Author Archives: Dinesh Raman

Rising popularity of CCM – Common Chronic Diseases In The USA

Chronic illness rates are increasing year by year and are taking a toll on the nation’s population. Serious chronic diseases like stroke, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, etc. are one of the leading cause of increased death rate in the country. More than 75% of healthcare spending is on people with chronic conditions. Beyond any statistics, medication non-adherence is a poor clinical outcome and overcoming this is another great challenge. Thus, doing more to take care of the population health is crucial.

Even today, we witness patients suffering from poor access to healthcare and it is continuing to increase. So improving quality of life for people with chronic disease is vital and is an epidemic in the USA. Simultaneously, the burden of multiple chronic illnesses is also increasing rapidly. In one of the recent release, it is noted that two-thirds of Medicare patients have two or more chronic conditions; another one-third have four or more.  The growing impact of this condition is placing a huge economic demand on the nation. Utmost care has to be taken to address this growing condition, and addressing it will not only reduce cost but also increase the quality of life.  Taking steps towards better health and using care more effectively is a need today.

Chronic Care Management is a boon to both the providers and the patients. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken a lot of new initiatives to raise awareness of the benefits of Chronic Care Management. This initiative offers family physicians and other healthcare specialists the support they need to implement Chronic Care Management in their practice. It is all about providing care to patients with chronic illness through a framework for embracing healthy life, improving patient health and increasing revenue.

The prime goal of CCM is to improve care quality through remote monitoring and managing patient health conditions better by creating care individual care plans for each of the patients for achieving better health outcomes.

Chronic Care Management promises the below

  • Continuity of care by the provider.
  • Individual care plan for patients.
  • 24/7 access to healthcare.
  • Assessment of patient health records, patient-generated health data.
  • Access patient health information at regular intervals.
  • A secure electronic platform to share patient information and care plans
  • Managing care transitions

Apart from this Chronic Care Management includes non-face-to-face care management and care coordination. The transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment has a huge impact in the healthcare industry. And the CCM billing model makes it possible by getting paid for the time and effort the care team invests in their patients. It is evident that this is benefitting both the patient and the provider. CCM has gained in traction through the value the physicians bring in by delivering continuous and connected healthcare. For the past many years, physicians have helped patients over the phone but never got paid for it. But now with the introduction of Chronic Care Management (CCM) by Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this has been resolved. Patients can elect one physician to take care of their CCM program. The elected CCM physician or provider must establish, implement, revise, or monitor and manage an electronic care plan that addresses the physical, mental, psychosocial, functional, and environmental needs of the patient as well as maintain an inventory of resources and supports that the patient needs. Thus, the practice must use a certified EHR to bill CCM codes. The CPT CPT codes 99490 and 99487, and the add-on CPT code 99489 is a new source of revenue for the physicians’ and other care providers.

And it is no surprise that CCM is gaining popularity among all the care providers, physicians, and patients. Schedule a demo with us to know more about HealthViewX – Chronic Care Management Solution

5 Benefits of Referral Management Software

The healthcare landscape is changing rapidly. As the industry shifts towards value-based care, it helps healthcare providers to focus on delivering high-quality care and making their care delivery efficient. But the current healthcare system has several other challenges, that include:

  • Protecting patient information from data/ security breaches
  • Ensuring the sending and receiving of care plans through a secured communication channel, maintaining confidentiality
  • Directing patients to the right specialist to ensure better outcomes

All these problems can be addressed with a help of referral management tool.

A referral management system is a unique and powerful tool designed for care providers to keep track of their patient referrals throughout the care continuum. The ultimate mantra of this tool is to refer patients to the right specialist at the right time. This tool helps to improve and streamline communication amongst primary care physicians (PCPs), specialists, and any other members involved in a patient’s care.

So, how does referral work on the ground today?

Some quick statistics on traditional referral processes and adoption draw up a sorry picture:

  • According to the Archives of Internal Medicine, only 50% of referrals result in a scheduled appointment.
  • The Journal of General Internal Medicine says, 70% of specialists are not receiving clinical information before seeing the patient.
  • The Journal of the American College of Physicians says, 30% of missed or delayed diagnoses are due to miscommunication.

An electronic referral management solution can help address some of the problems outlined above and the points below can help you build a case for why you should immediately consider adopting a referral management system for your practice:

#1 Better communication

50% of physicians agree that there is a gap in communication once a referral is made. HealthViewX referral solution has two-way scheduler integration that makes the process simple and efficient.

Our referral software, also allows physicians and specialists to share patient-related information or request for more information when required. The system also allows specialists to share the treatment details and results of diagnosis with other PCPs.

#2 Multi-Channel Integration

Healthcare practices receive referrals via varied media including fax, phone calls, and emails. Tracking and managing these referrals across these various sources proves difficult for providers. Employing a single unified dashboard will help providers to gather information from all sources to one place that helps in achieving better control of the entire process.

Our tool can integrate with any EMR system, so providers can gather information and update their records in seconds.

#3 Manage and Track referrals

An actionable dashboard will help providers identify patterns in referrals and ensure that schedules and appointments are managed better. With a referral management system in place, providers can also track every individual patient’s referral status.

Our referral software will notify all members involved in the referral process about an upcoming appointment. This keeps patients and physicians informed about their meeting and helps providers ensure follow through on their referrals.

#4 Meaningful Engagement

Our referral software allows providers, physicians and patients to access patient records through a secure network from anywhere, anytime. It sends meeting reminders to patient and specialists, allows patients to connect virtually with their physicians, and enables instant communication between patient and specialist on a single tap.

#5 More effective diagnosis and treatment

Quicker referrals mean quicker diagnosis and access to treatment. Our referral solution allows PCPs to choose the specialists from a preloaded list of specialists and helps direct patients to the most suitable specialist. It provides timely updates on patient health status and notifies any breach of preset thresholds that enabling instantaneous or emergency care, where required.

Our Referral Management Solution is HIPAA compliant and can monitor referral progress that helps providers and healthcare institutions to track down all the information involved in a referral process and helps facilities to keep revenue within their system.