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.

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.

Payment policies for aesthetic services are more akin to booking a luxury cruise than buying a car. You can’t repossess a facelift, so it only makes sense to require payment in advance and to charge a substantial booking fee. The business of medical aesthetics may seem straightforward—you provide a service, the patient pays a fee—but the reality of patient billing is more complicated.

Ophthalmologists are trained to provide the full spectrum of eyecare, from prescribing glasses to precision eye surgery. Yet while they may be experts at treating patients, very few have business degrees or specialized practice management skills. Poor real estate decisions and bad hires, for example, are common mistakes that constitute part of the typical learning curve. However, many doctors make serious financial mistakes that can devastate their businesses, such as choosing the wrong electronic health record (EHR) and then sticking with it because of sunk costs.

Some early adopters of electronic health records (EHRs)—specialty practices in particular—are experiencing buyer’s remorse to the point that they are considering changing vendors. Think about the movements of a patient during an appointment in a retina practice. He or she may be tested or screened in one or more areas of the facility, transitioned to another area to consult with the retina specialist, and then moved to the payment counter. Most all-purpose EHRs cannot accommodate such complicated workflows.

In a recent article from Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today, Timothy J. Archer of the London Vision Clinic details his clinic's transition to Nextech from paper medical records. Not only did the practice experience a smooth implementation proccess, but Archer explains how your practice can have the same success as the London Vision Clinic through some helpful tips and strategies.

Nextech is among the top 10 favorite EHRs, according to a recent Medscape Medical News survey. Asking them to rank their EHR system based on criteria such as ease of use, vendor support and interoperability, more than 18,500 physicians across 25 specialties responded to the survey. The information was gathered and scored based on a five-point scale.

Among EHR adopters, the notion of one-size-doesn’t-fit-all has reached its tipping point with many specialty physicians opting for EHR technology that is unique to their area of expertise rather than making an EHR system do something it was never intended to do. Nextech CEO and President David Henriksen explains how physicians can leverage the benefits of a specialty solution to better equip them to meet Stage 2 Meaningful Use criteria. Read More at EHR Intelligence