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Four Reasons eClinicalWorks® Providers Should Be Using EFT

In the past, many providers opted to not accept payment via an electronic funds transfer (EFT) because the lack of guidelines governing the process often led to delayed transactions and more administration time to match payments and claims. However, under the Affordable Care Act new standards for EFT transactions began to be enforced in January 2014, turning EFT into the preferred payment method for many providers. Are you reaping the benefits of EFT?

  1. Decrease administrative time. EFT payments are quick and easy to match with outstanding claims. Each payment has a reassociation number that easily identifies it for accounting purposes, a feature unique to EFT transactions.
  2. Get paid faster. The new standards have eliminated delays in EFT transactions, making this method faster than paper checks and credit card payments. The funds are available as quickly as making a deposit into your banking account.
  3. Get greater security. Checks and credit card numbers are often the targets of fraud. EFT transactions are secure, and the legislation requires compliance with HIPAA privacy standards.
  4. Save money. EFT transactions are significantly cheaper than other forms of payment, costing only an average of 34 cents per transaction. According to the US Healthcare Efficiency Index Report, providers will save around $1.50 per transaction by choosing EFT over checks and $10 or more per transaction for using EFT over wire transfers or credit cards. The Department of Health and Human Services estimates practices and hospitals could save up to $4.5 billion over the next decade by using EFT.

Any office manager knows the problems that are created when reassociation and reconciliation management issues occur. EFT is just one strategy providers are using to manage the billing process more efficiently. eClinicalWorks® providers have the benefit of a comprehensive practice management system. Manage your workflow from patient check-in to the claims and billing process through one platform. Let EMR Billing Solutions help you get the most out of eClinicalWorks®.

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eClinicalWorks® Revenue Cycle Management: Helping Meet the Challenge of High Deductible Plans

The medical billing arena is seeing massive changes in 2015. While having more patients with health insurance is a positive step, many health leaders are concerned about the number of patients that purchased high deductible plans through state and federal marketplaces. Their decisions were often made because these plans have the lowest upfront cost. However, many do not have a thorough understanding of how the plans work. Essentially, high-deductible plans place more accountability on the patient. Unfortunately, self-pay can often lead to greater risk for the provider, significantly impacting collections and billing. How can providers meet this challenge?

Patient Education

Providers are often left with the burden of explaining health plans to their patients. Medical offices are finding that patients made health plan decisions based on the monthly premium cost. However, they don’t quite understand how it works. In their defense, many plans are complicated, having deductible components, co-pay provisions and services that are covered via co-insurance. It’s difficult for them to understand their financial responsibility and they often look to the provider to explain. Providers are finding it benefits them to be proactive in providing education. It’s better to deal with a thankful patient than one that is irate later. Providers are also coming up with payment plans for patients with high deductible plans.

Use eClinicalWorks® to Meet Challenges

Proactive patient education makes sense, but many offices struggle to find the staff time to dedicate to patient advocacy. EMR Billing Solutions helps your office utilize eClinicalWorks® to make the education and billing process as efficient as possible. When you subscribe to our PLUS service, we become your billing department. Patients call a dedicated number that goes directly to our staff, professionally trained billers that can answer questions about co-pays, deductibles and all the details on the patient invoice. Our staff is committed to spending the time necessary to help each patient understand his or her obligation. In fact, we don’t wait for the patient to call us. If payment is not received within 14 days, we call the patient to confirm they received the invoice and answer any questions they have.

Let EMR Billings Solutions help your office through this challenging time of health care reform by using eClinicalWorks® revenue cycle management. Contact our experts to learn more.

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eClinicalWorks® Practice Management News: Does HIPAA Allow Providers to Charge Patients for Access to Their EMR?

For many years, patients have paid a fee for copies of their medical records. These fees are often in the form of a flat rate or a per page charge. Some providers simply use their state’s fee for public records requests, which is usually $1 per page. However, in light of the emergence of Electronic Medical Records (EMR), is it really fair to continue to charge the same fee that was previously applied to paper records? More importantly, are traditional fees in line with HIPAA requirements?

What Does HIPAA Say?

