“The health of our planet relies on the health of its people,” said the 1990s environmentalist superhero Captain Planet. Captain Planet advocated for the importance of a healthy community for people to live happy and fulfilling lives. 

Health is described as a “state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO). Community health, often overlooked, is essential to meeting this definition.

The CDC describes a healthy community as “one in which local groups from all parts of the community work together to prevent disease and make healthy living options accessible.” 

This year is special. This year marks the 20th year since eClinicalWorks set out on its mission to improve healthcare together. Are you ready to learn, discuss, and celebrate with us as we honor 20 years and kick off our next 20? Then join us at the 2019 eClinicalWorks National Conference from October 18-20 at the Orlando World Center Marriott.

Sign up before July 18 to take advantage of our Early Bird rate!

Communication & Connectivity

With value-based care the new standard in medicine, attention is increasingly focused on what healthcare organizations can do to improve Patient Engagement. A clear strategy for retaining patients and attracting new ones is a key part of delivering consistent, quality care. 

An outstanding EHR is essential but not enough. Providers today must respond to patients’ demands for convenience and access — including online portals and telemedicine. 

Successful engagement comes from a commitment to clear, effective communication. That requires paying attention to the technological and human sides of the patient encounter. 

Patient safety is something I could talk about over and over; patient safety has always played —and always will play — a central role in the success of Eagle Physicians and Associates down here in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

Mothers-to-be have always turned to their own mothers, friends, and their doctors for advice during pregnancy. Even in our tech-savvy age, women still reach out to those who have shared their experiences.

The rise of technology has, however, offered them still more. The wealth of reliable health information on the internet, along with the rise of healthcare IT tools such as patient portals and apps, means that moms-to-be today have more resources than ever before.

There are times when an expectant mother might not be able to reach her doctor immediately. Perhaps she doesn't want to bother family or friends. She might simply be feeling uncertain about something going on with her pregnancy and need a way to quickly access expert medical information.

Healthcare organizations have a significant opportunity to improve the outcomes with the advent of innovative delivery and payment models tapping into the advances in technology and its adoption. To do this, organizations need a solution.

Our enhanced Population Health solutions help practices understand disease patterns, better assess risk, and improve patients’ engagement and compliance. At eClinicalWorks, we are constantly driven to innovate and find ways to further benefit practices interested in Population Health.

Zalipie is a village in Poland with a population of 743 people. Vibrantly colored flowers are painted on many of the residents’ one-floored cottages and museum. As a tourist, if you miss the last bus, you’re six hours away by foot from your starting point in Tarnow. All that, and Polish may not be your first language.

Just as being in a remote part of a foreign country and not knowing the language can pose challenges, so too in healthcare providers and payers need ways to bridge communication gaps.

How eClinicalWorks has endured and thrived

Twenty years after setting out on our mission of improving healthcare together, eClinicalWorks is not just surviving, but thriving. The numbers tell part of our success story: From five employees in the spring of 1999, we now have more than 5,100, and are continuing to seek out the best talent to strengthen our many teams.

Perhaps less appreciated is how remarkable it is for a privately held company to endure and grow as eClinicalWorks has. Fewer than 25% of private-sector healthcare organizations which began in 1999 still exist, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Telehealth provides convenient care for patients and offers healthcare professionals a more efficient and effective way to treat them.

July 1996. It’s 100 degrees Fahrenheit with a broken air conditioner in your car. Work starts in five minutes, and you slam on the breaks two inches away from the rusting Nissan Maxima in front of you. 

You can feel the sweat dripping down your forehead as you reach for the eject button on the tape player and feel an insatiable need to scratch your forearm. You scratch and scratch and turn your arm over. There’s a bumpy red rash running half the length of your arm. You won’t be able to see the doctor until Friday. It looks like poison ivy, but who knows?

Today, the most pressing problem you may have in this situation is finding the best time that works to schedule a TeleVisit with a healthcare professional.

We're always looking for great stories for the National Conference – We want to hear yours! 

Big Sur is the lone health center that offers healthcare for a hundred miles of California coastline. In the winter of 2016-17, mudslides tore apart the environment – cutting off the community from the rest of the world.

The health center had no choice but to shut down. Close by in Monterey, Dr. Brita Breummer was able to use cloud-based technology to access patients' Electronic Medical Records and charts through the eClinicalWorks EHR system.

If asked what a healthcare revolution looks like, many people might say sweeping legislative reforms, new technologies, and breakthrough cures for cancer. 

But most revolutions look nothing like that. Instead, they develop over time, shaped by long-term societal trends and changing consumer demands and expectations. 

The rise of urgent care centers in the U.S. is an example. From modest beginnings in the 1970s, the growth of urgent care has accelerated from steady to extraordinary. A 2017 report by MarketsandMarkets™ estimates that the value of the U.S. urgent care market will reach $16 billion by 2023. 

The first Ambulatory Surgery Center was opened in 1970 in Phoenix, Arizona, by Dr. Wallace Reed and Dr. John Ford, two doctors who believed they could provide a high-quality, cost-effective alternative to the hospital.

The nearly 50 years since have shown how visionary those two doctors were. As of April 2019, the ASCA puts the number of Medicare-certified ASCs nationwide at nearly 6,000!

As ASCs continue to grow in surgical volume, total billing, and popularity among consumers, how can they best prepare for the future?

Not all illnesses are visible. Physician burnout is a long-term stress reaction marked by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a lack of a sense of personal achievement. A 2019 report revealed that 44% of doctors are burned out.

In March 2018, there were 501,296 active physicians working in the United States. That’s more than half a million people who have dedicated their lives to the well-being of others. Just as important to the world of healthcare are the 234,000 licensed nurse practitioners and the 122,555 licensed physician assistants (as of 2017) who work tirelessly to keep people healthy.

Often, the constant time spent keeping patients healthy can affect a medical professional’s health.

In 2004, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services introduced Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) coding.

Evaluating patient risk is as old as medicine itself. As early as the fifth century BCE, notes a 2011 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Hippocratic tradition focused on the prevention of disease through diet and exercise. 

But ancient wisdom works best when combined with modern technology.

Can you believe that it’s been three years? Three years since MACRA ended the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for clinician payment and established a quality payment incentive program. The goal: To create a new way to reward eligible clinicians based on performance and health outcomes, rather than volume.

You know, quality over quantity.

In MACRA, there are two ways to participate in the Quality Payment Program – Alternative Payment Models (APMs) and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).