Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Telemedicine in the time of COVID-19: The Rules Are Changing

It seems like yesterday that tech enthusiasts were complaining that too few physicians were embracing telemedicine, and doctors who did use telemedicine were complaining about how hard it was to get paid for it. That’s just one more thing coronavirus changed in an instant. According to a recent survey by the physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins, almost half of all physicians are now treating patients via telemedicine. That’s up from 18 percent in 2018. Meanwhile, CMS is relaxing the rules about what they will pay for.


If you’re new to practicing virtually, here are some tips for making telemedicine work for you—and getting paid for it.


Pick Your Platform


The first decision you face once you’ve decided to practice telemedicine is which platform to use. And as it has done with almost every other aspect of life, the coronavirus has changed this, too. The Office for Civil Rights has relaxed some of the HIPAA requirements for telehealth. However, that doesn’t mean anything goes. “CMS is still guarded about platforms to use,” says Veronica Bradley, CPC, CPMA, Senior Industry Advisor with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). “You can use Facetime and Facebook Messenger, but you can’t use Tik Tok or Facebook Live. Basically any kind of public facing program is not OK.”


Other aspects of HIPAA regulations remain in place. “Even though the use of non-HIPAA compliant platforms has been loosened, HIPAA rules should be followed as closely as possible,” advises Carol Self, coding and compliance strategist with the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). “Medical conversations should take place in a private space, and communication should be patient authorized and patient initiated.”

It’s also important to keep in mind that these relaxed guidelines are temporary. “You’ll need to use a service that’s HIPAA compliant once the public emergency is over,” says Bradley.

The AAFP does not recommend or endorse any particular platform, but products their members use include doxy.me, eVisit, SimpleVisit, VSee, MEND, and Spruce Health. Both Zoom and Google now have health care platforms as well. The AAFP suggests helpful features to look for when choosing a telemedicine vendor are out-of-office messaging, the ability to schedule appointments, and the ability to queue up patients. Bradley also recommends choosing a platform that can be integrated with your electronic health records system.

Code it Carefully


Once you’re up and running with a telemedicine platform, whether it’s an ad hoc solution or something more permanent, you need to make sure you get paid for these visits. Fortunately, CMS is also loosening restrictions about how much they will pay and what they will pay for. “Medicare previously paid telehealth services at parity, but it was at the lower facility rate,” says Self. “As part of the flexibilities granted during the public health emergency, Medicare will pay telehealth visits at parity using the non-facility rate.”

In addition, CMS is not enforcing the established relationship rule, and services can be provided to Medicare beneficiaries by phone (even without video capability) during this time.

But in order to get paid at all, you must be sure to use the proper codes. “If you don’t bill with the correct POS [Place of Service], you may not be paid at the same rate as a face-to-face visit,” says Brennan Cantrell, Commercial Insurance Strategist with the AAFP. The codes for these services are typically evaluation and management codes, along with a Place of Service code and any necessary modifiers.

Getting the codes right is equally important with private payers. “If you use a CPT code a payer doesn’t recognize, you’ll get a denial,” says Cantrell. Despite recent changes, billing for telehealth isn’t that much trickier than billing for any other service as long as you pay attention. “The only likely hiccups,” says Andrew Hajde, CMPE, Assistant Director of Association Content, MGMA, “would be not using the proper modifier or service code and confusing telephone with video visits. Both are allowed now, but they have two different codes.”

Private payers are generally falling in line with CMS, but there are some variations. The MGMA has a site with links to the major payers’ coronavirus billing policies. You can also check the website America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, for policies of specific insurers. If your payers aren’t included on these sites, be sure to contact them directly, and stay on top of emails from payers with policy updates. Things are changing quickly these days.

Coronavirus has pushed the medical community over the cliff into telemedicine, but the fall is not that steep, and CMS is helping to make it a soft landing.

References:


Telemedicine survey:
https://www.merritthawkins.com/news-and-insights/media-room/press/-Physi...

OCR statement re: HIPAA regulations:
https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/special-topics/emergency-pre...
https://www.hhs.gov/coronavirus/telehealth/index.html

MGMA payer site:
https://www.mgma.com/landing-pages/covid-19-resource-center/financial-as...

