Shedding Light on the Issue
How will Ben and his practice cope with more changes? Worried about Meaningful Use? Ben was staring at his computer screen, lost in thought, when Carmen arrived. She had sailed past the reception desk with a wave as the staff was closing up for lunch, so she hadn’t been announced. It was only a moment or two before Ben felt her presence and looked up, but it was long enough for her to register the stress Ben was feeling. “Hey, honey,” he greeted her. “Hey,” she said softly. “Is it that ONC HER thing?” “ONC-certified EHR, actually, but yes, that’s what’s on my mind.” “I thought you might be able to have lunch with me. We could talk about it over a sandwich or something,” Carmen suggested. “Why not?” Ben agreed. They left through the back door, heading to the tree-lined parking lot. “I’m not so concerned about our software, but the meaningful use requirement might bite us. We have to look not just at what our systems can do but at what our people actually are doing.” Carmen nodded. “I know just what you mean. At the pizzeria, we know that we have everything the health regulations require set up and in place, but follow-through is something else. People get into a hurry, or get set in their ways, or just don’t see the importance of following the rules, and first thing you know we have a scoop in the ice bin or something.” “The stakes are high enough here that everyone ought to be on board,” Ben said. “Hey, we could just walk over to the sandwich shop.” “Works for me,” Carmen agreed. “High stakes matter a lot as long as you’re thinking about them. But, speaking from my own experience with scoops in the ice bin, I’d say that during a normal day we don’t spend a lot of time thinking about those things. Plus, sometimes the consequences are more immediate for the people in charge than for the rank and file. If the restaurant has health code issues, it will affect everybody eventually if nothing is done, but usually it just means that I have to deal with it. Compared with the immediate convenience of leaving the scoop in the ice bin, that doesn’t seem like much to a kid who’s getting slammed with the lunchtime service.” Ben agreed. “The possible future consequence to the group never seems as pressing as the immediate comfort of the individual.” “Or even,” said Carmen as she added a cookie to her plate, “the possible future consequence to the individual, like what that cookie might do to my energy levels this afternoon, compared with how yummy it looks right now.” “The issue for us is that Medicare will cut payments if we haven’t demonstrated meaningful use by October 1st.” “So the partners with more Medicare patients might feel more motivated than those with more private insurance patients?” “Actually,” Ben said, negotiating his way through the tables with their tray, “Medicare pretty much sets the standards for all insurers and state boards. Where Medicare goes, the rest will follow.” “Is there really a big gap between where you are now and where you should be?” Carmen asked. “We’ll have to figure that out. But I think it’s like your ice scoop example. We’re looking at people’s behavior and choices, not just the systems.” Ben took a bite of his sandwich. “I guess that’s what’s worrying me. People don’t like change. When we switched the light bulbs in the office it bothered people. Changes in the documentation systems bothered people. Now we’re talking about more changes.” How will Ben and his practice cope with more changes? Disclaimer: For HIPAA compliance, all characters appearing in this post are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons or actual events is purely coincidental.
Hanging In
By Reuven Lirov Office unease leaves practice owners dangling Are the problems in his practice Ben’s fault? Ben sighed contentedly and rested his chin on his wife’s head. Their son was sitting on her lap and she leaned against him on the sofa so that he could hug her and their little boy at the same time. They had a cartoon movie on the TV, but Ben wasn’t paying attention to it. At times like these, their family seemed like a perfect unit, and his life seemed as though it was completely under control. So why didn’t it feel that way at the office more frequently? Carmen had problems at the pizzeria sometimes, but it always seemed as though she could just tackle the problem and solve it, and it was over. At his practice, it felt like they no sooner solved one problem than another came up. They had high turnover in the front office, and he knew that was part of the reason things slipped through the cracks, but maybe the high turnover was a symptom of the problem. Absenteeism, too — of course that led to turnover when people had to be let go, but it also seemed as though any time one person was missing it created a bottleneck in the office. Then when absent workers returned, it took three days to recover from every one day they’d been gone. Maybe they just weren’t getting the kind of training they needed, Ben reflected. Jonathan was laughing and squealing as the cartoon characters slid down a mountainside. It was funny in the cartoon, Ben thought, but sometimes that’s how it felt at work, and then it wasn’t so funny. The cartoon characters were bouncing from one branch and outcropping to another, their eyes comically huge, and his son couldn’t stop laughing. Ben couldn’t stop thinking that this was just what his workdays were like sometimes, bouncing from one problem to another and barely having time to get one issue cleaned up before another smacked into him. Forget about building and growing the practice — he was always in crisis mode. Ben didn’t really think it was a case of having bad workers. They made every effort to hire smart, competent people. And yet those smart people made mistakes and let things slide. He knew they didn’t provide intensive training to their staff, but where would he find the time to do that? He had always figured that if he hired good people, they could pick most things up on their own. Ben shook his head and Carmen smiled up at him questioningly. He returned her smile and willed himself to get his mind back into the present. He could think about his work problems later — in fact, he’d have to. He sighed again, but this time not with contentment. Maybe it was his fault. Are the problems in his practice Ben’s fault? Learn how Genesis Chiropractic Software helps a practice owner run his practice. Dr. Ben needs to understand how Genesis improves his patient experience.
