The Treatspace Referral Management Blog

Insight, ideas, and resources for high-performance referral management

Improving Operations and Reducing Workflow Burden with Automated Referral Management

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 6/1/17 6:28 PM

Automated-Gears.jpg

Inefficiencies in the patient referral process plague practices by increasing the administrative burden on providers and front-office staff. Internests and family practicioners dedicate nearly 20% of their time to administrative tasks1 while practice managers and medical receptionists can waste up to 30 minutes on the phone chasing down patient information2. According to a paper in the International Journal of Health Services, "more extensive use of electronic medical records [is] associated with a greater administrative burden."

Disconnected practices are struggling to exchange clinical information and communicate securely without interruptive phone calls and faxes. Referral partners on different EHRs are left with lackluster options, such as sending transitions of care and last office notes into a Direct Secure Messaging void with hopes of receiving a consult report back.

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Closed-Loop Referral Management, Referral Workflow, Referral Automation

The Evolving Landscape of Independent Primary Care

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 4/13/17 12:26 PM

Evolving-Landscape-1.jpeg

Independent primary and speciality care practices have challenging years ahead. MACRA, MIPS, APMs, and the ACA are posing uncertain regulations and complicated payment models.

Despite this uncertainty, there is one thing that’s clear: independent practices must prepare to take on risk in order to stay profitable.

We sat down with Mark Kissinger, executive director of Genesis Medical Associates, to get the inside scoop on the challenges a large independent primary care practice faces in a value-based care and regulatory-driven world.

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Care Coordination, Coordinated Care, Referral Network, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Value-Based Care

As Healthcare Digitizes, Medical Referrals Fall Far Behind

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 7/25/16 2:05 PM

paper-based-healthcare.jpg

Entirely paper-based healthcare is going the way of the dodo bird. Since 2008, the number of office-based physicians who have adopted electronic healthcare records (EHRs) has doubled from 40% to over 80%. In fact, the number of physicians using EHRs has actually quadrupled in the past 12 years.

Poorly handwritten prescriptions are no longer a problem for the 70% of physicians who now prescribe medications for their patients electronically. The advancement of e-prescribing has led to a reduction in medical errors and prevents fraud, such as opioid abuse.

In addition, telehealth is booming, robotic surgery is more common, and robots are even roaming the hallways of hospitals to deliver food and transport trash.

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Referral Network, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Closed-Loop Referrals, HIT

Referral Management Will Prevent More Than 20,000 Cases of Blindness Each Year

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 6/2/16 6:13 PM

diabetic-retinopathy.jpeg

The leading cause of blindness worldwide is diabetes. However, referral management makes a significant impact on saving the eyesight of diabetic patients. Most people who have diabetes for more than 20 years develop diabetic retinopathy1, a condition where elevated blood sugar damages the blood vessels inside the retina. Over 7.7 million American adults have diabetic retinopathy today and that number is expected to double by 2050. The condition affects almost 30% of the US diabetic population over the age of 402 and causes up to 24,000 new cases of blindness in the US each year.

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Coordinated Care, Healthcare Analytics, Referral Management, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Patient Adherence, Diabetic Eye Exam

The Government is Driving Referral Management and So Should You

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 5/24/16 10:15 AM

lincoln-continental-driving.jpeg

Updated February 2017

In almost every speech given in 2016, Andy Slavitt, the former Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has emphasised the priority of closing referral loops to strengthen patient care coordination.

Independent practices have less than a year to prepare for newly developed value-based care reimbursement guidelines. The option to test the quality payment program under MIPS and MACRA will no longer be in play beginning in 2018. In view of the challenging financial penalties of value-based payment, many practice leaders are struggling to find an efficient way to close referral loops.

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Referral Management, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Interoperability, Closed-Loop Referrals

High Performance Referral Management vs EHRs

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 5/11/16 5:30 PM

referral-management-vs-ehr.jpeg

It would be easier to coordinate team-based medical care on facebook rather than with EHR systems.

- John Halamka, CIO | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and co-chair of the federal HIT Standards Committee, at the HIMSS conference in March 20161

EHRs aren’t enough

A common misconception is that an electronic health record (EHR) can close referral loops and provide high-performance referral management for primary care practices. However, not long after EHRs were implemented, users quickly realized that EHRs alone are not able to establish a pipeline that allows data to flow between PCPs and specialists from different organizations.2

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Care Coordination, Healthcare Analytics, Referral Management, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Interoperability

Shared Accountability for Closed-Loop Referral Management

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 5/5/16 2:05 PM

shared-accountability.jpg

Accountability in health care often means that primary care practices are liable for the cost and quality of a patient’s care across the continuum of care. In the old, diminishing fee-for-service reimbursement system, practices were only reimbursed based on actions within their own office.

Now, in new reimbursement models like ACOs, PCMHs, risk-based contracting, and alternative payment models, shared accountability is king.

“The idea that you are accountable for what happens after people leave your office is no longer just a philosophical discussion. It's dollars and cents.”1

CONTINUE READING


Topics: Referral Management, Closed-Loop Referral Management, Provider Accountability, Value-Based Care