15 Best Chiropractor SEO Steps To Find Your Patients Written by Jeff Tormey on March 12, 2021. Posted in Other. You’re the best chiropractor and you know it? But are your potential patients aware of it? Chiropractor seo ranking success relies on a combination of tools such as healthcare call centers, patient portals, and Google My Business among others. All these tools and tips aim to improve your patients’ experience. Let’s break down 15 steps you can take to improve your SEO and get more chiropractic patients 1. Have Accurate and Consistent Business Information The most important information for SEO ranking is: Business name Address Phone number Local search engines will use these three as a yardstick to ensure all your data aligns and that your chiropractic practice exists. Search engines will look at the Relevance of your details to the patient’s search query Distance from the location term used in the search The prominence of your practice Ensure your website’s information is identical to all other listings such as Bing Places For Business and Google My Business. Inaccuracies will result in a negative ranking 2. Improve Local SEO There are further steps you can take to improve local SEO. Add a Google Map to your contact page Use local images and optimize with location metadata Create a separate page on your site for each service If you have multiple locations, list them on separate pages 3. Encourage Online Reviews From Patients Manage your reviews. Responding to both positive and negative reviews demonstrates your care for your patients. It also improves your SEO rankings. Encourage new patients to review your chiropractor services on Yelp and Google. You can also use new customer surveys and discount incentives. Reviews are regulated and impart social proof to your business. Dedicate a page on your website to reviews. 4. Upgrade Your Website A clunky static website is as bad as no website at all. You have 2-8 seconds to make a good impression on a potential new patient. Ensure your website is well designed and your WebHost offers you excellent speed and bandwidth. Your website shouldn’t hang mid-query. Once you’re done with the basics of location, contact, and service information, you can add some upgrades. Chatboxes that can be linked to your Facebook Messenger gives the patient a one-on-one experience. Include social media widgets 5. Optimize for Mobile Devices As you revamp your website don’t forget the visitors on mobile devices. There is nothing as jarring as clicking onto a website not optimized for mobile. Having to zoom in and out or scroll left and right is takes away from the website experience. Considering 88% of consumers who will search your chiropractor practice will do so on a mobile device, you must prioritize them. 6. Do Your Keyword Research A huge part of chiropractor SEO is keywords. Which terms are your patients searching for? Research the terms applicable to chiropractic services specific to your locale. I hope by now you know to not stuff your blog posts with keywords. Keyword usage must always be organic. 7. Show Your Appreciation For Your Patients The personal touch is a great differentiator for businesses in almost any niche. Here’s how you can make your patients feel catered to. Personalize your emails by patient name Offer discounts, coupons, giveaways to show appreciation Birthday messages also make the patient feel seen 8. Focus On Expert Authoritative Trustworthy Content Colin Powell said, “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt, to offer a solution everybody can understand.” Cut to the heart of your patients’ problems and give them solutions or direct them to your practice for relief. They will be thankful and Google will reward you with positive rankings. 9. Get Peer Reviews and Referrals A great way to do this is to collaborate with local businesses that offer complementary services. Think hospitals and rehabilitation centers. Strong community involvement and sponsoring causes in cash or kind will make you a household name in your area. Your practice will be the first name that comes to mind. 10. Capture With Social Media With nearly 4 billion people using social media platforms globally, your chiropractor practice can only benefit from engagement on social media. More than 80% of patients trust and rely on online reviews to find medical services. Take advantage of social media to engage with your patients and understand their interests. Read more: 5 Benefits of Social Media in Healthcare 11. Video Is the Future According to 74% of marketers, videos have a better return on investment than static images. For chiropractic services, video can be a great way to get the necessary information to your patients about procedures and aftercare. Videos are also highly shareable which is a great benefit for your business. 12. Maximize Pay-per-Click Ads SEO is a long game. Its short-term counterpart is pay-per-click ads. As you dedicate a chunk of your marketing budget towards content marketing and building your SEO ranking don’t forget your immediate goals. Google and social media ads can be customized according to your budget, target audience, location, and customer behavior. 13. Cohesive Digital Marketing Strategy Marketing strategies for chiropractors should be interconnected across all online platforms. The PPC ads, social media content, email marketing, and Google Business listing should all work together to funnel curious potential clients to patronize your services. 14. Analytics Are Your Friend All the above steps would be ineffective if you failed to check the numbers. Analytics tell you what is working and what is not. Google Analytics tells you where your website visitors are coming from, how many they are, and how long they are staying. By tweaking you can improve your ranking and customer satisfaction. 15. Embrace Healthcare Call Centers and Patient Portals The world is moving towards remote delivery of services. For your return patients or those too far, this is a great option. Give clear instructions on how they can use telehealth on your site and the eligible services. Outsourcing the design and management of your patient portals and telehealth will free up your staff to focus on customer service and your core offerings.
