Tag - Heathcare

Medical Debt

How To Reduce Medical Debt? 6 Options To Consider!

Medical Debt is very common nowadays and unfortunately, the underprivileged communities are affected a lot. Throughout the year due to high inflation the purchasing power of the common people is decreasing drastically. Having proper medical care is a right of every human being.

Paying off medical bills is not as easy as dealing with other kinds of medical bills. Here in this article, we will evaluate the common reasons behind the high medical Debt and how we can reduce them effectively. But first, let’s have a quick look at what exactly is medical debt.

What is Medical Debt?

Medical Debt is pretty much different from other kinds of Debt. It is defined as a Debt incurred on any person who availed of any medical treatment from any medical service provider.

Impact of Medical Debt 

Medical Debt is not only associated with financial liability. But various studies suggest that it can also impact the overall health condition of an individual. Like if an individual is facing some medical debt, this financial strain can restrict him to avail of further medical care. Which itself is alarming.

It has been seen that debt is also associated with negative health behaviors due to mounting stress. The person may start smoking, adopt other kinds of bad habits or start consuming low-quality food.

If you are a credit card holder then you can damage your credit card history and those low credit scores ultimately put you at credit risk.

6 Options To Reduce Medical Debt

Following are those options that can help you to reduce the medical Debt.

Create a Payment Plan

You can create a payment plan with your health service provider. The payment plan will help you to divide the amount you owe to the service provider. Which surely you can’t afford to pay in a single bill.

The amount of payment you can give to your service provider each month will depend on the amount incurred on you and on the terms and conditions of that particular health care system. The payment plan is one of the best solutions available to avoid medical debt.

Check Your Bill Again

Before paying for the bill you have to check it out again. Because there are chances that the health care center charges you for the services they never rendered. So try to verify the bill before planning to pay. While if you are having the services of any insurance company then you can also cause them to confirm that amount.

Take Medical Insurance Plans

Having insurance plans can give you an advantage. Get yourself insured and read all the insurance terms and agreements carefully. Also read out about your insurance coverage. There are some procedures and treatments which are usually excluded from the general insurance agreement. So you have to make sure about the treatments which are the parts of your insurance coverage.

Avail Medical Credit Cards

As a patient, your first priority is to make an efficient payment plan with your health service provider. But if somehow you fail to negotiate for the payment plan then you can also avail advantage of medical credit cards.

These medical credit cards are issued for specific medical purposes usually for emergency situations. Allowing many patients to get immediate medical care when needed.

Many medical credit cards are interest-free for up to a 12 months period so if you are planning to apply for a medical credit card then you should make sure that either you are capable of paying your debt within the given time period or not. In that case, the medical credit card would be the best option for you to avoid medical Debt.

Take Assistance from a Medical Billing Advocate

Having a medical Billing advocate can also help you to reduce your medical debt.

Those billing advocates are experts in understanding the actual cost of any medical procedure.

So you can hire them to negotiate with the health service providers on your behalf. A good medical billing advocate can also help you to set up a good plan to get rid of your medical debt.

Reconcile to the Service Provider on your own

In that case, if you don’t want to take assistance from the medical billing advocate then you can also negotiate on your own with the health service provider. For that purpose, you have to be fully aware of all the regulations, treatment procedures, and costs. Also, go through your medical bills and detect any charges that look inaccurate.

Apply for Income-driven Hardships Plans

The income-driven hardship plan is exclusively for those individuals in the country who fall into the low-income category. Many health care units have financial assistance programs that help people to manage their medical expenses. Talk to your healthcare provider to confirm your eligibility in that scenario.

While on the other side the income-driven hardship plan can also help you in making a payment plan similar to the plan we have discussed previously.

Medical Debt reduces options for Senior Citizens

It is estimated that an immense amount of people aged above 65 are living with chronic disease. These senior citizens required special medical assistance and in that phase of their life, no one wanted to get a medical debt.

The US government has designed many programs, especially for these people. State health insurance assistance programs (SHIP) Medicare, and Medicaid programs are examples of it.

