Basics of practice management information technology.

Use of appropriate practice management information technology can result in substantial gains for an otolaryngology practice. If you are shopping for a system, you should review the basics summarized in this article. (If you are not shopping for a system, you should still keep current with what the newer technology can provide.)

When you use integrated software, all components of a patient's chart (medical record, explanation-of-benefit statements, reports, correspondence, etc.) can be retrieved instantaneously and interrelated in the database. But if two different vendors simply interface their products, they create more "points of failure" and cannot interrelate the data. Therefore, integrated software systems are usually better than interfaced systems. Information flows only one way in an interfaced system and both ways in an integrated system.

If the use of technology does not reduce your expenses, provide a return on investment, or improve patient care and satisfaction, why should you use it? Research shows that many practices use expensive technology just for simple word processing, scheduling, and accounting functions. In today's complicated practice management environment, technology must also provide you with information. In particular, it should not only teach you what you don't know, it should also teach you what you don't know that you don't know. For example, do you know if all your third-party payers are actually sending you the correct amount for every submission as specified in your contract? (1) Do you know how much of your accounts receivables you are actually going to receive? (2) Do you know how your employees are spending their time at work? (3) Does your staff know exactly how much each patient owes at the time of check-in? (4)

It is also extremely important that your technology be used to automate repetitive tasks, such as filing appeals, refiling claims, and entering redundant data for each patient encounter. Automation reduces overhead.

To paraphrase an old saying, ask not what you need to know about technology, ask how technology can teach you what you need to know. As physicians, some of us are required to run both a medical practice and a billing company. The software we use should not just perform the tasks we tell it to, it should also teach us things we don't know. Don't settle for a system that requires you to know what questions to ask. Insist on technology that will teach you how to improve your bottom line.

References

(1.) Isenberg SF. Expected payment variance, Ear Nose Throat J 2002:81:829.

(2.) Isenberg SF. Budgeting with projected payments. Ear Nose Throat J 2002:81:624.

(3.) Isenberg SF. Measuring staff productivity with technology. Ear Nose Throat J 2002;81:704.

(4.) Isenberg SF. Emphasize collection of copays while the patient is still in the office. Ear Nose Throat J 2003;82:758.