Everyone can make use of apps. There is a dictum, often incorrectly attributed as coming from the Hippocratic Oath, which says “First, do no harm”. Nevertheless, it’s a good sentiment to adhere to, though its application extends beyond the doctor-patient relationship. Doctors should make sure that their practice doesn’t suffer from harm as well!
After all, if doctors neglect the financial side of their practice, they won’t remain in business long. This not only deprives patients of accessible professional care, it harms the practice itself, causing to be financially ruined.
Clearly, physicians can benefit from tools that help keep their practices in the black. The following software apps help doctors and their financial managers or bookkeepers to accomplish just that. With the money side under control, the doctor is free to do what he or she does best, namely do their job and care for their patients.
Revenue apps help the financial side of a doctor’s practice stay healthy, while the doctor can focus of making patients healthy
Revenue Cycle Management
Revenue cycle management (RCM) is the best tool for a doctor’s financial manager to plug those leaks in revenue. By using RCM applications, the person in charge of finances and other business matters gets a full view of the patient-to-pay cycle, which includes checking for patient eligibility, collecting co-pays, billing, coding, collections, and fraud prevention. Furthermore, RCM software helps in handling denials, which represent the roughly 20 percent of claims that are responsible for 90 percent of missed revenue opportunity.
By using RCM applications, smaller practices that employ fewer staff need not worry about allocating resources to pursuing denials, fraudulent claims, or other financial pitfalls. The software is an integral tool for time management and office efficiency.
But Wait, There Are More Apps
No matter what the needs of any given doctor’s office are, there’s software out there to help it run more efficiently and profitably. Here’s a sample of other apps available out there to make the business aspect of a doctor’s practice healthier.
athenaCollector
In light of the growing popularity of the cloud, it should come as no surprise that the health care industry is starting to reap its benefits. athenaCollector is a powerful billing and practice management solution. The advantages most often called out include ease of use, frequent updates, and the country’s largest data base of payer rules.
Practice Fusion
With over 100,000 users serving 25 million patients, Practice Fusion is considered the fastest-growing Electronic Medical Record (EMR) community in the United States. Practice Fusion is one of a growing number of web-based apps that handles scheduling, charting, lab integrations, e-prescribing, and Meaningful Use certification.
CureMD
This Practice Management system is considered one of the most popular web-based medical billing apps available today. It can handle any practice of any size, in addition to medical billing companies. CureMD offers easy patient scheduling, insurance confirmation, delinquent accounts and the collection process, and patient document storage. It’s touted as an easy to use application that pretty much does it all, with the exception of inventory management.
Yet we’ve only scratched the surface. Here are more top apps for the medical profession, if you are interested.
This is just a small sample of the software out there that can help doctors deal with the business side of their practice. In today’s Information Age, with a plethora of data out there, every doctors’ office needs a reliable means of handling records, payments, and insurance information. Apps like these will help any practice run smoother and eliminate waste and fraud.