The Medicare and Medicaid program is designed to give citizens proper healthcare and also they work in reducing their medical debt through insurance assistance. While the SHIP is the state-organized program that offers counseling and assistance to the recipient of the above program and they also help them to overcome their medical debt.

Paying off your medical debts is not always easy for every individual. While throughout the article we have discussed how it can cost you a lot if you are not seriously considering it. The best way to tackle medical debt is to negotiate with the professional. You can also benefit from a no-interest payment plan and federal relief plans if you are eligible for them.

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Medicare advantage

Understanding Medicare Advantage for Healthcare Providers

Medicare Advantage is a state of obtaining Medicare part A and part B coverage plans. This Medicare health plan clarified how much you spend for the services that are under its coverage and what kind of service you acquired from the professional during your visit to the hospital.

You can compare various objectives and comprehend all the options open for you under the Medicare Advantage health care plans so you can sufficiently evaluate them. 

What is Medicare Advantage Plan?

The Medicare Advantage is the plan in which a patient can receive its Medicare part A, B, C, and Part D coverage. These plans are delivered by private health service providers that are obeying the laws and limitations set by Medicare.

Characteristics of Medicare Advantage Plan

The Medicare advantage plan is split into four elements Which are termed part A part B part C and part D. Here is a brief analysis of different parts of the Medicare advantage plan.

Part A: 

This plan contains basic coverage; it manages inpatient hospital care and nursing facilities.

Part B:

 It is termed optional coverage and includes a monthly premium. It includes preventive care doctor visits and other kinds of essential equipment that are required for proper medical treatment

Part C: 

It is also termed as Medicare advantage plans and optional coverage which requires a monthly payment it covers part a part b and part d. Also contains prescription coverage and other medical approaches.

Part D: 

It contains the drug coverage and a monthly payment uses to acquire these services anyone who authorizes Medicare is suitable for this.

Types of Medicare Advantage Plan 

The various kinds of Medicare Advantage Plan are explained beneath: 

  • Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans
  • Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plans
  • Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) Plans
  • Special Needs Plans (SNPs)
  • Medical Savings Account (MSA) Plans

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans

The health maintenance organization (HMO) plan delivers you with essential health services from doctors, health care attendants. Emergency care is not incorporated into the health maintenance organization plan.

(HMO) the plan demands you to get a referral from your primary health care service provider to obtain additional service. 

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plans

This Medicare advantage plan has a network of medical service providers like doctor specialists and a network of hospitals but instead of utilizing this network, you can also acquire the services from out-of-network providers at a loftier price.

With this plan, you can pick any specialist for any hospital which is not on the list of your plan but undoubtedly, it will cost you a lot.

Private Fee-for-Service (PFFS) Plans

A private fee-for-service plan is another type of Medicare advantage plan which is offered by private health insurance companies. Like if you maintain a PFFS plan network then you can take the services of any of the health service providers who agree to treat you under this network.

With this program, you can also take assistance from the out of the network service providers that track the principles of this network but it may cost you a lot.

Special Needs Plans (SNP)

Special needs plan offers benefits to the patient who requires typical treatment. They are particular patients with a distinct kind of disease and usually don’t have massive funding to finance their cure.

The special needs plan wraps the exact Medicare Advantage plan in which Medicare part a and Medicare part b plans are comprised but they also deliver their patients special care.

Specialists who fall in this group like the people who are suffering from some chronic diseases liver cancer dementia chronic heart failure autoimmune disorder etc can obtain extra services with advantages.

Medical Saving Accounts Plan (MSA)

This plan integrates a highly deductible insurance plan with medical savings accounts.

The highly deductible medical plan only starts to cover your expense after fulfilling a high yearly deductible while the special sort of saving account plan deposits money into your account in the second phase of MSA. 

What Exactly Medicare Advantage plan work?

Medicare advantage plan functions in a method when a person joins the advantage plan the Medicare spends a specified portion of cash to the insurance company that proposed to provide health insurance for services the healthcare providers rendered.

