At the close of June 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new proposed rule that would make some of the recent flexibilities for telehealth permanent. Many of these changes are already in place, though temporarily for now, in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. If finalized, this rule would make several of these new telehealth flexibilities permanent. This blog will provide you with a summary of the proposed rule so that you can stay informed on what it could mean for you and your practice.

Getting your money’s worth out of your EHR & Practice Management vendor is crucial to making sure your practice is provided with a solution that can keep all clinical, operational and financial processes running smoothly. However, finding the right vendor is about a lot more than just software. You need to take a close look at the kind of company you are choosing as well. Selecting a vendor is a commitment to a long-term relationship, and like in any relationship, choosing the wrong partner can mean frustration and trouble down the line.

Independence Day is upon us once again. However, the world is a far different place than it was when last we celebrated our most popular summer holiday. Americans have not celebrated the Fourth of July during a pandemic since way back in 1918. Seeing as how it’s been over a century since we have needed to do this, and that none of us were even alive the last time it happened, it’s hard to know what we should (and should not) be doing. That’s why we figured it might be a good idea to offer our readers this blog with tips on how to (safely) celebrate Independence Day during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

Healthcare professionals know that communication with their patients is essential. To provide the best possible care, they must be dedicated to connecting with patients before, during and after their appointments. Tools such as SMS text, live chat and video calls are all great resources for doing so. Read on to learn more ways to improve patient communications.

The last few months have been quite a roller coaster ride, to say the least. And despite what some had hoped in recent weeks, it looks like the wild ride of COVID-19 is not going to be over any time soon. Not by a longshot. Over 21 states have already reported spikes in the number of infections, with the highest surges in California, Texas and Florida. In response, earlier this week Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued an executive order to suspend elective surgeries in order to increase hospital bed capacity. Other states may soon have to do the same.

On June 9, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced new redistributions from the Provider Relief Fund to eligible Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) providers who participate in those programs. As a result, HHS plans to distribute approximately $15 billion to Medicaid and CHIP program participants who have not received a payment from the Provider Relief Fund General Allocation.

In an effort to provide healthcare professionals with a better understanding of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted specialty practices, as well as help them identify ways to expedite recovery, Nextech recently published a Practice Insights Report. This report is a compilation of both survey responses from over 547 participants and analytics data from 1500 practices from multiple specialties, including ophthalmology, plastic surgery, dermatology and orthopedics. To give our readers an insightful picture of the current state of specialty practices, we have chosen to publish some of this report’s key findings in this blog.

If the first few months of 2020 taught healthcare professionals anything, it’s that they were not nearly as well prepared to handle unexpected crises as they probably thought they were. With the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, a serious economic crisis, a global increase in civil unrest, extreme weather from climate change, murder hornets in the U.S. and now cannibal rats devouring each other in large cities (because that might as well happen too, right?), it seems unexpected risks are coming from new directions almost daily.