Practice Trends
Practice Trends
Thursday, 03 December 2009
Written by Desiree Scoggins
|
Do You Think of your Patients as Consumers? Get Ready for the Baby Boomers! |
Recent studies show that a patient attitudes are changing. Gone are the days when patients take what the doctor recommends as gospel truth. Patients, especially the baby boomers, are treating doctors as they do any service provider in their life. This demographic group of patients will make up the majority of patients over the next ten years. They are a group with high expectations for service; they want it now, they want it cheap, and they want it convenient. They don’t respect authority. They get their health information from the internet.
Wednesday, 04 November 2009
Written by Sherry Krueger
|
Using Internet Technology to Inform about H1N1 |
There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation being heard by your patients about H1N1 2009. The Internet is largely to blame for the confusion and panic. However, the Web and other digital technologies can also provide a great tool to keep your patients properly informed. Recently in the UK, hospitals in Camden successfully sent out text messages advising patients on what to do if they think they have symptoms of H1N1.
With the economy on the decline practice revenues are sure to follow. Did you know that healthcare is 1 of the top 5 things people cut first when trimming their budget? We have heard some creative ways to trim the budget as well as add money to the bottom line. Please post your ideas here to share with your fellow HNA providers. Healthcare Networks of America will be utilizing these ideas to put together a free white paper for our providers. Please indicate if we may contact you and quote you in an article that will be published and syndicated.
I have come across an interesting program that I need your input on. Verifying benefits has always been excruciating and I have learned that there is a low cost way to cut this large time drain down to size. Rather than sitting on hold there is a way to swipe the patients healthcare card through your credit card terminal and get instantaneous results including current status, deductible amount, copay, coverage and co-insurance amount and much more. Have any of you utilized this service? What have you experienced? It is always helpful to hear the features / services that you like…
Do you have the right patient mix?Patient Mix is a tricky road to navigate. Many practices just assume the more patients it sees the more money it makes! Well, what if you could see different patients and make more? What is patient Mix? Patient Mix is the equation that leads to all the patients you see in your practice. Simply put: How many PPO patients, HMO patients, cash patients, and Medicare patients do I have? For example a typical General Practitioner runs about 85-90% on the large HMO patient mix structure. Meaning you are contracted with the top 5-10 HMO/PPO…
It’s comparable to not participating in your company’s 401k to get the match. It is simply money left on the table. That’s how you need to look at point-of-service drug dispensing. It’s easy, with low investment, and your competitors just might be jumping on the bandwagon faster than you are. The old is new againA short history lesson is in order here: this is nothing new. Physician drug dispensing was the norm in days gone by, but somewhere along the way doctors gave up this income stream and cheerfully handed it to pharmacists. The time has come for you to…