WebPT Blog - Product
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0 CommentsMay 22, 2013| Charlotte Bohnett
Today's blog post comes from WebPT Senior Writer Charlotte Bohnett, contributing writer Erica Cohen, and WebPT Co-Founder Heidi Jannenga, PT.
Monday and Tuesday we hosted webinars on functional limitation reporting. We got tons of great questions. Here are the most frequently asked ones:
The Basics
What is functional limitation reporting?
Beginning July 1, 2013, CMS is requiring that you complete functional limitation reporting (FLR) on all Medicare part A and part B patients in order to receive reimbursement for your services. Essentially, FLR is a type of reporting focused on the progress of the patient through measurable goals, and supporting documentation is required for reimbursement.
Who created FLR?
CMS developed functional limitation reporting as part of the Middle Class Tax Relief Act of 2012, which mandated the collection of the following information regarding the beneficiaries on the claim form: function and condition, therapy services furnished, and outcomes achieved on patient function. CMS is enforcing noncompliance.
Why functional limitation reporting?
CMS created FLR to collect information regarding beneficiaries’ functions and conditions, the services therapists provide, and the functional outcomes patients achieve. CMS will use all of this information to better understand the beneficiary population that uses therapy services and how their functional limitations change as a result of the therapy they complete. Furthermore, CMS will use the data they collect to reform future payment structures.
Does FLR apply to rehab therapists?
According to the APTA, “All practice settings that provide outpatient therapy services must perform FLR. Specifically, FLR applies to physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language-pathology (SLP) services furnished in hospitals, critical access hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities (CORFs), rehabilitation agencies, home health agencies (when the beneficiary is not under a home health plan of care), and in private offices of therapists, physicians, and nonphysician practitioners.”How does FLR work?
Therapists will report functional limitations (current status and projected goal for initial examination and at minimum every tenth visit or progress note, and then discharge status and projected goal at discharge) using G-codes and corresponding severity modifiers for all eligible Medicare patients.What are G-codes and severity modifiers?
G-codes are quality data codes therapists will use to describe their patients’ functional limitation—that is, the primary reason they’re seeking therapeutic services. Upon identifying the primary functional limitation, the therapist will select the corresponding G-code and then assign a severity modifier, which indicates the extent of the severity of the functional limitation. Therapists select an appropriate severity modifier based on the score of an outcome measurement tool as well as their skilled clinical knowledge. Lastly, therapists must also include a therapy modifier (GO, GP, and GN) to indicate that they’re providing therapy services under an OT, PT, or SLP plan of care, respectively.For a full list of the FLR G-codes and a severity modifier chart, check out this blog post.
What are the benefits of FLR?
With FLR, rehab therapists finally have an outlet to prove that what they do clinically is relevant and deserves payment. It’s an opportunity for rehab therapy professionals to demonstrate the value of their profession. FLR also allows rehab therapists to incorporate clinical judgement to truly assess the severity of a patient’s functional limitation without relying on patients’ faulty self-assessments, and that leads to better, more effective treatment.
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May 16, 2013| Charlotte Bohnett
We believe in empowering the entire rehab community to achieve greatness in therapy practice. That’s why we created WebPT, an intuitive, web-based EMR solution exclusively for rehab therapists that offers comprehensive documentation, scheduling, practice management, and billing services.Don’t let the name fool you. WebPT isn’t solely for physical therapists. Rather, it’s for the entire rehab therapy community, and we’ve custom tailored our EMR solution to suit the practice of pediatric therapists, including OTs and SLPs. In fact, pediatric therapists helped create the WebPT Pediatric Module, which automatically loads based on the patient’s age, providing peds therapists the ability to complete specific patient tests for their smallest patients.
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May 6, 2013| Charlotte Bohnett
This month is Better Hearing and Speech Month, and with in mind, we thought we'd talk about WebPT and SLP. We believe in empowering the entire rehab community to achieve greatness in therapy practice. That’s why we created WebPT, an intuitive, web-based EMR solution exclusively for rehab therapists that offers comprehensive documentation, scheduling, practice management, and billing services.Don’t let the name fool you. WebPT isn’t solely for physical therapists. Rather, it’s for the entire rehab therapy community, and we’ve custom tailored our EMR solution to suit the practice of speech language pathologists. In fact, SLPs helped create the WebPT Speech-Language Pathology Module.
