Every year, Black Book Market Research releases 2015 healthcare industry surveys across multiple specialties, ranking the top electronic health record vendors in each specialty. We’re thrilled to announce that Nextech's MDIntelleSys solution was ranked as the No. 1 Ophthalmology EHR vendor in Black Book’s 2015 Ophthalmology Survey! This newest accolade adds to what has already been a very exciting year for Nextech as we’ve introduced new tools, solutions and improvements since January. Here are the additional top rankings Nextech received from Black Book’s 2015 Ophthalmology Survey.

Ever wonder what state uses an electronic health record the most? Well, now we know. A survey conducted by Black Book Market Research analyzed how many medical practices -- of any size, specialty and location -- utilized their "EHR beyond basic functionalities" in each state.

A recent study conducted and released by NetSfere Enterprise Messaging took a close look at how messaging apps are being used in today’s business world. Some of the study’s findings regarding security practices are, unfortunately, rather disturbing. Based in these findings, it would seem that many healthcare businesses and organizations who handle PHI (providers, practices, insurers, and payers alike) are playing HIPAA-Russian roulette when it comes to the use of mobile SMS/MMS tools.

Congress could potentially bring some relief to medical practices currently attesting to Meaningful Use Stage 2. Last week, Representative Tom Price (R-GA) proposed the Meaningful Use Hardship Relief Act of 2015, which would "authorize a blanket Meaningful Use significant hardship exemption for the 2015 reporting period due to the delay in timely publication of the Stage 2 Meaningful Use rule."

The days before October 1 represented a stressful time for many medical practices. Questions of how the ICD-10 transition permeated across the country with many practitioners wondering how the new coding system would affect their respective clinics and impact their revenues. Now, a month after the transition, data has been released that could provide some clear answers to those very questions. Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a public statement detailing metrics for Medicare fee-for-service payments throughout the first few weeks of ICD-10.

These days it seems like we are all living in a world ruled by social media, where constantly sharing every little detail of their lives has become the new normal for many people—Facebook status updates, Tweets, Instagram photos and videos of kids, pets, food… you name it. As a result, the use of social media marketing has become a necessity for today’s businesses, both large and small. And healthcare practices are no exception.

Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted an FAQ webpage on their site with the aim of clarifying the Public Health Reporting Objective (PHRO) Alternate Exclusions for EPs and hospitals that are attesting to Stage 1 and Stage 2 of Meaningful Use in 2015.

On this blog, we’ve already discussed the immediate “aftermath” of the ICD-10 launch in the United States. Needless to say, it wasn’t nearly as bad as some folks had predicted. Sure, there have been a few annoying problems—mainly caused by a handful of insurance companies who refuse to play by the “grace period” rules that were set down by the CMS. Other than that, however, things have gone rather smoothly so far. In fact, according to metrics compiled and published by Relay Health, things appear to have already begun to normalize since the October 1st ICD-10 deadline (and the month isn’t even over yet).