12 Tips To Master Facebook For Medical Practices Written by Jeff Tormey on March 7, 2021. Posted in Other. 12 Tips To Master Facebook For Medical Practices Patient engagement statistics reveal how much healthcare delivery has evolved to rely on technology and specifically social media. Recent surveys have shown that 72% of patients are extremely satisfied when they know what to expect from a medical procedure and post-discharge follow-up calls reduce readmission by 50%. Medical staff members spend up to 2 hours a day calling patients and automating the process could yield better productivity. Enter social media, specifically Facebook. Facebook has 2.7 billion users globally as well as strategic integrations with other platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram. These rank as the third, fourth, and fifth most popular social media platforms respectively. What is social media’s impact on the healthcare business and how can your practice capitalize on Facebook’s best marketing practices? 1. Share Video Content Video is the most consumed content format online and generates 35% more organic impressions than static images. Video is a great way to educate patients about what to expect when they come in and the various protocols in place. It can also create more engagement by showing the human element of your practice. Optimize for Facebook by using square videos Showing not telling to maximize on autoplay Add captions 2. When Is Your Audience Online? Facebook has developed a variety of analytics for businesses on its platform. These analytics tell you when is the best time to post on Facebook for maximum exposure. You can monitor when your audience is most active on Facebook and post at those times. In this way, Facebook can be a key component of your patient engagement solutions. 3. Tell Stories and Provoke Conversations Posting advert after advert will quickly put off your audience. If you want your patients to respond to and share your content, engaging posts for Facebook are the way to go. Images are more eye-catching and shareable than plain text posts. Facebook recommends having an accompanying image for all posts. All images should be crisp, not blurry. They should be copyright-free or credited correctly. Pay close attention to the resolution requirements for Facebook. 4. Make Your Posts Actionable Article links, newsletter signup forms, polls, and other call-to-action posts would feature regularly on your feed. They have higher engagement and can give extra value to your business by providing insights into your patients. Though not all posts need to be actionable, a good amount should be. 5. Automate Posts and Responses They also have scheduling and automation tools that can help your take advantage of these timelines even when you’re not awake. You can set up automated responses on Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp for business to assist your patients on routine queries. 6. Consistency Is Key Create a consistent posting schedule that will underscore your trustworthiness and authority. As said, Facebook has scheduling tools to help with consistency. Alternatively, you can use third-party apps such as Buffer. 7. Partner With Related Businesses on Facebook Other healthcare providers or professionals in the wellness space are great collaborators. Do live discussions or Q&As on each others’ pages. You’ll be able to piggyback on each other’s following and grow your reach organically. 8. Take Part in Community Development Building a loyal online following has a crucial real-life component. People love to see their physicians be a part of and give back to the community. If your practice can sponsor initiatives within the community, this is great. However, it can also be as simple as mentoring young people, food drives for the less fortunate, or sanitary packages for the homeless. 9. Periodic Targeted Ads and Offers The beauty of Facebook ads is that you can target them so specifically, right down to the shows they like to watch and their hobbies. These targeted groups can be differentiated using more than 30 characteristics and behaviors. You can save each ad group and use it repeatedly. It will work in your favor when offering specialized procedures such as facelifts or bariatric surgery which apply to very specific demographics 10. Simple and Cohesive Look and Tone Don’t forget that your Facebook page is representing your brand. Stick to your brand colors and tone of voice throughout your posts Much as people enjoy seeing behind-the-scenes, keep it professional. It should not feel like a personal page. Facebook advises simple, clean creatives as the most attractive to users. Use minimal but impactful text. 11. Quick Responses and Reputation Management The Facebook algorithm checks how quickly messages and queries are responded to. This period gets automatically added to your page. A healthcare page that typically responds in 48 hours is not a good look. For queries not covered under the automated responses, have a schedule detailing the staff in charge of replying at various times. Assign each a signature or initials. Negative reviews will occur from time to time especially if medical insurance verification was not done properly or there is a payment issue. Responding to reviews helps boost your ranking and shows your patients that you care. You might need to take it to private direct messages for sensitive cases or request an offline conversation. 12. Take Advantage of Facebook Analytics To round off these Facebook tips, remember to consistently evaluate the performance of your posts and ads. Insights on the Facebook admin page will let you know: Which content had the most engagement Who is visiting your page How they are interacting with your posts This crucial information will enable you to tweak your content marketing strategy to its most optimal. Facebook can be a key part of your patient engagement and after-care. If done well it will expand your reach to new patients and create a solid online following.