Here are just some of the SLP-specific subjective fields you’ll find within WebPT:
- Cognition
- Oral-Motor Issues
- Vocal Quality
- Behavioral Issues
- Medical History: Cleft Palate, Tracheotomy, and Recurrent Pneumonia
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Apr 11, 2013| Charlotte Bohnett
Today's blog post comes from Senior Writers Charlotte Bohnett and Erica Cohen.
It was 14 years ago when Brian Kunich launched his successful physical therapy career. After several years working in private practice, Brian discovered that while he was an excellent practitioner, as a clinic owner and manager he was at a serious disadvantage when it came to controlling clinic supply expenses. Because his priority—as it should be—was on treating his patients and growing his business, ordering clinical supplies became an after hours responsibility. Thus, time to shop around was at a premium.Determined to help clinics simplify the buying process—and save money—Brian mapped out a plan for an eCommerce platform. And he knew the perfect company to work with in order to bring his plan to fruition—WebPT, the same company who developed and delivered the ultimate EMR and practice management solution for rehab therapists. In October, 2011, Brian (a WebPT Member) attended WebPT’s first user conference, Evolve. There, he spoke with friend, former colleague, and WebPT Co-Founder Heidi Jannenga.
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Dec 13, 2012| Erica Cohen
This week WebPT’s executive team along with our Director of Sales, Director of Billing, Member Liaison, and a few members of the marketing team headed to the Big Apple to meet and greet local therapists and host a half-day educational seminar.WebPT Evolve 2012: New York was all about helping therapists take their clinics to the next level through sessions led by industry experts and WebPT thought leaders. At this half-day event, therapists did more than learn to grow their practice; they learned how to evolve it—and earned two CEU credits simply by attending.
Here’s what we covered:
The Evolution of WebPT
Heidi and Brad Jannenga, Co-Founders of WebPT, shared their story of creating the ultimate marriage of physical therapy and technology.
Billing: Ten Tips for Better Accounts Receivables Management
Robin Roach, CHBME, CMRS, and WebPT Director of Billing Services reviewed techniques for error-free claims and timely reimbursements. Check out Robin’s presentation here.
Comply or Die: The Evolution of Compliance in the Outpatient Physical Therapy Setting
Tom Ambury, PT and Chief Compliance Officer at The PT Compliance Group discussed implementing a comprehensive compliance strategy for your practice. Check out Tom’s presentation here.
Get (Your Practice) In Shape For Tomorrow
Ian Kornbluth, PT, Neurac Specialist, and Owner of the Neurac Institute, explained establishing a sustainable practice.
WebPT 101: Tips and Tricks to Maximize Your Clinic
Jake Nero, WebPT Member Liaison, discussed best practices to improve your clinic's documentation efficiency.
Constantly Evolving. It's What WebPT Does.
Brad and Heidi Jannenga, Co-Founders, and Paul Winandy, Chief Executive Officer, explained what drives them to achieve greatness every day.
You can also check out a few photos from the event on our Facebook. Interested in attending an Evolve event in your city? Stay tuned! We’ll post our Evolve 2013 dates and cities next month.
Also this week, Brad Jannenga was named EHR Game Changer by HealthDataManagement. View the winners and their bios here.
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Jul 5, 2012| Charlotte Bohnett
We all want to lead a healthy lifestyle but can too much technology be problematic? This past Tuesday, Erica and I covered 12 personal health monitoring devices for the health 2.0 lifestyle. In today’s post, let’s talk about real user experience: the good, the bad, and the gimmicky.
In an article posted on AllThingsD.com, Andy Smith, CEO of IAC-owned DailyBurn, told reporter Lauren Goode that today’s fitness tracking devices border on gimmicks: “I feel like these are not quite a gimmick, but are close to it...You get people to spend $100 to $150 bucks on something that’s just a glorified accelerometer—which, by the way, you have in your phone, too.”
