Printing necessary medical and caregiving forms

Several times each year it’s the same routine: schedule visits to the doctors to have them fill out medical forms for the children’s schools or camps or for a family travel vacation. I recently learned that I’m supposed to provide instructions to caregivers, babysitters or even to other parents when my child has an overnight or a weekend sleepover.

When I arranged for a nurse to look in on my mother every day while I was on vacation, the service asked me lots of questions about what kind of care to provide and had me sign the instruction sheet that they prepared.

Think about what happens after visiting the doctor or the hospital. When I had my appendix out, I received a form with handwritten reminders scrawled in the Instructions section. It was hard to read and didn’t include all that I needed to know.

It’s important to communicate medical and caregiving information to go along with the person when she moves from one place to another, but in this day and age, manual forms are inconvenient. This seems like a job for a computer.

What if, as a normal part of medical practice, the patient or the caregiver can select and print forms, already filled in, with the information needed by a school, a camp, another doctor, a nurse… any other caregiver… even another family member or friend who might have to coordinate medical care on a temporary basis. It wouldn’t be so hard, especially for people with relatively straightforward conditions, like allergies, or who are recovering from a specific treatment or surgery.

I recently learned that the patient portal, iMedicalHome, to the Doctations Medical office management system has just such a feature. As a patient yourself, or as the healthcare coordinator of family members, you can choose the report recipient and the type of report and receive a preformatted report with the information needed by the recipient. For a school or camp you can print a summary of immunizations in a standard format. You can print another report that lists the child’s allergies or guidelines for the camp to administer prescriptions on the proper schedule.

You can even design and save your own special sections, such as how to prepare food for a child who is a finicky eater, and print the report to give to a babysitter. That’s a REAL timesaver.

And because the kid’s medical information is in the same system, if you are passing along details about allergies or medications… the details are up to date.

If the patient is following a treatment plan from a doctor, you can also print off the treatment instructions for the person who will be helping out.

With an online system like iMedicalHome that is connected to a doctor’s medical record system like Doctations, the power of computing can finally help simplify life for us family managers and caregivers.

Finally, one place to keep family members' records

The need for ready access to family medical records is always present. When we go upstate, I need to bring Jamie’s allergy workups… and Pete’s diabetes trends… just in case. When it’s time to get Pete ready for camp, I need the records to fill in the medical history form and ask Dr. Sharma for an immunization status report.

My Mom fell and broke her hip last fall, and I’m her healthcare proxy—which means I decide about her care. Decisions like… which rehab center to use… near her home, my home, her doctor’s office? And when a specialist calls, I need to tell him exactly what medications she’s taking.

I used to keep the family’s records in a satchel that stayed with me. But that didn’t work too well because the contents kept growing heavier and it was hard to find things.

Then I tried one of the online services where you key in the patient’s conditions, allergy list and the doctor’s instructions, or scan and upload the doctor’s reports. But, I didn’t have the time to keep things up-to-date.

What I really need is to get my doctor, my children’s doctors and my mother’s doctors to put their patient health records in one place online, and where I, as the healthcare decider for my family, have access. Then I could get the latest reports, as needed, wherever I am. If I give a new doctor temporary access, he can review my son’s or my mother’s medical reports and not have to rely on my recollection or interpretation of the patient’s condition or my diligence in keying data.

I recently found out about Doctations and its patient portal, iMedicalHome, where I can review the reports he puts there, and I can post allergies, history and medical directives. If my children’s doctors don’t use Docations, I can still put their reports, medications, allergies, and medical history on it… and if they do, the reports, prescriptions and instructions show up there automatically. I can also message questions to the doctors’ offices and get answers back without making an appointment. Just as I imagined, I can give a new or consulting doctor temporary access. Even better, I can look at the office’s openings and schedule appointments for my convenience.

So, finally there is one place to keep medical records for me and my family, and because it is tied into our doctors’ own medical records systems, when I need to look something up, I have the confidence that it is up-to-date.