HIPAA allows providers to charge patients a “reasonable, cost-based fee” for obtaining their medical records. This is not new verbiage. However, the definition of “reasonable, cost-based fee” has changed somewhat now that the Affordable Care Act has required EMR conversion. Simply put, providers can’t charge an unreasonable rate for medical records. What’s reasonable? That is up for debate. One dollar per page doesn’t seem unreasonable when you consider the administrative time to find and send records. However, if you are a patient with a chronic condition, you may have hundreds of pages of medical records. In this case, is charging such a high rate to transfer electronic records to the patient “reasonable?”

Survey Says Most Providers Stick to Old Fees

The American Health Information Management Association recently surveyed health care providers about their fee structure for obtaining medical records. Fifty-three percent charge patients for electronic copies of their medical records and 65 percent charge for paper copies. Sixty-five percent charge less than $1 per page and 24 percent follow their state’s public records fee, which is usually $1 per page. Are these providers in compliance with HIPAA? That question has not been specifically addressed. However, if an office follows state public records rates or the same rate they used to charge for pulling manual paper records, are they really basing the fee on their actual cost?

In light of EMR conversion, it is likely we’ll see some discussion on just what constitutes a “reasonable” fee in the future. For now, it would be advisable for providers to evaluate the fees they charge patients for medical records. Are the fees based on the actual cost to the practice? eClinicalWorks® provides the perfect platform for easy access to patient records, reducing the administrative time required and actual cost for providers. Examine this topic as part of your eClinicalWorks® practice management strategy.

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What is eclinicalworks ® and How Does it Work?

The name, eclinicalworks ® is gaining much popularity, it seems to be heard over, and again, still many people are asking, what is eClinicalWorks ®? With growing popularity, this company now services more than 100,000 different providers across the United States, and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace.

eClinicalWorks ® is a company that sells electronic medical record (EMR), practice management (PM) and personal health record (PHR) software and services to health care providers.

Benefits of the eClinicalWorks ® system include:

Integrated Modules: Modules let providers review patient histories, past visits, current medications, allergies, labs and diagnostic tests while also managing patient accounts and verifying eligibility for services. Thanks to this integrated module, patients have more control over their health care than ever before, and there is no longer a need to pick up the phone and call the office; with benefits such as, requesting prescription refills, sending messages to their physicians, and viewing their lab results, and appointment reminders.

Mobile Browser: eClinicalWorks ® also offers a  mobile browser that health care providers can access using a smart phone and an embedded messaging service based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). These features compliment our on-the-go way of living.

Because of the amazing benefits of eClinicalWorks ®, it is changing the way healthcare is done, for the better. Health care providers, and their customers are much happier using this system.

For more information on eClinicalWorks ® and how it can benefit your practice, please contact EMR Billing Solutions. We would be delighted to help you make your business better, and add to the lives of your patients.

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Should You Hire a Billing Employee asks EclinicalWorks® Specialist?

It was fine when you were first starting out: your office manager could handle billing and tend to her other duties. But now that you’re more established, you seem to be seeing new patients every day and your employee is feeling overwhelmed. Is it time to hire an employee just to take care of the money?

  • You need to make sure you can afford one. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a medical biller averages $37,710 per year, or $18.13 per hour. You can probably hire one for under $22,700 annually, or $10.91 hourly. But if you want quality performance, you may have to pay over $57,320 a year, or $27.56 an hour.
  • Employee expenses don’t end there. You have to cover taxes, insurance, disability, and any benefits you choose to provide. That easily increases the cost of an employee by 30 percent or more.
  • Either you or your office manager must spend time training, managing, and motivating the new biller. When this new employee calls in sick or is on vacation, who takes care of his responsibilities? If the number of patients increases, do you spend the money and time on another billing employee, or overwhelm your office manager with additional tasks.

A more convenient and cost-effective solution is to hire a billing service. Through eClinicalWorks®Electronic Medical Record, we take care of everything from managing the bills to handling customer inquiries. We can also easily cope with any increases in patient load. Why don’t you contact us to see how we can help you.