These medical-operated advantage programs are peddled by private insurance companies that are bound to obey the directions and limitations imposed by Medicare. These rules and regulations are so adaptable throughout the year and they will tell you before switching the new form per year.

What Medicare Advantage Plan Enfold?

The Medicare advantage plan usually covers individuals who are over 65 and older with chronic conditions.

The Medicare advantage plan on the other side covers some services that are not incorporated in the initial Medicare program.

Like they give you discounts on gym memberships and conduct some physical fitness programs give you tips regarding your sight, hearing, dental, and further health-related problems.

The Medicare advantage plans cover part A and part B and also give you some immunity or ease for the treatment that is not reasonable firsthand for you.

The drug prescription coverage varies according to the plans like if you join an HMO plan that doesn’t offer drug coverage so you can’t avail that services from a Medicare drug plan similarly a PPO and PFFS also do not offer the coverage until you get a Medicare drug plan while an SNP is liable to provide you Medicare prescription drug coverage.

The Medicare advantage plan is the gateway for the patient to get their insurance coverage under one platform. Old-age people can get extra benefits with this plan. They can avail special treatments for their chronic disease at a low cost.

The advantage plan not only covers the medical insurance but also gives the services under part a part b and will cover prescription of drugs vision, hearing services, and various other healthcare essentials.

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Medical Transcription Services

Medical Transcription Services- Proactive To The Needs of The Healthcare Sector

Hospitals and medical offices using old transcription techniques have to rely on paper-based charts, containing a patient’s history and treatment. Many errors have been known to be caused by this like, writing incorrectly deciphered by office staff, nurses or insurance companies. Leading to costly and dangerous mistakes. 

Medical practices have two primary options when it comes to medical transcription. They can hire an in-house team of transcribers, or they can outsource transcription to a third party. Accurate notes are essential for ensuring a patient receives the best care and treatment they need. 

To Handle these notes in a more professional and easier way and to keep those notes from getting lost, companies outsource their Medical Transcription Services. 

In-house transcription has some benefits, many medical providers find outsourcing medical transcription services is the more effective option. 

Outsourcing and In-House Transcription-Comparison

According to reports as of 2018, of the 58,000 people who worked as medical transcriptionists in the US, 23% of them worked as in-house physicians, 21% worked in hospitals, and one-third were employed by companies that provide administrative and support services, such as transcription companies. 

Working in-house, transcriptionists are responsible for listening to a recording made by a medical provider, interpreting and studying the recording and transcribing it. 

Nowadays, changes in technology have made the use of speech recognition software more common. Now, a medical provider is likely to dictate a note that is automatically transcribed by the software.

A medical transcriptionist will review the typed-up note, comparing it to the original recording. They will make any changes or corrections needed to the transcription to ensure it is accurate.

Working with an in-house transcriptionist has a few benefits. For example, an employee at the practice will become familiar with a doctor’s way of speaking, making it easier to transcribe notes.

They will also be easy to reach if there are questions or concerns about a particular transcription since they are likely to be in the same office. A medical practitioner can also train transcriptionists to meet his/her standards and to always follow privacy rules and laws. 

An in-house transcriptionist performs other tasks in the office as well. Other than transcribing notes and documents, a transcriptionist might be expected to act as a receptionist, greeting patients who arrive for appointments or answering the phones in the office. Some also handle medical billing, order office supplies and perform other administrative tasks. 

However, multitasking throughout the day can prevent a person from performing their transcription duties with focus. Feeling like they need to rush through transcribing, leading to inaccurate notes. Keeping medical transcription in-house can also be more expensive for a healthcare provider.

If the practice or hospital has hired a person full-time, it will need to pay the employee’s salary, whether there are documents to transcribe or not. The practice will also typically provide payroll and pay unemployment insurance taxes for any employees it hires to do transcription.

Outsourcing Medical Transcription Services Benefits

Charting Made Simple

Dictating medical notes has become easier as technology has improved in the past decade.  Smartphone apps and handheld digital recorders have played a huge part in saving time and money on the administrative paperwork. A physician can now simply enter notes into a device and be ready to see the next patient in a matter of seconds.

