Did you know that automating healthcare administrative tasks can save up to 3 hours a day for the teams? Additionally, it improves work-life satisfaction by approximately 40%.
There is no secret that the healthcare industry is demanding and requires 24*7 service. That means the doctors, nurses, lab assistants, and the administrative and management team have to be on their toes to address the patient and their family’s needs.
Apart from this, the administrative team must schedule and manage the meeting between different departments, document everything, and keep track of the hospital assets. All these are time-consuming and daunting tasks.
Fortunately, using the tips below, you can manage them seamlessly, thereby increasing work efficiency.
Rely On Electronic Health Recording Systems
Every medical institution is required to keep a record of its patients. Traditionally, this information was recorded as a patient’s paper chart; however, this digital era calls for an electronic health record (EHR).
Simply put, healthcare EHR systems are patient-centered, real-time records that securely and promptly make information accessible to authorized users. It is designed to go beyond the typical clinical data collected in a provider’s office. Instead, it is inclusive of a broader view of a patient’s care, even though it does contain patients’ medical and treatment histories.
In fact, the latest development in EHR systems enables the healthcare staff to streamline the workflow, manage patient logistics, and empower caregivers.
Investing In Unified Communications (UC) System
Even though almost all industries abandoned pagers years ago, they are still widely used in hospitals as the main staff communication tool. The reason being is that cell phones may interfere with the operation of some medical devices (proven by a 2016 study).
A unified communications (UC) system is thus required. It incorporates a wide range of technologies that, when used in a hospital setting, make it easy to track, monitor, and communicate patient data.
Providers can simply use the central hub created by a UC system to view a patient’s current clinical state, location, and impending procedures. The UC system allows hospital employees to communicate with nurses, doctors, and other medical staff members with frequent updates.
Install Asset Tracking Software
Lastly, numerous equipment, including IV poles, feeding pumps, and EKG monitors, are present in even a minor hospital. However, manually updated spreadsheets and hard copies prevent healthcare workers from having immediate access to the required information. The hospital also runs the danger of over-purchasing to guarantee equipment availability. Contrarily, a resource can be in high demand and frequently unavailable, which would impede hospital workflow and be upsetting for staff (and patients).
Fortunately, all this data is gathered via asset-tracking technology into a single database for rapid access and management by medical staff. They can easily find medical equipment, check maintenance logs, and ascertain the status of each hospital asset. As a result, patients receive care more promptly, inventory costs are decreased, and hospital flow is improved.
Recapping
To manage the healthcare institution’s administrative tasks, finding and integrating the right software solutions is necessary. So, look around the current tasks your admin team is monitoring and introduce new technology and programs wherever necessary. As an added benefit, a well-administered hospital will enable you to earn the customer’s trust.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has made no secret of its intentions to crack down on fraud, abuse, and waste, throwing more budget dollars into audits, heightening program integrity oversight of Marketplace plans, and exploring new methods of using advanced technology to conduct more rapid and thorough documentation reviews.
Historically, as CMS goes, so do commercial payers, putting healthcare organizations in the crosshairs of an unprecedented level of third-party external audits. To emerge relatively unscathed, organizations need to put in place proven processes that guide immediate and effective actions in the wake of adverse findings.
With limited time to correct the internal processes or billing practices that contributed to the problems, many organizations are turning to corrective action plans (CAPs) to streamline and accelerate their response to unfavorable outcomes. Those that do also realize the added benefit of having their chances of future billing compliance risks significantly reduced while their ability to achieve revenue integrity is enhanced.
The Audit Environment
The signs of an aggressive audit environment are everywhere. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in its 2022 budget, allocated a staggering $2.6 billion to halting fraud, abuse, and waste in its Medicare and Medicaid programs – up from $180 million in 2021. A primary target is Medicare medical review of fee-for-service claims – which CMS has likely increased due to a robust rate of return to the Trust Funds (estimated to be more than $9-to-$1, based on a three-year rolling average).
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has also ramped up its scrutiny of how well provider organizations complied with requirements tied to the use of nearly $180 billion in Provider Relief Funds and with recently enacted mandates such as the No Surprises Act. One survey found that almost 25% of hospitals respond to as many as 2,000 external audit-related monthly requests from multiple sources. While results of many of those audits are confidential, Medicare Fee-for-Service data show a 6.26% improper payment rate in their 2021 report.
When audits by commercial payers identify problems such as overpayments, they may require the provider organization to generate and implement an actionable CAP for the relationship to continue. And while a CAP is not required when a RAC audit uncovers issues with billing practices, the offending provider organization should act swiftly to not only remedy the immediate problem – generally by refunding the overpayments – but also to identify and address any underlying practices or processes that may put the organization at risk for future issues and liability.