10 Reasons to Hire a Doctor Marketing Agency Written by Jeff Tormey on March 2, 2021. Posted in Other. 10 Reasons to Hire a Doctor Marketing Agency Are you vacillating between hiring a healthcare marketing agency and a regular marketing firm? Medical marketing strategies are very specialized due to the sensitive and essential nature of medical services. Your medical practice needs a marketing partner specific to healthcare rather than a jack-of-all-trades agency. Here’s why. 1. Targeted Expertise in the Healthcare Market Would you trust a doctor who claims to treat cancer, infant conditions, and horses? It would be absurd. Specialized fields such as medicine require marketing professionals who understand market insights and strategies that are targeted. High-level knowledge of the current healthcare ecosystem, the patient journey, and physician competition are necessary for successful medical marketing strategies. This expertise will enable the medical marketing agency to provide competitor analyses, effective marketing plans and to help navigate marketing efforts moving forward. Read more : What Is a Healthcare Marketing Plan? Expert Tips and Strategies 3. Understanding Of Stark and HIPAA Laws Medicine is a highly regulated field. This is to protect the privacy and safety of the patient and to protect physicians from exposing themselves to liability. Medical marketing consultants are conversant with the stipulations of these two laws. This means that any marketing plans they create and implement will not expose your practice to malpractice suits or legal violations. 3. Ease Of Communication With Physicians The medical industry can get pretty technical in terms of language, operations, and protocols. Marketing agencies for doctors understand these technicalities and jargon. They can sufficiently represent and cater to your practice without inadvertently injuring your reputation. There is also the consideration that medical practitioners work outside the 9-5 framework. Any consulting agency needs to understand this and accommodate emergencies and unpredictable hours with ease. 4. Access to Medical Marketing Channels Medical online marketing requires a unique approach. Not all marketing channels are appropriate or effective to medical practices. Video Marketing Digital advertising for medical practices Engaging social media and referral marketing Targeted email campaigns Mobile marketing Listings Management for Doctors Physician Reputation Management Medical SEO Physician liaison marketing Analytics and reporting 5. Budget-Conscious Marketing Strategy Medicine is not like consumer goods or luxury industries that have huge marketing budgets. Revenue is tied up in expensive procedures, equipment, and reduced reimbursements. A medical marketing agency understands that they cannot afford to go over budget with their strategy. They need to make the allocated budgets work. 6. Reputation Recovery Doctor marketing agencies understand that reputation management is key in a medical practice’s marketing strategy. Many bad reviews online result from dissatisfaction with treatment costs and the patient’s lack of understanding about their insurance coverage. Less favorable reviews online can wreak havoc on your business listing. An experienced marketing agency will know how to rescue these reviews and tip the balance to positive. 7. Prioritize Patient Referral Volume Referrals of patients from other physician is a tried and tested way for a healthcare business to get new patients. A specialized marketing agency understands the importance of a physician liaison. This is the salesperson responsible for your system for doctor referral appointments. They make sure you’re getting referrals and that they are converting into appointments. 8. Building Patient Engagement Long gone are the days of blindly firing off articles into the ether and hoping an interested customer bites the bait. Medical advertising agencies focus their digital marketing strategy on gaining the most patient engagement. Patients prefer direct engagement from their healthcare provider. They want dependable content that adds value. This, in turn, increases the reach of your brand and brings in new patients Read more : Important Tools That Can Help You Improve Patient Engagement 9. Understand Patient Intake and Flow Different elements play into the intake of patients and how they move from interest to appointment. A healthcare marketing firm needs to understand the ins and outs of all these elements to streamline and improve the experience for all. Experienced firms understand how crucial patient engagement solutions are to the patient journey. The solutions they implement will lead to a better experience, good reviews, and of course, new patients. These elements include: Accurate business information online Reviews and ratings Effective scheduling and cancellation of appointments New vs returning patient needs Recurring visits vs one-off High revenue procedures 10. Design and Patient Experience of Your Medical Website 83 percent of internet users are looking for medical information related to symptoms, treatment, and facilities. What this means for healthcare marketing is that a physician’s or healthcare business’s website is like their digital front office. A dedicated marketing agency understands this and the importance of UI (User interface) and UX (User experience). They will focus on giving your business a website that Boosts engagement, Increases traffic Grows patient conversions
