The Treatspace Referral Management Blog

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

The Evolving Landscape of Independent Primary Care

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

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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.

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

It's Ridiculous That Health Records Systems Don't Talk To Each Other

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 2/10/17 10:53 AM

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Former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden both care a great deal about digital health technology systems. Even when they had less than two weeks left in the White House, physicians' ability to share patient health records digitally was top of mind — and on the same day, too!

According to Politico’s Morning eHealth newsletter, it was “the first time since the gods called this newsletter into existence [that] President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden both talked on the same day about health IT”.

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Topics: Coordinated Care, Referral Network, Interoperability, HIT, Healthcare Data, Care Transitions

Why Web-Based Referral Management Leads to More Patient Visits

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 2/9/17 11:06 AM

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The traditional patient referral process is broken. Its primary shortcomings - poor communication and follow-up - have far-reaching consequences.

Consider these stats: Only half of referrals result in a completed appointment, according to the Archives of Internal Medicine. The Journal of General Internal Medicine found that, while 70% of PCPs report sending information to specialists, only 32% of specialists receive clinical information before seeing the patient. An Archives of Internal Medicine study shows that PCPs report not receiving consult reports about 40% of the time; and when reports are sent, the Journal of General Internal Medicine adds, they arrive at least seven days after the patient visit in 64% of cases.

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Topics: Referral Network, Referral Management, Patient Adherence

8 Traits That Make a Referral Partner Great

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 1/23/17 9:32 AM

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A critical, but often-overlooked, aspect of the referral process is cultivating provider partnerships that facilitate referrals and enhance the continuum of care. The continued emphasis on value-based care will result in increasing numbers of physicians working together to coordinate care, especially for patients with chronic conditions. While the traditional referral system is generally regarded as inadequate, best practices can help you optimize working relationships with collaborating physicians.

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Topics: Referral Network, Referral Management

Why PCPs and Specialists are Focusing on Automated Referral Workflow in 2017

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 1/3/17 5:10 PM

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Relationships between PCPs and specialists are sacred. On average, a single PCP is connected to 68 specialists. However, lack of electronic connectivity makes it difficult to coordinate care and manage referrals—apart from hiring additional administrative staff.

Without patient referrals from PCP to specialist, it is estimated that only half as many patients would show up to their specialty care appointment1. Furthermore, “self-referral” patients who see specialists without recommendation from a PCP are associated with higher patient dissatisfaction and poorer continuity of care with the primary care doctor2. As PCPs refer more patients to specialists each year, coordinated care and automated referral workflow become an urgent issue for both independent and hospital-based practices.

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Topics: Care Coordination, Referral Network, Referral Adherence, Referral Workflow

6 Advantages of an Electronic Referral Network in Care Coordination

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 12/27/16 4:16 PM

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With coordination of care a major aspect of healthcare delivery, mistakes in the process lead to patient dissatisfaction or possibly worse. An excess of frustration in a patient's experience often leads them to pursue other primary care options. Fortunately, the emergence of electronic referral management technology can reduce errors significantly when referring to network specialists. The advantages of an electronic referral network can be seen and measured within those HCOs that adopted them early. As medical enterprises continue to implement the systems, better care coordination and happier patients will be the result.

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Topics: Coordinated Care, Referral Network, EHR

As Healthcare Digitizes, Medical Referrals Fall Far Behind

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

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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.

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

Why Direct is a Lousy and Unproductive Black Hole for Referral Management

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 6/30/16 1:47 PM

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DSM is antiquated, backwards, and “meaningless work for meaningful use” - Physician testimony | ONC HIT Policy Committee

“ONC’s new ‘interoperability roadmap’ downplays the potential of Direct messaging” as a solution for interoperability - Medical Economics

Contrary to what some electronic health record (EHR) proponents believe, DSM (Direct secure messaging) by itself is an unpopular and ineffective solution when it comes to true interoperability, care coordination and referral management. It has almost no practical benefit for referral management beyond what primary care practices use it for right now: getting credit for Meaningful Use stage 2.

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Topics: Referral Network, Referral Management, Direct secure messaging, DSM

Referral Management Risk: Beyond the EHR for Primary Care Practices

Posted by Jeremy Guttman on 2/17/16 3:10 PM

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A tsunami of change is shifting the healthcare reimbursement system towards value-based care.

As a result of legislation passed in 2015, called MACRA, Medicare is supercharging its emphasis on value-based payments and the first performance year will be 2017. As a result, the way medical practices manage referrals will impact their revenue.

“Providers that hope to succeed under the new payment methodology need to begin making changes now.“
- Dave Wofford | Healthcare Financial Management Association

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Topics: Coordinated Care, Referral Network, Referral Management

Care Coordination is Broken and You Can Fix It

Posted by Christian Kratsas on 11/12/15 1:07 PM

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Care coordination is complex. Interoperability is far from reach. Patient information is difficult to track, especially when primary care physicians and specialists utilize different EHR systems. You need to stay competitive and make faster, smarter decisions. You want to fix these challenges, but you can’t because you don’t have the resources.

EHRs and practice management systems have referral order capability but are transactional and not built for true closed loop referral management. There is a difference between tracking and managing your patient referrals. So how are you going to manage health populations and improve patient care?

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Topics: Coordinated Care, Healthcare Analytics, Referral Network