Audit pressure isn’t just external. Many healthcare organizations are also ramping up internal scrutiny – and they’re not always happy with the findings. When looking specifically at internal audits, the Healthcare Auditing and Revenue Integrity: 2021 Benchmarking and Trends Report from MDaudit found that more than 30% of the time, audit outcomes are unsatisfactory and have not met acceptable thresholds.
The biggest healthcare innovation in the last twenty years is … data. Every day, healthcare organizations use data to operate more efficiently, improve patient care, and advance medical research. Over the last 24 months, the industry used data to advance mRNA technology, which laid the groundwork for the COVID-19 vaccines, and even led to a new treatment for type-two diabetes.
The recent medical breakthroughs speak to the power of data and the vast potential it has to help improve lives. Unfortunately, as data becomes more valuable, the threats become more dire. As the attackers evolve, organizations need to take a holistic approach if they want to defeat the threats.
The Critical Risks to Healthcare Data
Ransomware is the leading risk. Sensitive data is a honey pot to cybercriminals, and because healthcare organizations maintain so much of it (i.e., medical records, patient forms, health insurance claims, provider and patient communication records, etc.) they are vulnerable targets.
Cyber attacks on healthcare organizations have become so frequent that 45 million people were directly affected in 2021. This summer, one of the largest healthcare cyber incidents to date struck more than 2 million patients across 50 facilities in an attack on Shields Health Care Group.
If the right systems aren’t in place, recovering after a cyber attack such as ransomware can be an exhausting process that takes weeks or months. Even more concerning, businesses are sometimes unable to fully restore data lost in an attack. Aside from productivity disruption, losing critical healthcare data could impact an organization’s ability to maintain its operations. If you are a hospital or healthcare provider – this could be catastrophic. Some often resort to paying large ransoms to resolve the issue, but this should never be the solution.
Changes in healthcare privacy laws will have significant consequences for medical practices. This summer, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) released a draft of its HIPAA Security Rule guidance, the first update since the guidance’s original landmark issuance in 2008.
It’s sorely needed.
According to a ClearDATA report on the state of cloud security in healthcare providers in 2022, there is a significant disparity in how healthcare leaders assess their organizations’ cloud-based cybersecurity health. Many healthcare providers mistakenly believe their cloud infrastructure is safe and secure when they actually fall well short of the minimum threshold for proper protection against an increasingly risky landscape.
So it’s unsurprising that 2021 saw healthcare organizations weathering the most data breaches since 2009. But with clear instructions and accountability from technology providers, healthcare organizations can protect themselves against cyberattacks.
The Responsibility of Each Healthcare Organization
Guidelines from the federal government are meaningless without careful compliance from each healthcare organization. It’s critical that you review how noncompliance can negatively affect an organization.
Because healthcare organizations may not be fined or directly punished, the potential fallout of noncompliance is easy to underestimate. But threats are everywhere and the chance of a cyberattack is likely. If you are not proactive, you will eventually leave yourself open to a breach — and that attack can come with dire financial consequences.
Organizations that remain vigilant, proactive, and in line with NIST’s updated HIPAA guidelines can lessen their vulnerability to cyberattacks. It requires an expenditure of resources, sure, but that cost should be seen as a critical investment in your organization’s viability and the privacy of your patient data.
With new threats and challenges emerging in the digital world every day, maintaining optimal IT security has become a daunting task for any organization. More than ever before, healthcare organizations are feeling the heat from regulators regarding cyber security. In this blog post, we look at some of the top healthcare IT security tips you should know to keep your organization safe from cyberattacks.
With more than one billion records being compromised every year, data privacy and protection is a topic that cannot be ignored anymore by any organization without risking its reputation significantly. Considering how many patient records are digitized these days, it’s not surprising that hackers are increasingly targeting healthcare companies with ransomware attacks or other ways to get access to confidential information.
Know Your Employees And Monitor Behavior
Healthcare organizations often deal with extremely sensitive data, and thus it’s important that your employees are aware of what information is private and what information can be shared publicly. It’s also important to keep an eye on how your employees are using their devices at work.
If you notice that someone is downloading files from the network that they shouldn’t be accessing, it might be an indication of malicious behavior. It’s also important to keep an eye on the devices your employees are using. If your organization has BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, it’s important to make sure that those devices are secured against malware or other threats.
Ensure Strong Passwords And Network Security
While there are many different ways for cybercriminals to break into your network, weak passwords remain a commonly exploited vulnerability. It’s important to make sure that your employees are using strong passwords containing a combination of letters, numbers, and symbols.