The oral notes will be typed out and proofread for errors. The physician would get back the notes within 24 hours and can fill them with ease. With medical transcription, there is no need to search for lost files and waste time.

Increase In Accuracy

Your medical transcription services provider will offer you several levels of quality control to make sure that there is no occurrence of incorrect medical terms.

Companies can also avail the services of a trained transcriptionist for a specific medical specialty like neurology, cardiology or dermatology. Such transcriptionists can assist you with your individual requirements. With outsourcing, comes the freedom from employing several in-house resources for quality control.

Save Money

Numerous costs are involved in hiring a person to provide in-house transcription. Including the time and money spent advertising for a position, time spent reviewing resumes and time spent interviewing candidates. The average company needs more than 40 days to fill a vacant or new position.

Once the transcriptionist is added to the team, your company needs to pay them even if there aren’t notes or documents to transcribe. That is one reason why many medical practices that use in-house transcriptionists usually have their transcription team perform other roles. 

In the case of outsourcing medical transcription services, you only have to pay for the material you have transcribed. If your practice doesn’t see patients for a week or so, you don’t have to worry about continuing to pay the salary of a person who doesn’t have any work to do.

No Equipment

Setting up and maintaining in-house transcription typically requires the purchase of equipment and software. If your team will transcribe documents from recorded voice files, they will need a way to easily playback as well as start and stop those files. 

Using speech recognition software in-house also usually requires the purchase of equipment, such as the software itself and a microphone and recorder for doctors to use when making their notes. Along with investing in the equipment, you will need to spend time training your team on how to use it. 

Outsourcing medical transcription services, all the equipment and software are kept off-site. You won’t have to purchase it, store it or worry about continually updating it

Why Med-Miles?

Transcription companies like Med-Miles offer medical transcription services to fit every type of need. With scalable options, medical transcription can be customized for any practice of any size.

We even offer one-time medical transcription services. It’s time your hospital transformed your unstructured notes into tidy medical reports. Find out more about the medical transcription services offered or feel free to call us at (888) 598-9181 or mail us at  info@med-miles.com.

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Healthcare in the US

Healthcare In The US Is Outdated: An Overview

We live in a world where industries have to find ways of improving and updating, there is no time to stop. Constant improvement in technology is making it crucial to stay informed about new systems.

This is most beneficial if you apply it in your healthcare practice, especially in these times where millions are vulnerable to diseases like COVID-19 and heart attacks, etc. Having older systems makes the healthcare processes slow, often at the expense of your patient’s health.

According to reports by Palo Alto Networks, 83% of devices in US healthcare run on outdated systems.

Let’s find out why running on outdated health care systems is not recommended and how you can improve them.

What Systems Are Being Used Today?

Palo Alto networks checked 1.2 million devices of healthcare organizations in the United States. The results showed that 83% of devices in the US healthcare run on outdated software, with 56% of them operating on Windows 7, 27% on Windows XP, or decommissioned versions of Linux OS.

This is a major issue as Microsoft themselves encourages their users to update to Windows 10. Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7, even if you do not upgrade to Windows 10, your device will continue operating normally.

But, you will no longer receive essential security updates or bug fixes, meaning your device becomes vulnerable to various security threats. Yet, over half of the medical devices in the US are still using Windows 7.

Risks Of Outdated Healthcare Systems

The practice of having updated systems is still lagging significantly when it comes to healthcare. This is an issue that healthcare systems and organizations need to seriously consider, due to these reasons!

Cybersecurity

Security breaches in the US healthcare system have been growing a lot over the past three years. In 2017, there were 5.1M registered stolen medical records, and the number has been increasing ever since.

In 2018 this figure reached 14M. Until 2019, the number increased by 65%, leaving 40M Americans having their health records compromised. There is a constant increase in these issues and solving them should be a top priority for everyone.

