Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to offer flexibilities to provide relief to clinicians responding to the 2019 Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. CMS is applying the MIPS automatic extreme and uncontrollable circumstances (EUC) policy to all MIPS eligible clinicians for the 2020 performance period. It is also reopening the MIPS EUC application for individual … [Read more...] about CMS reopens applications for COVID-19 MIPS Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Policy
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Exit interviews: You might be surprised by what you learn
By Lynne Curry bio “Good riddance” the supervisor mutters the day his employee leaves. As the practice manager, however, you have doubts. “Kate” is the third employee who’s resigned from your practice in the last eighteen months. All three worked for “Jim.” If you want to learn the truth, you need to talk to these employees who’ve chosen to leave – before they carry away the … [Read more...] about Exit interviews: You might be surprised by what you learn
What do I say to patients who ask about my team’s vaccination status?
By Paul Edwards bio As vaccinations continue to be distributed to more and more members of the American workforce, one of the recurring questions we are getting concerns how to respond to patients who ask about whether or not your team has been vaccinated. Patients might pose this question over the phone before their scheduled appointment, or might ask it to one of your … [Read more...] about What do I say to patients who ask about my team’s vaccination status?
Model Social Distancing Policy
As the pandemic drags on, medical offices and other essential businesses that remain open must be scrupulous to ensure employees maintain social distancing both at and away from the workplace. Here’s a Model Policy you can adapt to accomplish that objective in accordance with your specific circumstances and the terms of the latest public health guidelines in effect in your … [Read more...] about Model Social Distancing Policy
How to prevent the spread of nurse burnout in your healthcare organization
When COVID-19 hit, healthcare teams were called upon to save the world. And they did. But what healthcare leaders didn’t realize was that the battle has just begun for healthcare heroes suffering a severe mental and emotional toll. As COVID-19 cases rise and fall and rise again, so do physician and nurse burnout. “Executive leaders are cutting back on their resources to … [Read more...] about How to prevent the spread of nurse burnout in your healthcare organization
The physician enterprise model: a non-employment alternative
By John W. McDaniel bio Hospitals are seeking new and innovative ways to affiliate with physicians that differ from tactics used in the 1990s, These new relationships involve a more formal type of relationship with physicians, which might reflect lessons learned through previous less‐than‐satisfactory relationships. Most hospitals have physician integration strategies as a … [Read more...] about The physician enterprise model: a non-employment alternative
Medical Office Worker’s Acknowledgement of Decision to Decline COVID-19 Vaccination
It behooves you to ensure that medical office staff get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect not only themselves but also co-workers, patients and others at your facility. But what if workers neglect or just plain refuse to be vaccinated? There are two basic options: Option 1: Require medical office workers to be vaccinated Option 2: Encourage medical office workers to … [Read more...] about Medical Office Worker’s Acknowledgement of Decision to Decline COVID-19 Vaccination
Post-pandemic period a chance to try flexible staffing strategies
By Lynne Curry bio Question: COVID-19 hit our northern U.S. practice hard. We cut employees, then salaries, and then we cut again. Our revenue is down 70%. Some administrative staffers left our state when their spouses’ high-paying jobs evaporated. Others in billing took off when COVID-19 combined with our cold, dark winter proved too much. Because these employees had … [Read more...] about Post-pandemic period a chance to try flexible staffing strategies
Google search interest in “telehealth” spikes 317% because of pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has brought a world of change, some of which might be permanent. Will we ever again pack concerts with close to 100,000 people or jam into subways like sardines? Will mask-wearing and social-distancing carry on long after the pandemic has ended? Has online shopping delivered the final nail in the coffin for brick-and-mortar shopping? Will traditional … [Read more...] about Google search interest in “telehealth” spikes 317% because of pandemic
Mandatory COVID vaccination: new guidance & update
By Lynne Curry bio Can employers require their employees to receive COVID-vaccinations? While vaccination is one of an employer’s best tools for preventing COVID-19 outbreaks at their worksites, requiring employees to be vaccinated and disciplining them if they refuse comes with legal risks. Although the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’s December 2020 … [Read more...] about Mandatory COVID vaccination: new guidance & update