15% Off Medical Practice Supplies


VIEW ALL



Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Yellow)


Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Pink)

Manual Prescription Pads (Bright Orange)

Manual Prescription Pads (Light Pink)

Manual Prescription Pads (Light Yellow)

Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Blue)

Manual Prescription Pad (Large - White)

VIEW ALL

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

How to Find an Angel Investor for Your Startup

Does watching Shark Tank make you dream about finding an angel investor of your own? Well, stop dreaming and start searching—angels are real and not just found on TV.


In fact, the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research reports in 2018 that “The angel investor market saw an increase in market participation in more companies but at smaller amounts. Total investments in 2018 were $23.1 billion, a decrease of 3.4% over 2017, and 66,110 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding, an increase of 7.4% over 2017. The number of active investors in 2018 rose to 334,565 individuals, an increase of 16%.”


What’s causing this? CNBC suggests investors have “deeper pockets” due to “the longest economic expansion in U.S. history, which has produced legions of cashed-out entrepreneurs looking to stay involved in the startup scene.” Plus, Shark Tank has shined a lot of light on the angel investing process.

Identifying angels


Angels are becoming more plentiful. According to the Angel Capital Association (ACA) angels are usually high-net-worth individuals (or groups of people) who invest their own money in startup companies in exchange for an equity share of the business. The ACA recommends you only work with accredited investors “who can add value to the company via high quality mentoring and advice.” Recently, says CNBC, “less-affluent investors have begun to participate in angel investing via equity-crowdfunding platforms.” (Check out the federal guidelines for this practice.)

The ACA says angels are often former entrepreneurs who make investments for various reasons, including:


  • To make a return on their money
  • To participate in the entrepreneurial process
  • To give back to their communities by catalyzing economic growth

And they add, angels often invest locally or regionally, since they tend to want to be involved in the company.

Are you angel ready?


Getting angel capital is not for every business owner. The ACA advises you ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I willing to give up some amount of ownership and control of my company?
  • Can I demonstrate that my company is likely to realize significant revenues and earnings in the next three to seven years?
  • Can I demonstrate that my company will produce a significant return for investors?
  • Am I willing take the advice from investors and accept board of director decisions I may not always agree with?
  • Do I have an exit plan for the company that may mean I’m not involved in three to seven years?

When to approach an angel investor


While angel investors are more interested in funding startups and early-stage companies than banks or VCs, the ACA says it’s best to approach an angel when:
  • Your product is developed or near completion.
  • You have existing customers or potential customers who will confirm they will buy from you.
  • You’ve invested your own money and exhausted other alternatives, including friends and family.
  • You can demonstrate your business is likely to grow rapidly and reach about $50 million in sales in the next three to seven years.
  • Your business plan is in top shape.

Finding angel investors


Probably the best place to find an angel is an angel group. There are plenty of angel groups, and a good place to start is the ACA’s member directory. Ask other entrepreneurs who’ve been funded for recommendations. Since many angels tend to focus on their industries, your industry trade association may have some suggestions for you as well.

To help you home in on the right angel, you need to know exactly what you’re looking for. In addition to funding, are you seeking mentorship, industry, or general guidance or specific help (finding new sales channels, for example). Jeffrey Sohl, director of the University of New Hampshire’s Center for Venture Research told CNBC, “They’re value-add investors. Don’t just look at [angels] as a source of cash. Look at what’s coming with the money—what kind of advice, what kind of experience.”

Prepare for the pitch


When it’s time to make your pitch, you need to be uber-prepared. That means, even if your business is up and running and has market traction, you need a solid business plan, financial statements, and projections. The angel will want to know what your goals are and how you envision them being helpful to your business. What do you plan to do with the money they’re investing? This is no place for your ego. Though investors want to see you’re confident and capable, they also need to know you’re willing to take their advice and incorporate them into your business.

Sohl told CNBC, “Once you strike a deal with an angel, you are no longer your own boss. So it only makes sense to look for an angel who not only brings valuable insight and connections to the table but also shares your goals for your company.”

Of course, the angel investor will be doing their due diligence on you and your company. But, says Sohl, “Due diligence is a two-way street. As an investor performs due diligence on the entrepreneur, the entrepreneur should also perform due diligence on the angel.” Make sure you talk to the last few entrepreneurs who have done deals with that angel to find out more about how it is to work with them.


Resources


These organizations have a lot of useful information about angels:
Angel Capital Association (ACA)
Angel Resource Institute (ARI)
Gust
New York Angels.


Word of caution


One final thing to remember: Working with angel investors is not for entrepreneurs who are in it or the long haul. The angel makes their money when you’ve so successfully grown your business, it’s sold to another company—and chances are you’ll have to move on.

15% Off All Business Cards


VIEW ALL CARDS







$60.05





$60.05




$62.55





$60.05




$60.05





$60.05


$60.05



$52.55





$60.05






Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , ,

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Patient, staff reductions adversely impacting practices weekly survey finds

Nearly 90 percent of clinicians report dramatic patient-volume decreases with low cash flow and staff outages adversely impacting 47 percent and 42 percent of practices, respectively, according to a recent national survey.


According to Quick COVID-19 Primary Care Survey, the weekly national survey of 2,602 frontline primary care clinicians conducted as a joint effort between the Larry A. Green Center, Richmond, VA, and Primary Care Collaborative, Washington DC, 41 percent of respondents rank COVID-19 stress as “severe,” 34 percent lack capacity for testing and 36 percent experience illness or quarantine. The survey incudes clinicians from family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, geriatrics and urgent care.

Practices in all 50 states range from rural and large health centers (i.e. more than three clinicians) to community health centers. One-third work in practices comprised of more than 50 percent Medicaid patients, 14 percent are in private practice, 13 percent in academic centers, 21 percent fee-for-service (FFS), 12 percent majority capitated and 20 percent non-capitated, states the survey.

“All practices seem vulnerable, but independent practices are showing the most signs of financial struggle due to lack of cash flow. The FFS payment system inadequately resources primary care,” explains Gary LeRoy, M.D., president, American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), Leawood, Kan.

Robert McLean, MD, president of American College of Physicians, sees a “clear drop in patient visits. In-person visits are way down for social distance reasons. Many (practices) moved to remote visits for routine follow-up. Preventive-care visits got pushed our farther,” he adds.


Indeed, the survey says clinicians increasingly rely on virtual visits with 34 percent using video, 15 percent e-visits, 19 percent patient portals, and 48 percent phone visits.

“Family physicians have seen an increase in telehealth visits due to waivers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This has allowed primary care to adopt this technology quickly. However, 65 percent have patients who cannot use virtual health due to no computer or internet access. Due to this, most [clinicians] conduct visits by phone.

“Additionally, payment is slow for telehealth. Ten percent have not received payment for video or e-based care. Sixteen percent have not received payment for phone-based care,” says LeRoy, who notes that practice response to the pandemic differs by location and patient need.

“Many have taken precautions to postpone non-essential care. Family physicians and their care teams are essential workers. There are variations from 100-percent virtual visits to well visits in the morning and sick visits in the afternoon. Or, drive-up visits where the patient does not leave the car.”

“Physicians are quite busy whether it is video or telephone visits or other types of management,” McLean says, “which include communicating with patient's via e-mail through electronic health record patient portals, managing refills of medications, reviewing test results, etc. Many aspects of managing information around patient's care has not significantly changed.”

LeRoy says “many physicians prioritize routine chronic care to prevent complications and trips to the emergency room and hospital. However, the financial impact and availability of clinical workforce has an impact on how they continue care with independent practices much more vulnerable.”

The survey notes that staff outages, caused by illness or quarantine, effected 36 percent of clinicians and 35 percent of nursing and 31 percent of front desk staff. Low staff levels could cause 3 percent of primary practices to close, states the survey, which finds 53 percent of practices lack personal protective equipment (PPE) and 58 percent rely on used or homemade PPE.

“As much of PPE has been directed toward hospital and other inpatient facilities, there has generally been significantly less available for ambulatory practice settings,” says McLean who adds “With greater concern over virtually any respiratory infection, even very mild symptoms now require staff to stay at home and not come in to work for fear they might have early symptoms of COVID.