Healthcare cyber threats are a major problem for a few reasons:

-Medical provider networks can contain valuable financial information. Since there are very few people who do not see healthcare providers, nearly everyone’s personal information is available in some form.

-The linked nature of healthcare systems means hackers have access to the data that has been collected under patient’s names for years. Sharing patient information is a very important part of providing the best possible treatment to patients, however, that same sharing also makes networks extremely valuable targets.

-The attacker’s goal is to gather information either to sell or for their personal use. Using the content available through electronic health records, a stranger could use insurance information to set up appointments, undergo expensive medical procedures, or obtain prescription medication under the patient’s name. In these cases, the patient or healthcare organization may be held responsible for the charges or medications.

Communication

Communication breakdowns in healthcare can lead to significant issues and failures, often at the expense of patient health. Having outdated systems makes healthcare communication challenging for many reasons.

  • One patient can have various professionals providing care often over several unconnected locations. This can create dangerous communication gaps between care coordination and leaving limited opportunities for interaction.
  • Differences in education, background, and training amongst healthcare practitioners can result in unclear communication methods. Diversity in communication leads to ineffective communication and misunderstandings.
  • Many hospitals and clinics are still using outdated technology and communication systems. While most industries have swapped out their fax machines for email, pagers for smartphones, healthcare clinics are still using these outdated, inefficient communication technologies as a result costing everyone. If a healthcare provider isn’t able to quickly access patient information and collaborate with colleagues efficiently, not only is time and funding wasted but delivery and quality of patient care are inhibited.

Malware and Phishing

Malware and phishing schemes that plant malicious scripts on a computer or steal login credentials can jeopardize an entire system. Outdated systems make businesses vulnerable to these attempts even more.

It’s essential to train staff to recognize common phishing attempts. One common scam is to have emails from authentic-looking sites request login information, something reputable companies never ask through an email. Once a user provides that information, the hacker on the other end can log in to the system. Outdated systems don’t have the antivirus software that new ones do so why not get one?

Benefits Of Using Updated Systems

Updated healthcare systems in hospitals provide a clearer, more complete picture of the patient’s health, helping doctors to confidently do their job. Here are some advantages of updating your systems.

Updated Tools

Wireless medical devices have become more user-friendly, and their technology is always improving. Hospitals have to ensure that their operating systems are not only keeping up with these advancements. However, if the hospital’s operating system cannot keep up, the device may be partially or fully unusable. With an updated computer system in place, your hospital can utilize smarter technology and serve your patients better.

Streamline Information

Once linked to the system, you can streamline the data and create a complete patient profile. These devices save the patient’s information in easy-to-read formats preventing any misunderstanding of their results. No longer making you rely on handwritten and outdated data but rather clear and complete profiles.

They can also sync their inputs and share among departments more easily, generating clear and fast communication. Additionally, by allowing patients to schedule their appointments on the system, both of you know where and when the patient needs to be somewhere.

Management Improved

The management experience also prospers with this technology. These systems help you understand the staffing needs of your hospital by showing who is working where and for how long. Additionally, you can keep track of how patient care is being managed by seeing what tests are being ordered and their results. As an administrator, you receive a full record of what is going on in the hospital.

Reputation 

Being known as a technologically advanced hospital can improve your rankings. Patients trust hospitals that show that they continue to update and move with the times. This leads to improved reviews and word-of-mouth recommendations. Additionally, insurance and Medicare companies tend to prefer hospitals that provide digital copies of their records. All of this earns you further distinction on the market.

Improve Your Systems Today!

There’s no denying it computers are now the present, not the future. The sooner a hospital adapts and updates these systems, the greater the benefit is to the patient and doctor. 

Securing a network can seem like an overwhelming task. Not only must all questions be considered when forming a plan, but you must find a way to provide substantial maintenance to keep systems from becoming outdated by the latest hacking methods and stay in compliance with renewed regulations.

Med-Miles is here to look at your questions and provide professional feedback, making sure your practice keeps growing and is secure at all costs. All you have to do is contact us at 

+1 888-598-9181 or email us at info@med-miles.com

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