WebPT Blog - EMR practice management
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9 CommentsMay 3, 2012| Lindsay Bayuk
Thanks to Marissa for sharing this innovative use of technology for therapy with us today! Marissa A. Barrera, MS, MPhil, MSCS, TSHH, CCC-SLP is the owner of New York Neurogenic Speech-Language Pathology, P.C., a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) and Professor of Acquired Motor Speech & Swallowing Disorders. With private practices located in Midtown and on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, Marissa and her team of SLPs feel privileged to provide therapeutic services to hundreds of patients each year. A graduate of Columbia University, she has earned an MS, MPhil, and a Multiple Sclerosis Certified Specialist certification (MSCS) while working towards her PhD in Neurolinguistics (language science). In short, Marissa is proud to be a part of the WebPT community and hopes to help you foster optimal speech and language development in your patients! www.nyneuroslp.comIn honor of this month in which Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) all over the country join together to spread the word of awareness, I thought it would be appropriate to share with you a way for you to grow your practice, help more individuals in need, all the while reducing your practice’s operation costs.
Living in a world where companies are no longer confined to conducting business within a local radius, globalization affords businesses the opportunity to work without boundaries. Although historically Speech-Language Pathologists have always treated their patients within an arm’s reach, in this modern, global market we now too have the opportunity to help patients well outside of our immediate geographic area.
To own a speech-language pathology private practice in the past meant you had to feverishly market yourself to local doctors, psychologists, social workers, PTs, OTs, schools and neighborhood families. In the event that there were multiple practices within close proximity, you had to work twice as hard just in order to maintain a presence in the local market. If the practice model I’ve just described sounds like YOUR current business, then perhaps it is time for you to branch out and consider providing web-based speech and language therapy. If you are tired of participating in the referral rat race, wanting to expand your revenue sources, and are genuinely interested in helping as many individuals as possible, I encourage you to take a moment to peruse the basic facts and some unique benefits to administering web-based therapy.
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Apr 11, 2012| Geoff Elledge
This post was authored by WebPT Billing Specialist, Geoff Elledge. Thanks for sharing your wisdom Geoff!
There are many different ways to look at your clinic’s finances. You can look at average revenue per patient visit, insurance payer mix, average referrals from physicians and on and on.
Let’s start with a few of the basic questions you should ask:
much does it cost you to treat an average patient?- How much does the insurance pay you per visit?
- What is your average patient cost share per visit?
- How long does it take on average to collect?
These are some of the basic questions you have to ask before you can start to maximize your revenues versus expenses.
First of all, take a good hard look at your fixed costs and figure out how much it costs you just to see a patient. It’s boring, but if you want to run a successful business, there’s no better place to start. I know we are in the business of caring for our patients first, but it is still a business, after all!
Start by calculating your average fixed costs such as rent, utilities, equipment costs/depreciation. Then take a look at payroll, salaries, benefits, etc. Add them up on a monthly basis then divide them by the total number of hours your office is open on a monthly basis, say 160 hours per month. The resulting number is your average hourly costs of operation. If you spend 30 minutes per patient on average divide by two and you have your per patient cost per visit. Confused yet? That is just the beginning. -
Sep 10, 2011| Mike Mannheimer
Usability provides the foundation
At WebPT, we are glad that the EMR industry is finally realizing that usability is the key to adoption. The widespread use of Electronic Medical Records will not only save money and time for providers, but also for patients. The benefits of full EMR adoption are immense.
Proposed "solution" to increase usability
What is somewhat perplexing is the method that is being proposed to increase usability of existing systems. A recent article from Kevin MD cited the Government as a great way to standardize and test usability requirements. I have some issues with this approach and I am sure many providers are with me on this one. Before I explain, let’s get some background.
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Aug 15, 2011| Mike Mannheimer
By now, everyone is aware of the financial incentives available for clinicians who switch to Electronic Medical Records. The incentives are supposed to help clinics offset their costs while they digitize their entire office, including getting rid of those awful filing cabinets.
Before too much excitement sets in, you should also be aware that while Rehab professionals (Occupational and Physical Therapists) are required to make the switch under the mandate, they are not eligible for the financial incentives. The reasons for this exclusion are confusing, but we will save that for another blog post.
The lack of funds for Physical Therapists highlights a big factor in all of this. The EMR system they choose to put in place must increase profits or save the clinic money. The system must add productivity and lower costs without having a large start up investment. Most Therapists don’t have a large capital reserve to put up $30,000 to $60,0000 to get up and running with a new system.
A great article from Plus91, recently put forth some practical ways an EMR can drive up clinic revenues:
