In this month's Electronic Health Reporter, Nextech's Jeff Lew, VP of Product Management, discusses "What's Ahead in Electronic Health Record Technology in 2018." As the electronic health records (EHRs) continue to evolve, there are exciting new developments that are emerging, read all about which three trends that Lew thinks are worth watching out for.

In this month's issue of Practical Dermatology, Nextech's very own Senior Professional Services Consultant, Robin Ntoh discussed the 5 tech trends that your dermatology practice can leverage today. From increasing referrals and retention through data analytics and reporting to preparing your practice to be MACRA ready, you can make sure your are on top of the latest technological innovations and trends.

It has always been important for Plastic Surgery practices to recognize the direct effect that patient experience has on retention and practice growth. Now more than ever, Plastic Surgery practices must increase operational efficiency to be more competitive. Many practices are looking to new technology options to help fill the gaps in operational efficiency.

In specialty practices such as ophthalmology, dermatology and plastic surgery, physicians spend the majority of their time using information from images and textual data from the electronic medical record (EMR) to make decisions. Integrating images into the EMR is therefore a great benefit to improving functionality for physicians. Read the full article from Becker’s Health IT and CIO Review to learn more about improving EMR efficiency by integrating imaging and other features such as a patient portal.

As the popularity of high deductible health plans with low monthly premiums increases, the out-of-pocket maximum for each patient and the cost for each visit also increases. This creates a growing challenge for specialty practices to collect, as there is a 62 percent lower likelihood of payment once the patient leaves the office. The changing payer model creates a need for a patient-centric specialty practice experience to help collect more at the time of each patient visit.

Last week, health plan provider Centene disclosed that they had lost track of six hard drives containing the private information of roughly 950,000 individuals. These records contained details such as names, addresses, dates of birth, member ID numbers, private health information (PHI), and Social Security Numbers. Luckily (if you can call it that), at least they did not contain any financial or payment details. According to the disclosure from Centene, the missing hard drives contained about six years worth of research data (2009-2015) and “were a part of a data project using laboratory results to improve the health outcomes of [their] members.”

Mailing medical bills 30 days after an encounter is a sure-fire way to lose money in the new world of high deductible health plans and changing payer models. In fact, the most efficient way to collect from patients is while they are still in the office, and, in some cases, before they arrive. High performing practices ask their patients how—not if—they would like to pay their bill today. Creating pricing transparency is the new imperative for providers, since data show that the probability of collecting from a patient after he/she leaves the office drops to less than 20 percent.

By Eric Nilsson, Chief Technology Officer, Nextech According to the most recent Medscape EHR report, fewer than half of all physicians – 42 percent – are satisfied with their current electronic health record (EHR) system. If you’re among the satisfied users, particularly if you’re a specialist, it’s probably because your practice asked the right questions before making a selection. If you’re not among those who are satisfied and are thinking of switching EHRs, asking the following five questions of each vendor you consider can ensure that your next EHR is a better choice for you in particular. What functionality does the EHR offer to my specialty? Data consistently shows a correlation between EHR satisfaction and the degree to which the system is designed for the type of practice using it. A system that works just fine for a primary care provider may be missing features and functions that are necessary for specialists – one-size-fits-all solutions don’t typically “fit all” when it comes to user productivity and user workflows. Before solidifying a relationship with a potential vendor, you should ask yourself: What templates will you get that are designed for your specialty? How many users of your type does the vendor have, and can you talk to reference accounts? If the vendor has deep knowledge of the needs of your specialty, and can connect you with users like you, who speak highly of the solution, you’re on the road to the right choice.