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We’ve come to the conclusion of our health care infographic series. Hopefully you’ve not only enjoyed the pretty artwork, but learned a few things about the health care industry. Let us know which was your favorite. If you have a cool health care or healthcare IT related infographic please send our way. We would love to see it.

#4 - Prescriptions Most Marketed to Doctors

For physicians, interacting with pharmaceutical representatives is just another part of life.  But did you know that the top drug companies spend over $16 billion each year just marketing to doctors?  Check out this infographic for an eye-opening break down of the most marketed prescriptions, top selling drugs, and different tactics pharmaceutical reps use to make their sales.  It even gives a peek of how patients feel about their doctors’ prescription choices.

#5 - Overcoming the Nursing Crisis

There have been rumblings of an impending drought of registered nurses for some time now. In 2006, a Health Resources and Services Administration Report claimed that “to meet projected growth in demand for RN services, the United States must graduate 90 percent more nurses.” This infographic lays-out those drastic projections by specialty and state, as well as the reasons for the shortfall. It also takes a look at median salaries, loan repayment programs, and other incentives to attract new students to the field.

Earlier this week we brought you the first in a 3-part series of healthcare related infographics from 2011. Check out the next two. Again, these are presented in no particular order.

#2 – The Rise of the Digital Doctor

With 90% of physicians riding the social media wave, there are big, new implications for physician and patient communication. This infographic gives a peek at how online communities may increase medical advancements, and how physician/patient communication has changed throughout history. It even gives a handy break-down of the most influential doctors on twitter. See how you stack up against Dr. Oz in re-tweets!

#3 - The Most and Least Expensive Cities for Health Care

Ever wondered how your city’s health care costs stack up against the rest of the U.S.?  See the top five cities for everything from Medicare costs to average costs per patient, even prescription drug sales. The answers may surprise you. (Here’s a hint: try not to get sick in Miami!)

The majority of people are visual learners. So it is no surprise that there has been a sharp increase in  the use of infographics to display complex data in a way that the general public can understand. The healthcare market has taken note and now uses this go-to-tool for data visualization of various industry related info. We combed the internet to collect the most interesting and relevant examples of healthcare infographics from 2011.  We’ll be presenting them in no particular order throughout the next week.

First up – The Doctor’s Tech Toolbox

This infographic illustrates how physicians are quickly embracing mobile healthcare solutions.  See which devices are the most popular and what resources physicians are accessing with them.  For more on Mobile Health technologies, check out our podcast on mobile health as a disruptive technology!

Last year the Tips & Tricks section of the newsletter was by far the most viewed. This year we are revamping it to include actual questions from our users. We are working closely with our Support department to get answers to the questions you ask. The answers, in short video segments, will be posted on our blog every other Friday. If we pick your question to answer that week you’ll win a USB*.

We hope that these upgraded Tips & Tricks videos will become a valuable resource, and show you in-depth ways to use your NueMD system.

If you have a question about your system that you would like answered, please contact us at marketing@nuesoft.com with the subject line “Tips & Tricks”. We would love to get video of you asking the question and include it in our videos.

*Prize is subject to change and availability.

Video  Transcript

Sean: Hi. I’m Sean Ogawa- a senior product manager here at Nuesoft Technologies. As most of you are aware, January first marked the start for all electronic claims to be submitted in the new ANSI 5010 format. The new standard contains an estimated eight hundred changes over the original version. This government mandated switch affects all providers, health plans, clearing houses and billing agents.

To help smooth the transition, we’d like to share with you the top tips for setting up your NueMD system for ANSI 5010. We’ll review key areas where you can set up your software to continue transmitting claims without rejection.

Follow along to make sure you completed all these steps:

Put NPIs in the right spot in Practice Setup. If needed, call payers and see if providers are registered as Individuals or a Group, then verify the NPI on file is correct. Confirm NPIs are correct in Practice Setup and fix if needed: Individual NPIs go under Care Providers. Group NPIs go under Billing Groups.

Choose the MSP Insurance Type when Medicare is the secondary payer: From the main menu, click Patient. Pick the target patient, then click Insurance. Pick the target Medicare policy, then choose the right MSP Insurance Type. Save when done. 

Only enter assigned IDs in Medical Facilities: From the main menu, click Practice Setup, Medical Facilities. Pick the target facility. Leave FDA No. blank, unless you were assigned a number showing you can perform certain diagnosis tests. Leave Medicare ID, Medicaid ID and BCBS ID blank, unless you were assigned a certification number for these payers. Save when done.

We hope this helps you keep your claims filing cleanly during this transition period. If you do have any issues contact your Nuesoft support department. Thank you.

Related articles

• Will You Get Paid After the ANSI 5010 Deadline? (nuesoft.com)

Thinking about the start of a new year brings about talk of resolutions and change for the upcoming year. We thought we’d stick with that theme for January’s podcast. While most people are resolving to workout more and get in shape, Nuesoft wants to stress a healthy lifestyle at work.

For most practice’s employees, your days are filled with a hectic schedule of checking patients in/out, paperwork or any host of other activities depending on your position. But a lot of it can be spent sitting down in front of a computer. This is true for so many office workers, which is why it is important to get up and moving around at work. If you have your entire office doing it with you, A) it will help having a team of people cheering each other on and B) you won’t feel silly if you are sitting on a yoga ball or doing other stretches and quick workouts.