To avoid having to reset passwords on a regular basis, it’s a good idea to suggest the use of password managers. Another important network security tip is to implement two-factor authentication (2FA) for all critical systems. This will help to prevent unauthorized users from accessing sensitive data.
By Vinitha Ramnathan, senior vice president of product management, Episource.
Digital transformation is responsible for a lot of very promising innovations in healthcare. From telemedicine to AI-enabled medical devices to NLP-driven coding, technology is reshaping how patients interact with providers, how data is shared, how care decisions are made, and how population risk is managed.
But implementing new technology can be a tall order for such a complex and overburdened industry. Perhaps this is why only 7% of healthcare and pharma organizations surveyed said they had “gone digital.” As more healthcare organizations move into value-based care, embracing a digital mindset will be critical to meeting the ever-changing needs of patients — and that starts with data.
The Importance of Data
Like in any industry, health plans require large amounts of data to improve performance over time. However, data is only as valuable as the information that can be gleaned from it. Due to the explosion of healthcare data, it can be difficult for plans to put this valuable information to work. COVID-19 has exacerbated this problem, increasing telehealth visits 38 times over pre-pandemic levels. This trend is predicted to continue, as experts project that $265 billion in Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage care services will be done at home by 2025.
Partnering with a risk adjustment vendor can help health plans and risk-bearing providers see beyond the data weeds. Partnering with multiple vendors, however, can actually contribute to the problem, leading to siloes, disjointed workflows, and reduced visibility into key metrics.
To solve this, a growing number of healthcare leaders are streamlining workflows and replacing individual solutions from multiple vendors with a single, integrated tech stack. This platform approach can result in more accurate risk scores, reduced provider abrasion, and improved patient care. To help health plans do just that, we’ve outlined four key attributes to look for in a risk adjustment partner.
By Venkatgiri Vandali, president of healthcare, Firstsource.
A new generation of health insurers has appeared in recent years, gradually gaining momentum in key markets in part by claiming to offer a more modern, digital consumer experience.
The advent of these modern, tech-driven upstarts bodes well for members of plans new and old alike, who are looking for health insurers to finally begin to offer the levels of customer experience, personalization and convenience they have long experienced in other markets like finance and consumer goods.
Consumers clearly want and expect their health insurance provider to offer the same quality of experience they enjoy in other areas of their lives, and plans that can meet that expectation will enjoy a significant competitive advantage.
They are growing fast, expanding their coverage areas (Oscar has recently expanded to cover 22 states), and successfully creating the impression that they leverage modern technologies, process automation and business cultures in ways that traditional health insurers have not.
However, the reality is that their customer experience innovations have not been particularly sophisticated, and many of the advantages they claim today – such as adopting mobile first strategies for member engagement — can be replicated by incumbent plans.
In fact, large health plans have been moving quickly to adopt new, digital customer experience technologies and business process automation (BPA), and the small- to mid-sized plans are poised to follow suit. Cultural change will likely be the toughest area for traditional health plans to transform, but technology may have a role to play there as well.
IntelyCare, a healthcare workforce management platform in the United States, announces the launch ofThe IntelyHeart Foundation, a charitable not-for-profit organization. The IntelyHeart Foundation, with support from IntelyCare, will provide need-based grants to healthcare professionals who apply and meet established criteria.
IntelyCare intends to commit up to $2 million over the next two years to fund grants to those who need short-term financial assistance to help cover rent, mortgage payments, medical expenses, tuition, or other living expenses.
“Nursing professionals have some of the most difficult jobs around, and despite working long hours, often are not paid sufficiently to support their personal and professional goals,” said David Coppins, CEO and co-founder of IntelyCare. “We began our efforts in Q4 2021 to help bridge that gap by awarding over $500,000 in unrestricted grants to thousands of our IntelyPros. Now we wish to take it further by encouraging those who need some short-term assistance to apply for grants through our foundation.”
“Giving back to these workers is a key element in our focus on bettering the lives of healthcare workers,” said Joan Nevins, chair of the foundation’s board of directors. “We already offer IntelyPros flexible work assignments, professional benefits, and career training resources through IntelyEdu. With The IntelyHeart Foundation, we can now offer healthcare professionals a resource to turn to in time of need.”
The formal launch of The IntelyHeart Foundation is an extension of IntelyCare’s existing efforts to support healthcare professionals who are facing financial hardships. Last year, IntelyCare established a $500,000 fund to provide financial relief for healthcare professionals who were struggling during the holiday season and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. “Thank you very much for being there for us, and for showing us that you care,” said a CNA from Indiana, PA who received a grant from last year’s program. “We can’t thank you enough for being our inspiration and knowing that you really care about us.”
The application process for the first round of grants is open now. The Foundation expects to announce recipients in the fall of 2022, with subsequent application periods and awards.
