Medical Scribes Help Form EHRs

While the majority of other businesses started converting to electronic files years ago, hospitals are lagging behind. In fact, only 1.5% of hospitals today have a “comprehensive electronic health record, and 8% have a basic version. The main reason why hospitals have been slow to adapt the technology is the massive price tag ($20 million-$200 million).

The University of Virginia Medical Center is taking strides to adopt EHRs. The medical center recently started employing medical scribes to help follow doctors in the ER and take down detailed notes on laptops which will form part of each patient’s electronic health record.

Click here for the entire article: High-tech scribes help transfer medical records into electronic form.

New Math for Health Care Reform

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal detailed some promising signs that a bill for the health care overhaul will be passed soon.

Congressional budget crunchers announced that the latest Senate health bill will cost $829 billion over the next decade, covering 94% of the non-elderly. In addition, the new bill will reduce the federal budget deficit by $81 billion.

Democrats are still divided over main elements of the new legislation, namely, whether to include a public health insurance plan and how to pay for the overhaul. So far, the bill’s funding comes from $404 billion in cuts to Medicare and two other government programs. Another $201 billion will come from a 40% excise tax on generous health insurance plans levied on insurers. Finally, the remaining funds will come from annual fees on insurers, medical device makers and pharmaceutical companies.

Click here to read the entire article: New Math Boosts Health Care Plan.

AHDI – Power of 10 Challenge

The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI) recently launched a year-long campaign to raise $10 from 10,000 MTs by 2010.

The medical transcription association plans to use the money to help support it’s advocacy efforts in Washington D.C.

Per AHDI’s Web site: “Our lobbying firm, along with our government relations staff, are making sure our sector is well represented in important meetings and discussions being held by our nation’s legislators and policymakers on healthcare reform, criteria and standards for EHR systems, and workforce development in allied health.

Currently, there are two ways to contribute to the Power of 10 Campaign:
Mail – Send donations to: AHDI 4230 Kiernan Avenue, Suite 130, Modesto CA 95356
Facebook – Make a donation through the Facebook cause: Support to AHDI Power of 10 Campaign. For every 10th donation of $10, AHDI will give away a great credit-worthy product, starting with an educational CD.

Click here for more information about the Power of 10 Campaign.

Temp Nurses Needed to Administer Swine Flu Vaccine

Here’s a brand new niche that temporary nurse staffing agency owners should jump on right away…As the H1N1 vaccination becomes available, healthcare facilities across the U.S. will need additional personnel to handle the projected influx of people who want to receive the vaccine.

An article on WMTC-TV’s web site quoted Yvonne Madlock, Director of the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department: “Our goal in the next several weeks is to identify a pool of nurses that can work with us to assure we have an adequate number of vaccinators available.”

Click here to read the rest of the story: Nurses Needed to Help Deliver H1N1 Vaccine in Memphis.

Results of New Health Care Reform Poll Are In

A results of a telephone poll of 3003 U.S. adults that began on September 8 and concluded on September 17 are in, and the overall takeaway from the poll is that most Americans are willing to pay higher taxes to receive the best quality healthcare.

Conducted by Thomson Reuters, the survey also revealed the following:

    1. 35% believe that President Barack Obama’s reform agenda will lead to better health care
    2. 41% think the President’s agenda will lower costs
    3. 76% believe Americans deserve the best in health care
    4. 43% believe that they are receiving the best in health care right now
    5. 77% of those polled are currently satisfied with their doctors
    6. 68% are currently satisfied with their health insurance coverage
    7. 53% are currently satisfied with their out-of-pocket expenses

      Click here to read more of the survey’s results: Americans willing to fund health care reform-poll.

      Banks Review Business Owners’ Personal Credit Before Lending

      Smart Answers Columnists, Karen E. Klein, recently addressed an important question: Do business loans show up on personal credit reports? in a BusinessWeek article. Her response will come as a surprise to most business owners…Yes.

      Banks are starting to report small business loan payment histories to some of the top credit reporting bureaus, however, there’s no uniform policy in place yet. Plainly put, banks are starting to rely more heavily on consumer credit scores because personal repayment history has proven to be predictive of how likely a business is to pay back its loans.

      “It will depend on what bank you’ve got a loan with and what kind of reporting they do,” Jordan Peterson, senior vice-president for business banking at PNC Financial Services Group  said in the article. He suggests that small business owners ask their bank loan officer or bank manager about your bank’s policy on sharing business loan data with credit bureaus.

      Click here to read the entire response: Personal Credit Reports Reflect Business Loans.

      CA Facing Allied Health Shortage

      According to a report issued by The California Wellness Foundation, by 2030, the state of California will need 988,000 allied health professionals.

      Similar to the nurse faculty shortage, the allied health workforce is experiencing problems with retaining educators because instructors get paid more money to work than to teach the profession. In addition, California’s state budget crisis is reducing the systems’ ability to offer classes due to high equipment and material costs.

      There is one positive note…About half of the allied health professional jobs that will be required in the state by 2030 are entry-level positions, meaning a high school education is all that’s needed.

      For all those allied health staffing agencies out there, it sounds as though CA is a good place to start marketing your services.

      Click here to read the entire article: Dire Shortage Seen in Allied Health Professionals.

      PRN Funding Invited to Exhibit at Private Duty Expo

      Las Vegas, NV–PRN Funding, LLC will be exhibiting for the first time at the Annual Private Duty National Conference and Expo from November 16-18.  The conference will be held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV.

      President, Phil Cohen, and Marketing Manager, Nikki Flores, will be on hand in booth #211 during exhibit hall hours. Private duty home care agency owners are encouraged to stop by the booth to learn how home care factoring can help them maximize their cash flow.

      With years of experience in healthcare industry, PRN Funding has a precise understanding of the unique challenges within the private duty home care industry. PRN Funding offers financial resources to these companies by purchasing their accounts receivable–a process known as ‘factoring’, which provides the cash needed to sustain and grow a healthcare business.

      Pinpointing Slow Hospital Job Growth

      Is the recession responsible for the flat job growth in the hospital sector? Or, is something larger at play? Are we seeing a fundamental shift in the way healthcare is being delivered in this country? Is the idea of the single, monolithic brick-and-mortar hospital giving way to a more fluid contract where hospitals play a less-centralized role?

      Reporter, John Commins, attempted to answer these questions and more in his recent HealthLeaders Media article: What’s Behind Slow Hospital Job Growth?

      According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics preliminary August 2009 data, the overall health sector reported 27,900 payroll additions in August, while hospitals lost 700 jobs.

      One explanation for the trend is that the recessions has accelerated a long-term trend away from hospitals and toward the outpatient setting, senior healthcare analyst, David Bachman, said.

      Still, Kurt Mosley (VP of business development for Merritt Hawkins & Associates) blames hospitals’ slow job growth on the economy. However, he thinks the Obama administration and health care reform will really benefit hospitals. He said that  most of the $20 billion that will be set aside for electronic medical records will be funneled through hospitals.

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