Smith’s company, the Daily Burn (once upon a time known as Gyminee), is a fitness-data-tracking company that pivoted to focus primarily on fitness content because data tracking just wasn’t all that effective. -
Jul 3, 2012| Charlotte Bohnett
A healthy lifestyle is hard to achieve without accountability, and what better way to hold yourself accountable than with the latest, greatest, wifi and social-enabled gadgetry on the market? Here, fellow copywriter Erica and I break down 12 products—ranging from full wellness to just sleep—that offer super slick devices with corresponding, user-friendly management programs.
Complete Health & Wellness
FitBit is the ultimate health and wellness monitoring system. It’s comprehensive, cohesive, and affordable. A wifi-enabled scale tracks weight, body fat percentage, and BMI, and a personal monitoring device tracks everyday steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, heart rate, and sleeping habits. Both transmit data to a personalized dashboard, accessible online and through a mobile app, where you can track meals, workouts, and share with friends on social media sites. Mind blown yet? Well, throw in a yearly membership fee and you can also get in-depth analytical reporting, personal training, peer rankings, and detailed tracking capabilities.
Jawbone UP is FitBit minus the scale, and instead of a USB-shaped clip-on monitoring device, the UP device is an inconspicuous, sleek bracelet. Me rambling on in prose about Jawbone UP is a complete disservice to their marketing. Check out their introductory video, which summarizes UP in very pretty nutshell. -
Jun 18, 2012| Erica Cohen
Get to know the new WebPT Member Network, an exclusive community for our Members. Included in all WebPT memberships, the network is interactive, educational, and most importantly, yours to explore.
Here’s a snippet of what you’ll find inside:
Support
Quickly tap into what’s going on with WebPT and submit help tickets. You can also check out upcoming launches and enhancements with our Release Notes and view scheduled downtime under the Maintenance Schedules link.
Education
Knowledge is power. That’s why WebPT offers a myriad of educational tools and resources to help you manage and grow your clinic. From webinars and video tutorials to FAQs and user guides, we’ve got the answers.
Community
Have a suggestion for how we can improve WebPT? Submit an idea through the Idea Portal. Check out our Discover Ideas in Action blog to see member suggestions implemented into the software. Be sure to also check out exclusive offers under Members Benefits. -
Jun 1, 2012| Charlotte Bohnett
Our Members are the end all be all, so we’re constantly looking for new ways to show you our love and appreciation. Initially, we thought WebPT Members Only jackets, but then we decided—rather than venture into fashion—we’d stick to what we do best: helping you achieve greatness in therapy practice.
With that in mind, I give you Members-Only Benefits, four exclusive business perks for you and your clinic. After learning about our new partners below, log into WebPT and visit the Member Network to get the specific details about each deal.MOO made my list of nine small business tools to help grow your clinic. We knew we loved MOO then, so why not partner with them now and get you some freebies?
Every business needs business cards, and there’s no better (or prettier!) source than MOO. MOO, an award-winning online print business, produces quality prints at great rates. With MOO, you can easily create professional business cards.
Use your own photos, logo, and text or choose from a range of MOO Designs to match your business needs. Select silky smooth, matte-laminated “MOO Classic” paper or an eco-friendly “green” stock. And voila! Business cards! -
May 23, 2012| Charlotte Bohnett
Last week, we tackled the topic of Internet connections. In that post, I noted that many of our Members found that WebPT works best via a cable connection. That got me thinking: what about browsers, hardware, routers, and all that other tech gear that makes your clinic run?
Apparently, I wasn't the only one wondering these things. Frequently, our Members ask us what technologies we recommend to optimize WebPT. While our software works great with just about any setup, there are some steps you can take to create the most ideal WebPT experience.
Internet Connection
We recommend Cable or DSL Internet with a connection speed of at least 1 Mbps (megabits per second) upload and 10 Mbps download. If your clinic uses QuickScan and/or eDoc, you'll benefit from a faster upload speed.
Wireless Routers
Pretty much any current wireless router will work great with WebPT. However, many therapists have said that the Linksys E3000 and Asus RT-N16 router models work well. Just make sure that the quality of your router is in in proportion to your clinic’s router workload; (the more Internet users, the better the router you’ll need).