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Study Has eCW EMR Users Questioning the Future of Patient Engagement

Patient engagement is a buzzword often used in accord with Electronic Medical Record (EMR) software. A proactive, interactive approach is an integral part of new health care models brought about by the Affordable Care Act and new guidelines within HIPAA legislation. HIPAA mandates that patients have the right to restrict certain medical records from third-party distribution. In theory, that means if an insurance company or another physician requests medical records from a health care provider, the patient has the right to say he or she wants part of the record restricted. However, a recent study shows the importance of balancing patient engagement with quality care. The research, led by the Regenstrief Institute in partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine and Eskenazi Health, is raising concerns about just how far patient engagement, specifically access, should go. How much access should patients get to their medical records? Consider the study’s findings.

The Trial

The study included a six-month trial of 105 patients that were part of a Eskenazi primary care clinic. The participants were granted patient controlled access to their EMR, meaning they could choose what information their doctors were able to access. Almost 50 percent admitted they hid certain information from some or all of their providers. The data most commonly blocked from physicians was dealing with sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse or mental health. For the trail, providers were able to override patient preferences and view the information the patient blocked.

Mixed Feelings

Providers had mixed feelings about the trial. Some felt privacy laws give patients the right to control their EMR, even if that means hiding information. However, these physicians admitted that patients need to understand hiding information can have dangerous consequences. Other doctors “strongly objected” to patients having this authority. They expressed concern about patient care and physician liability if improper care was the result of insufficient data. Other providers expressed concern that patients may not reveal sensitive data at all if they do not have the right to choose which providers have access to it.

The transition to EMR is happening rapidly and there’s no doubt the technology will continue to evolve. Physicians can count on EMR Billing Solutions to keep up with the latest research and legislation to provide the most efficient, user-friendly system available. Let our experts help your office get the most out of eClinicalWorks® (eCW).

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Are Your Patients Using the eClinicalWorks® healow® App?

As physician offices transition to electronic medical records (EMR), many are outlining strategies to get their patients more engaged and proactive in their medical care. healow®, short for Health and Online Wellness, is a platform offered by eClinicalWorks® that does just that. eClinicalWorks® invested $25 million in the healow® business unit in 2013. “It’s about patients having access and information to make the right decisions and make them consumers of care,” explained Girish Kumar Navani, CEO and co-founder of eClinicalWorks®. Is your office using this valuable tool? If so, are your patients taking advantage of its benefits? Consider some of the perks.

  • Track patient wellness. The healow® app allows physicians to remotely monitor medical devices such as pedometers, blood pressure cuffs and glucose monitors. Data automatically uploads to the patient’s record for the physician to review. In addition, healow® allows patients to set wellness goals, track their progress and look at personal trends. This data is shared with the physician so he or she can monitor patient progress.
  • Greater patient access. Patients can access their medical records anytime via the Internet or phone, providing access to lab results, medications, immunizations, allergy information, financial statements and much more. Settings also allow designated family members to access data for those they care for. It’s important to note that healow® allows physicians full authority over which data patients are allowed to access.
  • Collaboration between physicians. healow® interacts with eClinicalWorks®’ Join the Network platform, which enables physicians to share health records even when one of the practices uses another EMR provider. Patients can also simply bring their complete data on their phone to a new provider via the healow® platform.
  • Save administrative time. Patient access means fewer disruptions for administrative staff. Patients can make appointments, order medication refills, check lab results and review physician directives through their healow® app.

A 2013 survey of physicians conducted by eClinicalWorks® found that 93 percent of doctors favor having a mobile health app that connects to EMRs. Ninety-three percent also felt that mobile health apps improve patient outcomes. Is your office utilizing this platform and actively encouraging patients to use the app? Let EMR Billing Solutions show you how healow® can be a key part of your patient engagement strategy.

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eClinicalWorks® Practice Management – Helping to Meet “Meaningful Use” Core Objectives

As more and more small practices are working to achieve Meaningful Use status for their offices, the right Electronic Health Records system is key. One of the most successful in meeting these objectives is eClinicalWorks®, helping a practice along every step of the way, from tracking information about a patient when they walk in the door, to being able to provide electronic records to the patient at their request.

