Medicare
Jul 22, 2021
Helping practices thrive, not just survive.
.svg)
,
,
,
,
,
,
Medical practices, with their packed schedules and high demands, can be high stress environments, predisposing physicians to burnout. Burnout has been described as a long-term job-related stress reaction marked by exhaustion, cynicism, and a lack of sense of personal accomplishment.
According to the Medscape Physician Burnout and Suicide Report 2020, a staggering 42% of physicians reported that they are burned out, with specialties like urology, neurology, critical care, and emergency medicine topping the list. The rising prevalence of burnout among physicians has led to questions about how it affects patients’ safety and access to quality care. Burned out physicians tend to have poorer interactions with patients and suffer from impaired attention, memory, and executive function.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, more physicians are reporting burnout. For a person running a practice, the most pertinent question in view of all this information is how can you de-stress your practice to make it a more conducive work environment for, not just physicians, but also the support staff?
.jpg)
In the Medscape survey that received responses from over 15,000 physicians in over 29 different specialties, the following were listed as the most common causes of stress in practices across the U.S.:
The report found that Generation X physicians notably reported more burnout than other age groups. Carol A. Bernstein MD, the vice chair for faculty development and wellbeing, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, noted that, “Mid-career is typically the time of highest burnout, which is where Gen Xers are in their career trajectories.”
Other studies cited work conditions like time pressure, chaotic environments, low control over work pace, and unfavorable organizational culture as causes of stress in healthcare environments.
Most physicians cited a lack of respect from administrators, employers, staff, and colleagues as a major cause of stress in practices. More often than not, such issues stem from a lack of proper communication among members of the team running the practice.
Scheduling regular team meetings – such as a daily morning meeting – for physicians, managers, and other support staff can be a good way of clearing up any misunderstandings and ensuring all team members are on the same page. They can also serve as an avenue for team members to confront any personal issues they may be having to foster healthy interpersonal relationships in the workplace.
Do away with the expectation of one-man teams doing all the heavy lifting at the practice. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of team work in healthcare settings. Implement team-based care which involves not just the physicians, but non physician practitioners like nurses, and also the front office staff.
Medical assistants, for example, can help physicians set up for patient visits by preparing the exam rooms, updating patient data in the EHRs, and ensuring all the tools necessary for the patient visit are available.
By clearly assigning duties to different members of the team, accountability is made easier, and the risk of burnout for staff who were previously doing most of the work is lowered.
With practice management costs going up at a disproportionate rate to revenues, employee reimbursement and salaries alone may be inadequate to meet all the needs of staff members. Practices can reduce the financial burden on their employees by providing basic needs like daily meals, child health care, and even transportation. Wellness programs can also serve as a good way of ensuring your employees are in the best mental and physical health to carry out their duties.
Some healthcare organizations like Mount Sinai Health System in New York provide a list of resources that their health professionals and employees can access, with a focus on their wellbeing. With the pressure of providing basic needs for their families and themselves removed, practice staff can work under less stressful circumstances.
Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are fast becoming a mainstay in healthcare in the U.S. EHRs provide instant access to a patient’s health records without needing to leaf through clunky files. They are also quite easy to use and can be semi-automated through the use of templates for chart notes, saving physicians a lot of valuable time while taking patient notes.
Although many older physicians have cited EHRs as a cause of stress in the workplace, you can work around this by hiring a medical scribe to take patient notes while the physician works. You can also have an IT specialist offer some training to the physicians to ease the use of EHRs.
Across all age groups, paperwork was cited as the main reason for stress in practices. Studies found that physicians spent over a third of their work day on paperwork, leaving less than half of their time for direct patient care. Heavy bureaucratic workloads also contribute to practice employees having to do more overtime.
By outsourcing bureaucratic work like billing, bookkeeping, HR management, and claims submissions and collections to a practice management company, you can remove the biggest factor responsible for stress in your practice. With more time for themselves, employees can focus better on their jobs and their personal lives, allowing them to decompress from the pressures of the workplace.
At Professional Reimbursement Managers, we know most physicians want to focus on helping patients, but administrative requirements, increased insurance control, and profit management issues have become a constant hindrance. We partner with physicians by providing dual service categories; our operational side enhances physician's profit and our consulting side supplies guidance. These dual categories minimize physician's worry, risk, and work levels to ultimately help their businesses thrive amidst a competitive and changing healthcare field.
Initially, physician’s offices had a person in-house that handled everything having to do with billing for the practice. This person added to the overhead of the office – about 10 – 12% and handled everything from A-Z in the billing process. General knowledge of codes was all that was needed to ensure reimbursement from insurance companies as this was before managed care.
The beginning of managed care brought to the industry fee schedules, preferred provider contracts, the need for pre-authorizations and more. These changes meant a more intensive knowledge of medical codes was required as well as continuing to keep updated as codes were added and deleted. These changes increased cost and time required to handle billing.
Initially, physician’s offices had a person in-house that handled everything having to do with billing for the practice. This person added to the overhead of the office – about 10 – 12% and handled everything from A-Z in the billing process. General knowledge of codes was all that was needed to ensure reimbursement from insurance companies as this was before managed care.
The beginning of managed care brought to the industry fee schedules, preferred provider contracts, the need for pre-authorizations and more. These changes meant a more intensive knowledge of medical codes was required as well as continuing to keep updated as codes were added and deleted. These changes increased cost and time required to handle billing.
Our Complimentary Consultation is a discovery and feedback initiative built to help practices. You get one on one advice from our experts, plus a report for your practice to use, absolutely free for you.
.jpg)
After listening to what clients were asking for, a more robust system was created that covered more than just standard medical billing. This full-cycle revenue management system saved doctors time and money by eliminating the need to have different people handling all other aspects. Revenue Cycle Management includes: