Optimizing the healthcare system to improve treatment outcomes and reduce health costs requires patient engagement, the process by which individuals become more active participants in their own health. Despite this, most healthcare organizations lack a patient engagement strategy, preventing patients from fully benefiting from available resources, such as patient education materials, care plan management tools and more.

Patient engagement has become increasingly important, particularly to health organizations transitioning to a fee-for-value payment model and to those participating in Meaningful Use. The goals of both are to improve care quality and the patient experience while reducing the cost of care.

• Fee-for-value: If your organization plans on transitioning to a value-based payment model, whether by joining an ACO, a shared savings program or a different type of organization that incentivizes value over volume, patient engagement will be key. Engaged patients are more likely to follow care plans, achieve health goals and have better treatment outcomes, which means they are also less likely to need hospitalization.
• Meaningful Use: In order to successfully attest for Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use program, providers must get more than 5 percent of their patients to do the following: use secure electronic messaging to communicate with the provider on relevant health information; and view online, download or transmit their health information. With a well-designed patient engagement strategy, organizations can accomplish these goals and create more activated patients in the process.

Leveraging a Patient Portal for Patient Engagement

It is imperative, now more than ever, for organizations to actively promote engagement and implement technologies that facilitate patient-provider collaboration. However, many organizations struggle with this due to the fact that they lack resources for engagement or are unsure of where to start.

One easy way to jump-start an engagement strategy is to implement a patient portal and encourage patients to use it. Patient portal software makes communication easier (patients can send secure messages to their provider at any time), it gets patients thinking about their health outside the doctor’s office (they can access care plans and track vitals), and it contributes to overall satisfaction (patients can schedule appointments easily, request medication refills and pay their bills). It is also a tool that patients are ready and willing to use.

The EHR Incentive Program has been around for several years now, and few healthcare providers are unfamiliar with Meaningful Use and all it entails. The program main draw is the stimulus payments that physicians can qualify for each year by successfully adopting, implementing, upgrading or demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology.

Starting this year, qualifying for incentive payments requires using 2014 Edition certified software. This means that physicians must attest to Meaningful Use using an EHR solution that has proven through extensive testing that it is capable of supporting requirements for both Stage 1 and 2, including electronic health information exchange, interoperability and patient engagement.

In order to accommodate physicians whose EHR vendors have not yet achieved Stage 2 certification, CMS and the ONC decided that in 2014 only all Meaningful Use participants will report for just 90 days – regardless of whether the physician is in their first year of Stage 1 or already getting started on Stage 2. This means that healthcare professionals can begin their Meaningful Use reporting this year as late as October 1, 2014. Physicians are warned, however, not to wait until the last minute to get started.

1st Providers Choice understands physicians’ concerns, and we want our users to start the reporting process early. That’s why we worked hard to get certified for Stage 2. Our EHR software and Patient Healthcare Portal solution are both 2014 ONC Stage 2 Certified, allowing physicians to start their 90-day reporting period immediately.

To help you achieve your goals, we assign a Meaningful Use expert to your practice. They guide you through the reporting process and show you how to use the EHR’s Meaningful Use dashboard to keep track of your progress. Our trainers also work with you to go over using drug formularies, setting up lab interfaces, e-prescribing controlled substances, and using the patient portal to achieve Meaningful Use.

Our patient portal makes it easy for physicians to meet the following patient engagement requirements:

• Provide online access to health information to more than 50% of all unique patients (who were seen by you during the reporting period) within 4 business days.
• Have 5% of all unique patients view their health information online, download it, or transmit it to a third party.
• Have 5% of unique patients (who were seen by you during the reporting period) send you a secure message.

1st Providers Choice has also made the necessary upgrades to ensure our EHR is up to date and our Practice Management software is ready for ICD-10. We have already begun testing our software with insurance payers and clearing houses to ensure a smooth transition to ICD-10 for hospitals and physician practices.

Interested in learning more about fully certified EHR software? Call 480-782-1116 today!

The Arizona Osteopathic Medical Association (AOMA) will be hosting its 92nd annual convention next month, from April 9-13 in Scottsdale, Arizona – and 1st Providers Choice is attending to showcase their Family Medicine EHR software. The 1st Providers team had tremendous success at last year’s meeting, and we are excited to meet with doctors again this year.

1st Providers Choice understands the unique challenges that osteopaths face, especially when it comes to clinical documentation. That’s why we have designed an EHR that is easy to use and that can adapt to the requirements of this specialty. In fact, our EHR software allows osteopaths and family medicine health professionals to provide more accurate and efficient care to patients, all the while reducing costs.

With tools like e-prescribing, patient portal integration, lab tracking, appointment reminders and more, 1st Providers Choice’s EHR is the ideal choice for osteopathic medicine providers. To learn more about our EHR software, find our booth at the AOMA convention, speak with a member of our team, and view a free demo.

In addition to hosting EHR vendors and other software exhibitors, the AOMA conference will cover a variety of topics ranging from personalized medicine to obesity basic medical treatment. To see a full schedule of events at the AOMA meeting, click here.

Adopting EHR software can modify provider workflow and charting processes. This means that healthcare professionals must strategically implement the new technology in order to provide high quality care without affecting productivity. What providers often fail to take into account, however, is that patients must also get used to the EHR’s presence in the exam room. Therefore, providers must implement the software in a way that does not affect patient satisfaction.

Here are a few ways that physicians can use their EHR software to improve the doctor-patient relationship.

Use the Chart View screen to review the patient’s medical history. Doing so before entering the exam room will allow you to interact with the patient straightaway without having to go straight to the computer. 1st Providers Choice’s Chart View menu provides physicians with important patient information, such as:

• Problem list
• Chronic conditions
• Past and current medications
• Patient allergies
• Family and social histories

Engage the patient in the visit by explaining how the EHR software is being used. Though most patients aren’t wary of what their doctor is doing, too much time spent typing can make the visit feel impersonal and the patient feel neglected. Instead of having the patient wait while you send out a prescription electronically or transmit a lab order through the EHR, involve them in the process and show them what you are doing. After you type visit notes into the EHR, let the patient know that they can view their visit summaries through your practice’s online patient healthcare portal.

Make sure your computer is positioned in a way that is easy for the patient to view. This is critical if you plan to show the patient test results in the EHR or demonstrate how an e-prescription is sent. It is also important in order to prevent the computer from becoming an obstacle that hinders free-flowing communication. Instead of positioning your EHR-enabled computer on a desk between you and the patient, put it somewhere that the patient can easily see.

To learn more about our EHR software solutions and how they can benefit your practice, call 480-782-1116 or contact us online.