Primary Care, Physicians Hannah Russell Primary Care, Physicians Hannah Russell

What do consumers really expect from their primary care provider?

Primary Care Providers (PCP) are problem solvers trained to learn as much as they can about the entire human body. As soon as the patient begins to describe their concern, the PCP is processing the information and evaluating possible solutions or treatments. It is often difficult to determine how much time is needed for a visit because they are trained to not just look at a single problem, but the whole person. Value-based care and mandatory quality measures (or risk losing money) have made the primary care visit even more complex. If a provider runs late, patients become irritated and upset but expect the provider to give them the amount of time needed for whatever “oh by the ways” they mention even if it wasn’t included in the reason for visit.

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Physicians, Medical Hannah Russell Physicians, Medical Hannah Russell

Does your practice leadership team (and physicians) truly understand Medicare risk coding?

It’s the beginning of a new year, so you’ll be hearing a lot about Medicare risk coding and the importance of risk coding. You’ll most likely hear the same story from many different sources - beginning January 1, those patients with amputations suddenly have limbs grow back and patients with certain conditions no longer have those conditions. You as practice leaders and physicians are told by multiple sources about how important capturing appropriate condition coding for your patients is.

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Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell

Key takeways for practice success in 2023 stars performance

You as a primary care leader are responsible to your practice and yourself for financial performance. As value based care evolves for your Medicare patients, this performance is becoming more directly linked to stars performance. There are value based care programs available from CMS directly, as well as payer-specific value based care incentives that your practice might qualify for. There are also basic, upside-only contracts from both entities and more advanced, risk-bearing contracts as your practice matures and can gain through these more advanced contracts.

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Primary Care, Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell Primary Care, Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell

Setting your intentions for a successful 2023 and beyond

Primary care, and the leaders, physicians, clinicians, and support team within those primary care offices, are truly at the heart of making healthcare better. As we close out 2022 and enter 2023, there is no better time to focus on something that’s often overlooked in the business of primary care - you and your intentions.

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Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell Physicians, Big Ideas Hannah Russell

​A Digital Front Door is the Key to Addressing Staffing Shortages and Burnout

It seems everywhere you look now, self-service is present from self-check-outs to ordering and paying using a QR code at a restaurant. Self-service, or the digital front door, became even more prominent with the COVID pandemic to reduce face-to-face interactions and the spread of the virus. Healthcare has had self-service options for patients for some time now through patient portals but these options are continually expanding to allow patients to interact with their healthcare team in the way they prefer. These methods can include self-scheduling, text messages to request an appointment or change an existing appointment, paying bills, completing health assessments before arriving at the office, and checking in for an appointment prior to arrival.

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