This year resolve to have a healthier lifestyle while at work. Get the whole practice involved and set up routines that will work for everyone. Use examples from the list below to get started and let us know how it’s going!

Five things you can do to get active at your practice:

1. Designate a coordinator to get everyone involved.
2. Create a board that will centralize all wellness information (leaflets, routines, leader board – if you want to make it a competition, etc.)
3. Walk as a group during lunch around the building or floor you are on.
4. Sit on a yoga ball for an hour a day while working on the computer. When your hour is up pass it to another team member.
5. Sign up as a group to do a 5k, softball team or other sporting activity. It’ll also promote morale!

Watch Nuesoft’s January podcast below for other ideas.

Season’s Greetings from Nuesoft Technologies! Watch our staff and the Nuesoft office come to life in this “Twas the Night Before Christmas” remake.

This holiday spread the word about how much you like Nuesoft’s practice management, clinic management or transparent billing services and receive more than good tidings. Each time someone you refer signs up for one of our Internet-based solutions, Nuesoft will gift you a Motorola Xoom Android Tablet*.

In a previous post we went into depth about how mHealth will impact HIT adoption in the near future. Mobile technology, because of its ability to securely store info in the cloud and streamline workflow, has the potential to radically alter the landscape of health care.

Watch this podcast with Nuesoft CEO, Massoud Alibakhsh to learn more about mobile heath as a disruptive technology.

Let’s face it. There is a lot of competition in the practice management and EHR software field. One thing (among many) that sets Nuesoft apart from other vendors is that we are Mac compatible. There are very few vendors that can say that, making it a distinguishing characteristic.

Currently, more than 75% of physicians have adopted iOS (iphone and ipad) devices which are Mac products. It stands to reason that with this adoption doctors are realizing the ease-of-use and simplicity Apple products offer, and may begin to use them more in their practices to streamline scheduling and billing.

After hearing from lots of physicians that use Mac systems in their offices, Katie Matlack with Software Advice, a software comparison and selection resource, decided to compile a list of the vendors Mac-users should consider to help meet their billing challenges. Nuesoft’s Internet-based, NueMD practice management and billing software made the short-list.

You can read more about Mac compatible practice management systems on the Software Advice blog.

Those who own a smartphone, tablet PC or other mobile device can handily cite the ways it impacts how they access information, interact with others or even manage their day. This is also true in health care settings, where smart phones are expediting decision making and decreasing time providers spend on administration, thanks to a new real-time link to critical data. Counter to the stereotype that health care providers are slow to embrace technology, doctors are leaps and bounds ahead of the mobile curve. A recent Manhattan Research study shows that doctors are using smartphones at more than five times (81%) the rate of the general population. The move toward mobile health and, in particular, the way that it is engaging doctors may also eventually have an unexpected side benefit – faster, more widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs).

Despite the incentives and penalties for EHR adoption enacted by the U.S. government under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, statistics from the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology show that through July of 2011, about half (51%) of small practices (3-5 providers) and not even a third (31%) of solo provider practices are using EHRs. Even in the cases of practices that do use EHRs, they may not always be using HIT in a way that is “meaningful” and in line with the government’s HITECH objectives.

It remains to be seen whether the upcoming penalty phase of HITECH will spur more providers to get on the EHR bandwagon. But the mere fact that smartphone usage by physicians is outpacing EHR adoption (see chart) supports the notion that the solution to the adoption problem may not come from the government’s push, but rather from the pull by physicians opting for mobile technologies.

Doctors’ interest in mobile health will shape the future of HIT in a much more compelling way than the plan outlined by HITECH. Here’s why:

1) Robust EHRs are being developed for mobile platforms. The first phase of full-blown, cloud-based electronic health records that can run on mobile devices is now beginning to emerge, and it includes robust software packages with all of the core functionality found in desktop EHR products. This means that doctors can do everything from enter diagnosis codes, submit a claim or even e-prescribe – all from their smartphone or tablet device.
2) Mobile devices more easily flex to a practice’s workflow than desktop HIT models. Many of the hurdles related to EHR adoption are related to workflow preferences. Being tethered to a desktop computer can be disruptive to the clinical encounter and contrary to many of the reasons physicians opted to practice medicine in the first place. Mobile devices remove many of these workflow issues by enabling doctors to interact with patients more naturally. Most mobile devices now also include voice integration capabilities, video, and social media types of tools that are also germane to doctors’ desire for a more hands-on and direct role with patients.

The combination of a technology tool that supports physicians’ workstyle preferences, and access via that tool to fully functional EHR software will precipitate a complete turnaround in doctors’ attitudes about HIT. Now that smartphones and mobile devices have entered the HIT equation, doctors will stop looking at EHRs as a necessary evil and instead see a useful tool that enhances their productivity and adds value to the patient encounter. Most importantly, this paradigm shift won’t have to be legislated, but will happen organically over time. As long as interoperability needs, device performance and security protocols are met, mobile technologies will be the necessary medicine to get doctors away from paper charts and into a world where data is fluid, and care can be more accessible and better coordinated.

Want to learn more? Watch for our December podcast about mobile health featuring CEO Massoud Alibakhsh.