Yelp is a popular application for crowd-sourced reviews of restaurants, retail stores and a wide array of other local businesses; however, it is also growing in prominence among healthcare providers. It utilizes a word-of-mouth approach to allow patients to give their opinions concerning patient engagement, quality of care and any other aspect of the practice, and it serves as an essential application for patients searching for everything from general practitioners to dermatology specialists.

Any individual who has spent a number of years as a medical professional will tell you that no two doctor-patient relationships are going to be exactly the same. Working in health care, you have the opportunity to interact with individuals from all backgrounds. So in order to provide the appropriate type of care, you'll need a varied and flexible skill set as a provider. Among the largest determining factors in how you interact with a patient is his or her age. Young patients or children will require a different sort of approach than adults, as will senior citizens. If your practice treats a wide range of patients, than it is particularly important to understand generational differences.

As technology continues to grow and evolve before our eyes, social media has permeated nearly every aspect of our daily lives. We look to it for information regarding the news, cultural events, our friends and everything in between. That said, it's no surprise that medical practices that may have never considered blogging several years ago are sprouting up on social media. If your practice is just starting out in this realm, though, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Take a look at these tips to ensure you're setting off in the right direction:

We’ve posted a number of discussions on this blog, in recent months, addressing various issues related to the upcoming transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10. By now, everyone in the healthcare industry should at least be aware that October 1st 2015 is the final deadline for ICD-10 implementation in the United States. A further delay to this deadline failed to pass when Congress approved their “Omnibus” federal funding bill at the close of 2014. Some of those who were still holding out (hoping a delay would allow them another year or two of ICD-9) are now scrambling to be ICD-10 compliant before the deadline, to prevent having their insurance claims denied due to improper coding.

The rise of technological accessibility has had a pronounced effect on every single genre of the professional world across the last few years. Perhaps no single industry, though, has seen an explosion of innovation equal to that which has occurred in the medical field. Whether you're a doctor, a practice manager or simply interested in the growth of the medical field, you've no doubt noticed the rise of electronic medical records. Simpler and more efficient than alternative methods, EMRs have become a mainstay of most successful practices in the U.S.

Between keeping up with advances in modern medicine, establishing meaningful and healthy relationships with your patients and dealing with the day-to-day grind of running a business, it can be hard to make time to think critically about revenue cycle management. Still, it's important to remember that having a clear understanding of your various revenue streams and financial management techniques is key to the longevity and success of your practice. Luckily, this need not be quite as difficult an undertaking as it may first seem. In fact, pairing strong organizational techniques with effective practice management software can make financial evaluation a breeze. Take a look at these best practices for managing the financial health of your practice:

As ICD-10 implementation gets closer, many healthcare providers have found themselves struggling to understand the deadline. This is due largely to the fact that the set date has been pushed back several times in an effort to allow all affected parties to prepare accordingly. With that in mind, it's important to recognize that ICD-10, though seemingly far away, is a great deal closer than you think. With the ICD-10 transition date now set for Oct. 1, 2015, take a look at some key information concerning the shift:

Hi, and welcome back to the Nextech blog! Today we're going to be discussing using mobility solutions to move your electronic health records system beyond the desk and PC.