested. Front desk staff training is crucial in the successful collection of these revenues. If collected at the front desk, preferably during check in, (or check out for services or medical equipment) money is also saved in mailing statements and back end collections.

2. Timely charge and payment entry: Entering charges the day of service is ideal, however if they are delayed by even a few days the payment cycle can be impacted and financial analysis skewed. Delay in payment entry creates loss of revenue because additional statements may be sent to patients, or time lost in follow up calls to insurance companies.

3. Regular fee analysis and updates: Insurance companies change their rates annually, fees charged by the practice should be formally assessed on a regular basis, as well as during the payment entry process. If a payment by an insurance company matches the charged amount this indicated the charge is too low and potential dollars are lost from other payers who have a better rate.

4. Timely payment plans and follow up: Patients who want to work with you to pay in good faith are patients who will return in the future and efforts should be made to create a workable solution. Although the collections process is always an option for uncollected balances, it is always best to work with patients as much as possible. It is recommended that all payment plans are limited to 6 months and appropriate follow up is set in place to track success.

5. Maintained Credentialing: All payments begin and end with appropriate credentialing. Work with your carriers to ensure credentialing is up to date and complete or payments may abruptly stop. It is also essential to remember that any new providers, changes in address , name or tax ID must be updated with credentialing all the carriers to ensure continued payment.
These are just a few simple ways to create improved financial health at your practice so that providers can remain true to their ultimate goal: superior patient care.

For Immediate Release
March 30, 2008

Contact: David Mace (802) 828-5229

MBA HealthGroup Celebrates New Offices, National Doctors Day

SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. – Governor Jim Douglas took time to thank Vermont’s doctors for their work and congratulate a health care information firm on its growth at a Sunday ceremony.

Speaking at the new South Burlington offices of MBA HealthGroup, the Governor recognized the company’s expansion and the contributions of Vermont’s doctors.

MBA HealthGroup is a full-service healthcare firm specializing in electronic medical records, medical billing, and healthcare consulting. MBA serves physicians, medical practices, and hospitals in more than 17 states throughout the country.

Governor Jim Douglas praising MBA HealthGroup

The company was founded by President and CEO Sandra Bechtel, and Chief Executive Director and Vice President Lauren Parker in 1990 and has now grown to 44 full-time employees with offices in Montpelier and South Burlington.

“We are very pleased to be a growing part of Vermont’s health care infrastructure, and to join Governor Douglas in thanking our doctors for all they contribute to Vermont’s quality of life,” Bechtel said. “Our employees are proud to provide them with the finest tools to assist them in improving the quality of patient care.”

MBA HealthGroup celebrated their new facility in Technology Park with an address on health care information technology by Laurie McGraw of Allscripts, one of the fastest growing companies in the U.S. and a Strategic Partner of MBA HealthGroup.

“Vermont has a very robust health care information sector, thanks in large part to the success of GE Health Care, formerly IDX Systems,” Governor Douglas said. “My administration is committed to growing the software development industry in Vermont, and MBA HealthGroup is a wonderful example of the potential for this sector.”

National Doctors Day traces its history back to 1933 when it was started by Eudora Brown Almond of Winder, Ga. The day marks the anniversary of the first use of general anesthesia in surgery on March, 30, 1842 in Danielsville, Ga., by Dr. Crawford Long.

Allscripts President of Clinical Solutions, Laurie McGraw joins us to discuss the electronic health record. (Left to Right: Sandra Bechtel, Laurie McGraw, Governor Douglas, Lauren Parker)

On March 30, 1958, the United States House of Representatives adopted a resolution commemorating Doctors Day, and in 1990 Congress approved legislation establishing National Doctors Day.