Users of this system are able to electronically record, edit, and look up patient demographic information.  This is helpful in order to determine a patient’s preferred language, emergency contact, and preferred method of contact at the touch of a button.  Keeping track of all Meaningful Use data is easier with the eClinicalWorks® system as well, as notifications appear for the front office if there is data missing from a patient’s records.

In order to maintain current information about all of the prescriptions a patient is taking, all of the potential interactions, and to help make the order entry of new prescriptions even easier, eClinicalWorks® integrates a link to the Medi-Span® database.  This promotes a more clear record of all medications in the patient’s history.

eClinicalWorks® also allows for e-prescriptions to be generated. By being able to submit a prescription directly to the pharmacy, records are clear on both ends of the path, without handwriting and interpretation getting in the way.

There are a number of other ways in which eClinicalWorks® helps to achieve a Meaningful Use status as well. And beyond the direct benefits of the system itself, billing solutions are available for eClinicalWorks®. Staff can continue to focus on giving the best services to patients, keeping records as clean as possible, and allow someone else to handle the invoicing.

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What is eClinicalWorks®?

Since EMR Billing Solutions’ focus is providing expert service to eClinicalWorks® users, a common question of the unacquainted is: what is eClinicalWorks®? eClinicalWorks® is an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) that is a leader in modern clinical solutions. It provides electronic practice management, medical record and personal health record software and services to numerous health care providers and is used by over 600,000 health care professionals.

What does eClinicalWorks® do?

The eClinicalWorks® technology expands the use of electronic health records beyond individual networks and creates community-wide records. The eClinicalWorks® modules can be purchased individually or collectively, and they are available as either onsite deployments or as subscription based on-demand software. Once integrated, the modules allow health care providers to view records of patient histories, past visits, medications, allergies, and more. The software also manages patient accounts and uses patient records to verify eligibility for certain services. It also gives the patients a closer connection with their physicians and other healthcare providers. Patients can use it to request prescription refills, message their physicians and view scheduled appointments and lab results.

What are the benefits of eClinicalWorks®?

Using eClinicalWorks® has many benefits for both health care providers and their patients. A few of these benefits are:

  • Increased Productivity
  • Better Communication
  • Convenience

eClinicalWorks® helps increase productivity by organizing each patient’s complete records in one easily accessible space, which helps speed up every day activities by decreasing the time spent searching for records. Having all patient records in one shared place allows for easier communication between health care practices and patients can also use it to directly communicate with health care professionals. Convenience is another benefit of eClinicalWorks® because everything is organized into one program. eClinicalWorks® even offers a mobile browser so that users can access it on their smartphone quickly and conveniently.

In short, eClinicalWorks® is a records software for healthcare professionals that allows for increased productivity, better communication, and more conveniently available records. For more information about eClinicalWorks® visit their website here. For more information about the services related to eClinicalWorks® that EMR Billing Solutions provides contact us.

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Specializations in eClinicalWorks® billing service

Small medical practices are always striving to make the bottom line of their financial statements more secure in today’s economy, and one way of doing so is to put more staffing energy on providing excellent care to their patients. However, the money still has to be coming in order to pay the bills of payroll, rent, utilities, insurance and other expenses. In order to meet both of these needs, smaller offices might want to start researching services such as those provided by EMR Billing Solutions.

EMR Billing Solutions focuses all of their services on one key program, that of eClinicalWorks®. By specializing in one program, EMR Billing Solutions is able to give one of the best rates available of any service provider in billing and collections. For example, for a rate of just 3%, EMR Billing Solutions will provide all initial billing services for a small medical practice.  This will allow the staff employed by the practice to focus on the matters that keep the patients the most satisfied… shorter waiting times, more attentive practitioners, and bigger smiles.

Adding a small piece to the fee will allow EMR Billing Solutions to take over the telephoned questions as well regarding the statements that are sent to the patient’s home.  This furthers the work that can be done in the practice in order to provide the best service to the patients. The medical practice can focus on providing medical care and services while the EMR Billing Solutions staff can focus on what they are best at – billing and reminders of the accounts.

Just as doctors find their specialty, EMR Billing Solutions has found their specialization, too.  The eClinicalWorks® unified electronic medical record and practice management system is one of the top systems in the field today, and EMR Billing Solutions has focused on this one system in order to provide the best service to small practices.

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