“Many must have a COVID test, if available, and stay out until results are known, which may take several more days. So in some cases, concerns are starting to cause limitations of available staff to work in offices,” he says.

15% Off Medical Practice Supplies


VIEW ALL



Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Yellow)


Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Pink)

Manual Prescription Pads (Bright Orange)

Manual Prescription Pads (Light Pink)

Manual Prescription Pads (Light Yellow)

Manual Prescription Pad (Large - Blue)

Manual Prescription Pad (Large - White)

VIEW ALL

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Sunday, April 26, 2020

5 Ways to Turn Your Customer Service Team Into a Secondary Sales Force

For many companies, a typical customer relationship involves selling to customers at the beginning of the sales relationship, and then reengaging when it’s time to renew. This process is efficient, but it doesn’t always maximize the value of each account.

Customer service representatives, on the other hand, have plenty of interactions with customers throughout various stages of the post-sales cycle. To make the most of these valuable relationships, some companies have begun leveraging their customer service reps as secondary sales teams. In fact, studies show that there is a strong link between the amount of money a customer is willing to spend and the quality of the customer service they receive.


Here are five ways you can use your customer service reps to increase company sales while still providing your customers with great support:

1. Provide strategic live chat support


Most companies provide chat support at key points of the sales process, but often it’s with their sales reps. A better idea would be to position your live chat agents as customer support. People are hesitant to deal with salespeople one-on-one and will feel more comfortable talking to a support agent. Considering that the average customer has over four touches before converting, you don’t need to focus on giving them the hard sell right away. Providing support before trying to close the sale positions your company as helpful instead of overly pushy.

2. Capitalize on quality interactions


Customers are always happy to post negative customer service interactions, but they need a little nudging to share the good experiences. Whenever a customer is especially happy, or a rep goes above and beyond the usual call of duty, make sure to ask the customer to share the experience with their friends and colleagues. Even better, offer an incentive for sending you any referrals. Referral leads will convert at a higher rate, and will spend up to 25% more than typical leads over their lifetime.

3. Train customer service reps to upsell and cross-sell


Many companies, especially ones that sell SaaS products, have many different plans to address customers who have different requirements. If your business has multiple plans, it’s important to make sure your customer service team is trained to not only understand each plan, but to understand the problems each plan solves. For example, if a rep talks to a customer who has a basic plan, they should listen carefully to the user’s problems and ask plenty of questions. There’s a good chance that they’ll uncover a plethora of opportunities for upselling or cross-selling; at the very least, they’ll obtain lots of useful information that can be passed along to the sales team for future use.

4. Use reps for product development


Customer feedback is crucial to finding new ways to improve your product or create new ones, and your customer service team is the logical place to start since they receive a constant stream of feedback every single day. Whenever a customer has an idea or a problem that can’t be solved with your existing offering, make sure the rep reports this to your development team. This is where your most valuable feedback will come from–who knows better what your customers want and need than the actual customers?

Additionally, you should make sure all customer service reports are thoroughly labeled and sorted. You can then generate reports to see what your customers’ most common issues are and to help you focus on the areas that need the most improvement.


5. Leverage your customer service content


When customers have a problem, a first step that many will take is to visit your website; they’ll look for FAQs or relevant blog posts that contain the answers they’re looking for. Having this information readily available on your website will relieve your customer support staff from having to deal with the same questions over and over, and it also makes for a better customer experience.

These web pages are important for your sales team, too. Use them to generate organic leads through relevant keywords and by making sure they’re kept on your own domain. Develop content for general industry-based questions that can bring in prospects who are looking to solve specific problems. Have your marketing/sales and customer service teams work hand-in-hand to make sure your content stays useful, relevant, and updated.

Using your customer service team as a secondary sales staff may require a bit of retraining and strategizing, but the ability to focus on sales throughout your entire relationship with a customer is well worth the effort. Simply follow the advice outlined above, and you’ll have a more sales-oriented customer service team in no time.

15% Off All Business Cards


VIEW ALL



$60.05


$54.85






$60.05


$60.05


$60.05




$60.05


$60.05

Indestructible Photo Business Cards
Indestructible Photo Business Cards



Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)