Here at Nextech, we are so excited to be back in person for EDGE 2022. In fact, general registration has begun and will remain open until the very last day of 2021. This means there is still plenty of time for you to convince your boss that going to EDGE is best idea ever and that you should totally be going.

The rise of social media has moved a lot of human interaction online, allowing us to reach each other without having ever met. For Ophthalmology practices, this means referrals are no longer something that come mostly from other ophthalmologists/physicians, as they traditionally have in the past. The truth is the vast majority of Ophthalmology practices are already aware that they need to be using social media and are currently using it. The question is whether or not they are using it properly.

Welcome back to the blog, ghouls and goblins! It’s almost Halloween once again, that time of year when we celebrate all things scary. Perhaps one of the scariest things going on right now is the fact that many specialty practices still believe that having an onsite server infrastructure is somehow faster and more secure than using cloud-based solutions. It’s not. In fact, it’s terrifying to think about how on-premise systems are still out there giving nightmares to specialty practices like a burn-scarred maniac with a bladed glove.

Well, folks… it’s that scary time of year once again. No, not Halloween. It may be October, but in this blog, we won’t be talking about ghouls and goblins. Nope. As you may already know, October is also Cybersecurity Awareness Month. And there are scarier things out there to worry about than those imaginary monsters in your closet.

In a recent blog article, we examined how your payments solution could be costing your practice more than you realize. In one section of that article, we touched briefly on the costs associated with point of sale (POS) hardware. And cost certainly remains an important factor. These terminals are not cheap, after all, and are commonly priced anywhere from $150 to $1000 dollars. However, when it comes to payment terminals, there is more at stake than simply just the up-front costs of purchasing the hardware.

Whether called electronic medical records (EMR) or electronic health records (EHR), the basic idea is the same: Patient records are stored, maintained, and updated electronically. The underlying analytics and informatics components are nearly universal, but the input and output can be drastically different from one system to another, creating either challenges or opportunities.

While obviously providing exceptional patient care is an important goal for your practice, you are also trying to run a successful business. To accomplish this, your practice needs to be able to do what all successful businesses do—MAKE MONEY. These days, the ability to efficiently bring in revenue means having a digital payments solution. Unfortunately, when it comes to certain payment processing solutions, many practices are not getting much when you consider what they are paying.

Welcome to our second and final installment of this blog series on important changes in the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (MIPS Proposed Rule). In Part 1, we took a look at key changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP). In this blog, we will summarize the new MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs) as well as important changes to the Appropriate Use Criteria and EPCS Medicare Part D Compliance Requirements.