Physician Data Analytics and Challenges in 2014 – Part 4

Last month, I commented on how 2014 will be the year for better time management and addressing technology costs, based on an article “Top 10 Challenges Facing Physicians in 2014” (J. Bendix, D.R. Verdon, A. Ritchie, D. Marbury, in Medical Economics, 12/15/13). This month I would like to discuss how 2014 will be the year for better staff training and a “new” patient.



Staffing and Training
For many physician practices, surviving the changing healthcare practice landscape (such as Meaningful Use Stage 2, Clinical Quality Measures and PQRS) will require all staff members to move into a team-oriented culture and take on new roles within the practice. These changes have also created a significant hiring and retention problem with all practice employees. The good news is that the additional training required to implement ICD-10 has been postponed for another year (now Oct. 1, 2015).

Regardless of the ICD-10 delay, the requirement for staff training will be very high in 2014. As a practice group, you should budget a significant amount time and dollars to staff training throughout 2014.

2014 May Be the Year of the New Patient
Under the Affordable Care Act, many new patients, formerly without medical insurance, will now try to see a primary care physician in 2014. This will require the practice to diligently collect the co-pays (some of which may be quite high) and any other service charges up front at the time of service. Physicians and/or their staff will have to discuss costs and payments with their patients before performing various services. Most physicians typically have not done this and will find this a new cultural change for themselves – again, more staff training.

In addition, with easy Internet access and search engines, patients will come into the office armed with “self diagnosis” information backed up by obtained data. This will require physicians to “partner” with their patients in more of a team-care approach. The good news is these “online diagnosers” tend to be more active and involved in their care, and ultimately this should help improve the overall outcomes. Again, a physician data analytics approach in your practice can help track and monitor the outcomes of these patients.

Next Steps
In order to utilize physician data analytics in your practice, you must first be on an Electronic Health Record (EHR). The North Texas Regional Extension Center (NTREC) has grant subsidized services to help you get there. For a preview of our services, check out this video link: http://youtu.be/k2omtt6_bsk.