The Medicare eRx bonus... not actually all that hard to get...

Did you know… your e-Prescribing Bonus is within reach!


Did you know that if you use just one of the thousands of features built into Doctations, specifically e-Prescribing (DocT eRx), and you bill more than $25,000 per year to Medicare, that your e-Prescribing bonus will pay for your entire year’s subscription to Doctations?

What do I have to do?
All you need to do is submit e-Prescriptions for twenty-five (25) patients before the end of 2010 to receive a CMS bonus. The bonus will be direct-deposited or mailed to you in early 2011.

How much do I make?
You will receive a bonus equal to 2% of your total collections from Medicare for the year. For example, if you receive $100,000 from Medicare charges in 2010, your bonus will be $2,000.

Pay $420 to make $2000.

How does it work?

Step 1: All you need to do is register for Doctations. This will cost you $420/year for unlimited e-Prescribing. Plus, you get to use the entire Doctations system.

(This includes patient scheduling, EHR, task management, secure messaging, video conferencing, document management system, a FULL PHR for each patient and a comprehensive billing and revenue management module. These options are offered on a “pay as you go” basis which means that the more you use these other features, the more you pay per month. See our website for more information: www.doctations.com. There is also a “prix fixe” fee for the entire Doctations package.)

[need to identify what’s included in the $400. In the How good… paragraph near the end it says “scheduling is included at no extra charge.” Maybe add an * to the features that are pay as you go and say “The options marked (*) are offered on a “pay as you go” basis.”]

Step 2: When a patient arrives at your office, your front desk will register each patient in Doctations. This takes about 30 seconds.

Step 3: You click the eRx icon at the top of the screen and write prescriptions. DocT eRx keeps track of your “Top 40” medications automatically. It also allows you to create a list of your “Favorite” medications. It also allows you to enter the patient’s allergies and medication list.

Step 4: Search for your medication. DocT eRx will display a list of all allergy and medication warnings. If you enter the patient’s medical history with ICD9 codes, it will also give you diagnosis related warnings. We use the “Cadillac” of all medication databases; First Databank. Our pharmaceuticals databases are updated monthly!

Step 5: Enter “Sig”, quantity prescribed, etc. (DocT eRx provides this for you with one click) or use our built-in dosage calculator.

Step 6: Click “e-Prescribe”! And you are DONE!.

Do this 24 more times and you qualify for a bonus.

We will train you to use e-Prescribing via webinar at no extra charge. We will answer your questions online or by phone 24/7!

How much work is it?
All you need to do is e-Prescribe twenty-five (25) times before December 31st on 25 different patients. Learning how will take less than a few minutes per patient. And all “warnings” are instantaneous. You no longer need to write the date, patient name, address, age, etc., on every prescription you write. If you are re-filling prescriptions it is even faster, just double click on the patients medications list to create a prescription.

Are there any other requirements?
Yes, 10% of the total number of charges sent to CMS must be for one of a defined list of E&M codes like 99213, 99205, etc. A full list is available at: http://www.cms.gov/ERXIncentive/

How good is e-Prescribing in Doctations?
There is none better. Just the dosage calculator alone is worth the annual subscription fee.

Also, the eRx module in Doctations is part of a much bigger package - of which you can use all or none. It is up to you.

For example, you can use our scheduling module everyday without any extra charge, it is included in the $400/month. So is task management, secure text/video messaging AND A FULL PHR for each and every one of your patients. Learn more at WWW.Doctations.com.

Guarantee:
If you are unhappy with Doctations ePrescribing in the first 10 days, we will refund your entire subscription.

Why?
Doctations is part of the DocPatient Network whose mission is to help doctors build better healthcare for their patients and their profession. The entire DocPatient Network was built by physicians for physicians.

Are you a part of the problem, or are you the solution?

We are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

Every doctor in the country is concerned about the changes being wrought on our industry. Almost every doctor I talk to these days is worried that everything is just going to get worse.