Is Your Chiropractic Software A Piece of Junk?
The word “Guarantee” is good, but No Regret is what you really want. I bought an iPad about three months ago and it is obsolete today. Sound familiar? Imagine if it cost $15,000? What if your software is obsolete in 3 years? Don’t believe that can happen? Things are changing faster than you think. I’ll come back to this. I am about to show you the how “owning” chiropractic software is not only a misnomer (Sales ploy used to make you “feel” good about spending your hard earned money) but one of the riskiest investments you can make in your practice. While companies promise you it protects you, it actually leaves you and your practice vulnerable. I will debunk the big fat myth that it costs your less money to “own” a chiropractic software, (which you actually never do), and show you how you can guarantee that you will not regret your software decision. We will discuss the REAL cost of the two main types of systems and pricing models. Web bases systems vs. Client Server (The one they say you “own”) Data Protection – The biggest lie told today is that somehow your data is safer in your office. It is it better to backup your data offsite regardless. It is useless without the software anyway. Just ask doctors who were in the path of Hurricane Sandy which is better. In the end I will show you how web based systems like, Genesis Chiropractic Software and Billing, pay for themselves and possibly even put some money back in your pocket. Price Comparison SaaS (Software as a Service) – Is a pricing model. Today it is usually reserved for software that is web based. In the past other chiropractic software used this model and charged upwards of $700 per month. They got away with it for years and eventually switched to the “purchase” model. SaaS charges a smaller monthly fee with little to no upfront fees. Let’s do the simple math Some systems on the market are as cheap as $12,000. Compare that to the cost of a SaaS product at $250 per month. $12,000/$250 = 48 month. In other words, at $250/month it will take 4 years before you pay the same amount! Read on and you will see how you can go from 48 months to 60, 100 or unlimited months. Meaning it will never cost you more than $12,000 to use a system like Genesis. But then I own it after 4 years! Really? Do you own the code? Can you tell the company what to build next? What if they go out of business two years later? More importantly REMEMBER the iPad… When you “purchase” you are not buying software, you are buying a license to use the chiropractic software. The company that supports that chiropractic software could be gone tomorrow. Big Difference. If that happens your license is useless. Unless you want to buy the code. I promise you, it isn’t cheap. When you “purchase” you still need to pay for upgrades. $50 per month. Subtract $50 from the $250 that SaaS offers since upgrades are included in the SaaS model (that’s the service part of Saas). With that factored in 4 years becomes 5 Years Remember the iPad. I know what you are thinking, I get upgrades. True you get upgrades. You can buy new computers and they will send you the upgrades so what’s the big deal. Here it is. There are actually 3 things you need to be concerned about. The hardware – That is the actual computer. Those will need to be replaced on an ongoing basis regardless of what type of system you buy. The software code – This is what words are in the code, if you will. In other words you can add new paragraphs to a document in the English language. With software more words equals updates. The system adds function, features etc. That is great. The language – The breath of options is limited to the language the software is built in. When you buy a software you buy it knowing full well that the language your system will be written in 5 years from now has NO Chance of being upgraded. The language is the language. The reason Google is so successful is due, in part, to the fact they are constantly evolving the language they use. It’s not just the words. The capabilities are increasing because the language is changing. Since they are also web based they can upgrade their systems and you don’t see they difference. Just amazing new function. This is the same with your practice software. Software you buy will be limited in just a few years as web based systems language AND code rapidly change. Not so with client server systems. So you are paying a fixed fee because the functionality is fixed in time with today’s language. Clearing House Fees -Included with Genesis billing – $50/month with other systems – Now it takes 6 years to pay the equivalent of other systems. Network Maintenance – With web based systems, computers do not need to be networked together. Only connected to the web. Other systems require a server and network which will cost $1,000-$2,000 to set up. ….. Figure another $50 per month for upgrades to hardware, maintenance for the computer guy to fix things when they break down, and down time….. 8 years easy. Are you betting static software language is going to be as cutting edge in 8 years? Data Backup Service – $25/month 8.5 years (included with web based systems like Genesis.) Peace of mind – Infinite peace of mind. Genesis data center was in the path of hurricane Sandy and experience zero down time. Some clients who lost their office where able to be back up and running instantly with a wireless laptop or iPad. The didn’t lose any data. Others weren’t so lucky. Now what if they paid you? Why not? SaaS systems have it built into their price to have a referral fee. We pay
Level the Playing Field with Insurance Companies!
Dr. Chris Zaino explains how the Chiropractic Billing Network in Genesis will help your practice level the playing field with insurance companies. Vericle®, the technology behind Genesis’s service, has over 2 Million Rules (and growing) that are used to validate claims prior to submission.