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Sprucing Up Practice Management


By Joseph Goedert, News Editor October 2006
Six times a month, Susana Gummel used to stay late at the office, sometimes four hours late, running reports to assess business issues at Princeton (N.J.) Medical Group.

Now, a new module in the practice management system at the 22-physician, two-site practice automatically pulls data and compiles the reports while CFO Gummel is home. "I'm able to see my husband and kids again," she notes.

Further, a daily report previously done in the morning to identify returned claims that were missing information now runs in the evening, which means the practice management system is not being slowed down during business hours as the report is being churned out. Other time-intensive reports that now automatically run at night include a summary accounts-receivable-by-payer report and a breakdown of monthly revenue by physician and department.

Gummel and other staff view the new module-called the Background Business Processor and a free add-on to their practice management software from Horsham, Pa.-based NextGen Healthcare Information Systems-as a virtual employee.

In fact, the virtual employee has a name-Billy Bob. "It's like having an assistant-who I don't pay-running reports for me and making sure they're done," Gummel says. "Not everything in business can be automated, but where it can, it's so much faster to have the software do it, which gives me more time to work on other reports or processes that cannot be automated," such as a financial analysis of bringing a new specialty into the practice.

Practice management makeovers

Practice management systems, which automate administrative and financial processes at physician offices, have been around for decades.

But newer versions, or new modules, feature expanded functionality, making it easier for staff to do their jobs and bringing new conveniences and services to patients.

Practice management vendors, for instance, increasingly are offering Web-based portals enabling patients to request appointments and prescription refills online, or send secure messages to physicians or staff. Some vendors have introduced modules that can conduct an analysis of a practice's performance compared with its peers.

And some vendors are rolling out aggressive marketing campaigns. For example, one is allowing customers to use the technology for free until they reach a specific goal for increased revenue (see story, page 60).

Physician offices in growing numbers are buying combined, integrated practice management/electronic medical records systems. An integrated system brings several efficiencies to a practice. In particular, it speeds the coding of claims because diagnosis and treatment codes entered into the EMR automatically port over to the subsequent claim in the practice management system. That, in turn, results in a claim being completed quicker and submitted for payment quicker.

Today, two-thirds of practice management sales for San Francisco-based McKesson Corp. include other applications, particularly an EMR, integrated with the administrative and financial system, says Tom Leonard, vice president and general manager of ambulatory solutions.

Further, if a practice is just looking for an EMR, its request for proposals almost always require integration with the legacy practice management system, he adds. "The core functionality of practice management is evolutionary. But what's moving in the industry is improved connectivity."

Checking performance

One company offering new functionality is athenahealth Inc., Cambridge, Mass. It provides a free reporting service to its clients that enables them to measure certain business performance metrics in their office against those of other practices using the vendor's practice management system.

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