As many of our readers are already aware, Nextech is going virtual with its Seventh Annual User Conference, EDGE 2021 (registration is now closed). After much preparation, this year's meeting will feature over fifty sessions focused on improving the performance of your specialty practice in an immersive virtual environment. Our experts will discuss ways to improve operational efficiency, increase profitability and grow your business in addition to covering the latest regulatory changes and industry trends.

According to a recent study, the number of in-person outpatient visits declined by nearly 60 percent in 2020. While there has been a small rebound in the first quarter of 2021, some practices are still struggling to get their patient volumes back to pre-pandemic levels. Telehealth has been able to help fill some of the gaps, but it is simply not enough to consider things as being back to “business as usual.” As vaccines roll out, however, now is a golden opportunity to begin new efforts to invite patients to return to in-person care as well as to invite new patients to your practice.

Even the most well-established practice can struggle to find ways to grow their business and acquire more patients. Oftentimes, this is due to budgetary constraints, especially in a market where profit margins can be thin and even more so for practices that are already overextended with new investments. However, there are plenty of ways to grow your practice without breaking the bank. In this blog, we will go over a number of cost-effective measures that you can employ to help grow your business.

We are entering a new era of healthcare, one where the patient is empowered to direct his or her own treatment. Patients are more informed and involved in their care than ever before and app developers are tapping into people’s desire to be involved in the decision making when it comes to their care. They also expect to be readily provided with their healthcare information upon request, and legislation has been passed that will require such requests be fulfilled in a timely manner.

The submission window for MIPS Performance Year (PY) 2020 closes on March 31, 2021. As one year closes another begins, and now is the time that practices should be preparing for their 2021 MIPS reporting. For the new year, the MIPS annual program requires submission of data in four categories—Quality, Promoting Interoperability (PI), Improvement Activities (IA) and Cost. In this blog, we will briefly go over actions to be taken throughout the year for submission in PY 2021 so that our readers can be better prepared for the next MIPS reporting period.

During the first quarter of the year, many practices struggle with cash flow stagnation caused when deductibles reset and thus the whole burden of payment falls on patients. There is also a current trend of increasing health insurance costs such as higher deductibles, premiums and copays that will shift even more financial burden to patients and is likely to further exacerbate this issue for practices in 2021. This means it is more important than ever for practices to effectively manage their cash flow to ensure they are able to weather any unexpected financial issues that might occur throughout this year.

Millennials and Gen Z are often mistakenly blamed for “killing industries“ as well as wrongly accused of being disconnected and self-absorbed. If you look at the facts, however, you will see that none of these stereotypes are accurate about the majority of today’s younger generations. In all honesty, they are struggling in the face of an uncertain future while stuck with stagnant wages that have long lagged behind the rate of inflation. The truth is that they aren’t intentionally “killing industries.” For the most part, they simply do not have as much disposable income as older generations such as Baby Boomers and Generation X.

A lack of patient loyalty could be costing your practice more than you might think. According to one study, a patient leaving due to dissatisfaction can result in a financial loss of $200,000 over the life of a practice. The same study also found that one in eight patients claimed they had left their healthcare provider in the last year, and that one in three were planning to leave their current providers sometime in the next two years. In a healthcare marketplace where consumers have taken more control of their healthcare choices, it can be easier than ever to lose patients due to a poor patient experience.