Just yesterday one of my colleagues, on returning for an annual specialty meeting, told me that most of the doctors are concerned that EHR is the pathway to final destruction of medicine. “Once they have all of that information and they ‘control’ all of our prescribing it won’t be medicine anymore.”

It’s all true unless doctors are more vocal about which EHR they are using. If doctors do not play a role in defining this issue, the role of computers in medicine, we are all doomed. And that, my friends, is one of the reasons we built the DocPatientNetwork in the first place.

- We are open to any and all recommendations about how the software should work.
- We are growing a network every time another doctors signs on to use all or part of the system.
- We are dedicated to helping doctors network with each other and with their patients for better care and a healthier profession.
- We have built the most amazing medical practice technology you have ever seen! And you can check it out for yourself anytime, anywhere for free.

And we offer a billing package that comes with a required “Practice Management Optimization Service” for one year that comes with a guarantee that we will increase your bottom line by 7% within one year.

And we are dedicated to helping doctors aggregate into larger partnership practices where ever there is the need or desire.

You can log on and try the entire system for free. Then pay about the price of a cell phone bill per month for full access.

Making healthcare safer, better and less expensive: Your safety and the safety of your family is in YOUR hands when you use the healthcare system.

Healthcare is not what it should be in this country. Healthcare reform may fix some of t he problems but unless we find a more efficient means of doing healthcare we will “break the bank”. The Medicare system will be insolvent within 10 years and social security too. Medicaid is already straining the budgets of already over stressed state budgets. Healthcare costs are now at about 18% of GDP, at over $2.5T. So, healthcare reform that reforms insurance companies and demands that everyone must have insurance may be a great start towards “healthcare equality” but, it is not nearly enough to solve its problems.

The fact that the American people appear to be increasingly in favor of the new healthcare reform law as evidenced by recent polls, suggests that people clearly want better, more accessible and more affordable healthcare and they see the healthcare reform law as the first step. So the reform law is not likely to change. Yet most agree that most of the fundamental flaws in healthcare in the U.S. are not solved by the new healthcare reform law.

Creating a thrifty, high quality healthcare system probably can only be accomplished by us.
How can ordinary citizens help?
Here are THREE things you must start doing NOW:

First, it’s time that all Americans learn to take responsibility for their own healthcare information and for fully vetting and understanding their treatment options.

The best way to do this is to join the DocPatientNetwork for free and to use the iMedicalHome.com secure, private service to store your medical information online for the following reasons:

1. iMedicalHome is for ordinary people and it is easy to use and very powerful.
2. It is secure and private.
3. Your data is in a private trust. It will not be sold or distributed except by you or your doctor with your permission
4. iMedicalHome.com is FREE.
5. iMedicalHome connects you directly to doctors, through a sister web-application for doctors called Doctations which is also free. In fact, once they have their free membership, doctors can opt for an awesome EMR that is built into Doctations and even for a medical billing system/service that gives them full control of their billing and makes the billing process accountable and easily managed! And you can help your doctors come aboard by being the first in your area to register for iMedicalHome then inviting your doctors to register for Doctations. It takes less than five minutes!

Once registered, you can use the iMedicalHome online service to upload ALL of your medical information and then use it to know everything you can about your medical information. You can even ask us to help you obtain and upload your medical files online using our “ePatient Conversion” service (just call 1-877-Doc-PATIent). Once this information is online, you can visit your doctors and encourage them to use Doctations to update your medical information during your visit with them. It does not matter if they already have an EMR. iMedicalHome gives your doctors everything they need to work with you online in a secure and private manner and to upload your medical information into whatever EMR they are using in one step without inaccuracy of re-entering all of that information repeatedly by hand.

You need to know that healthcare is not what it was like 40, 30 or even 10 years ago. It is far more complex and your medical information is far more critical than ever before. Missing information or inaccurate information has directly and indirectly caused people to loose their lives!

Once you enter your medical information into Doctations, you will be able to learn more about that information. Learn the side effects of your drugs and how they interact, for example. But, just as importantly, we have consolidated that information, stored by you or your doctor, into information that is just as easily used by your doctors as it is by you. The same data you review and edit at home is used by doctors using Doctations to help doctors build your medical encounter reports, safely prescribe new medications and review your labs.

Second, you should ALWAYS obtain a second or third opinion before you have any procedure. Do not simply accept recommendations for surgery. Ask what would happen if you decide to wait a few weeks. Ask if you have time for a second opinion. If you receive a negative response, you should be very concerned indeed. Either you have a medical emergency on your hands or you have a doctor pushing you into surgery. If it is a medical emergency, the doctor should be able to very clearly explain why. If this explanation does not make sense to you, then ask a doctor you trust for their opinion before proceeding.

We have provided an alternative solution by providing the ability to obtain an “InfoConsult” from any physician on the DocPatientNetwork using iMedicalHome. You can use iMedicalHome to ask a doctor unfamiliar with your case to review your medical records stored on iMedicalHome (you grant temporary access). Your primary doctor then receives relevant information (and you receive a copy), not advice, that can help you make decisions. The more you know, the safer you are; and this is more important today than ever before.

Third, rate your doctor after every visit. The rating information does not go into a public forum, so you can speak freely. The information goes directly to your doctor, with your name or anonymously, your choice. Your feedback helps your doctors do a better job and to learn how they can serve you better. They actually want your feedback and that is one of the major reasons they use Doctations.

Please join the DocPatientNetwork.com today and help us to build a better healthcare system now before growing financial pressures further degrade quality and accessability. We want to hear any and all suggestions so please call us or email us at support@doctations.com.

Dr. Louis Cornacchia
Co-Founder
Doctations, Inc.

Preventing Reform in Healthcare

These are very exciting times in healthcare. There appears to be a general consensus that the system is too expensive, too wasteful and negatively affects our nation’s competitiveness. The federal government had predicted that the Medicare and Medicaid programs will not be sustainable beyond the next seven or eight years.

The healthcare industry itself appears to be resistant to change. Patients with good insurance seem generally happy with the system, even as their employers increasingly begin to reduce healthcare coverage for their employees. Those less fortunate have been shown to receive less care and, studies have repeatedly shown, poorer outcomes. The democratic process itself is strained by the complexity of this industry.

How can it be that the premier healthcare system in the world, with more Nobel prizes and more innovations than any other nation in the world, can have a system that is so inefficient and wasteful? Why hasn’t this same innovative spirit been applied to the issues of care delivery? This is especially puzzling when one realizes the enormous windfall to medical research and future innovation by digitizing healthcare information and computerizing workflows to streamline them. What’s the problem?

As far as I can see, the problem is obfuscation caused by the same complexity that has repeatedly stymied the democratic process required to achieve sensible reform. Lack of will there is not.

We need healthcare for the people, by the people. It is clear that top down won’t work. How about bottom up? Isn’t that what the Internet was made for? I think so.

Rapid Sequence Billing

Rapid Sequence Billing is the next step in the revolution of Medical Billing. iBillWell is the only billing solution to provider this function. No more importing and exporting of files needed. No more manually entered information. No more paper files. iBillWell provides Rapid Sequence Billing for all Doctations users. This means that patient demographics, insurance information, CPT, DX, Modifiers, Quantities, Referring Provider information, and fees, are automatically converted to iBillWell. Eligibility, validation, scrubbing, Clearing House submissions and the arrival of the claim to the insurance carrier are all automated. This means that from the time the patient walks into the doctor’s office to the time the claims is at the insurance company there is no biller’s manual intervention. Everything is automated. This also includes automated G-Codes for E-Prescribing. This will allow automatic documentation for reimbursement through the Government Incentive Program. Clean information into the system means an increase in your first time accepted submissions for increased cash flow. You can reduce your overhead by 30% just by using the iBillWell Billing Solution.

By: Mitchell Katz - VP, Medical Billing Operations