Perspectives on How Net Neutrality Will Impact Healthcare IT Written by SQHealth-admin on February 12, 2018. Posted in Other. Until a year or so ago, very few people cared about “net neutrality,” and even fewer knew what it is. Now, it’s a hot topic on the minds of many people for multiple reasons. For some, it’s been a sensitive socio-political subject. For others, it’s been a source of satire—such as Burger King’s satirical TV spot.1 For us, it’s about how net neutrality might affect healthcare IT. We are only interested in understanding net neutrality’s possible effects on healthcare IT—for better or worse. The following is a digest of what some healthcare industry journalists and thought-leaders have said. What is Net Neutrality? In case you aren’t quite sure what net neutrality is or why it’s been such a buzzword, Save the Internet’s explanation is spot-on: “Net neutrality is the basic principle that prohibits Internet service providers [ISPs] like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from speeding up, slowing down or blocking any content, applications or Websites you want to use. Net Neutrality is the way that the Internet has always worked.” 2 Or at least the way the Internet used to work. With the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) December 2017 repeal of net neutrality rules, ISPs can now block, throttle or provide preferred “fast lane” service to whomever they choose (although most ISPs have said they won’t). Patient Engagement and Electronic Health Records (EHR) Most of what is said about net neutrality and healthcare IT tends not be favorable—with EHRs and patient engagement being two topics that may see negative impacts. For instance, Becker’s Health IT and CIO Review said EHRs are at risk because “these systems are increasingly moving toward cloud storage, and fast and reliable access to the data stored there is imperative for patient care.”3 For similar reasons, Healthcare IT speculated about potential harm to patient engagement: “The general public, including parents and caregivers of children, use web-based platforms to access children’s medical records, make appointments and find health information. Having slower access to these tools could potentially result in delays in care and seeking information, and place an undue burden on ready access to quality healthcare and health information.” 4 Telemedicine As with EHRs and patient engagement, there’s no debate about how telemedicine relies upon the Internet to connect people—especially those in underserved populations. But what is highly contested is whether net neutrality is a boon or bane for telemedicine. For instance, Fortune shared a perspective about the potential advantages: “Net neutrality repeal proponents retort that allowing faster Internet lanes for certain organizations—for instance, hospitals—would actually benefit consumers.” 5 …while Modern Healthcare presented another that highlighted a possible pitfall: “Though the FCC could make exceptions for healthcare so it’s not subject to the same rules…that might still leave patients to fend for themselves.” 6 Patient Costs The uncertainty about the pros or cons of net neutrality also carry over into speculations about impacts on patient costs. Health Data Management explained how it could increase patient costs: “However, critics—among them hospital organizations— contend the move will set the stage for cable TV-like tiers of services that would force consumers to pay more for services. This may particularly be true in rural areas, where there is often little or no competition among Internet service providers.” 7 …while Modern Healthcare cited an FCC spokeperson’s rosier outlook: “…[the] proposals would unleash innovation and investment in networks, providing better connectivity for rural and underserved hospitals and reducing costs everywhere.” 8 Only time will tell what net neutrality’s true impacts on healthcare IT will be. We will certainly keep watching and listening! As Sequence Health’s Associate Director of Search Engine Marketing, Susan Gullion is one of our most knowledgeable resources for enhancing our healthcare clients’ search engine marketing strategies with SEO, PPC and social media. Sequence Health is a cloud-based technology and services company that improves profitability and patient outcomes for hospitals and practices through end-to-end patient engagement solutions backed by clinical and non-clinical teams. Its HIPAA-compliant, SaaS platform improves care team workflows, automates patient communication and tracks patient progress to optimize the patient journey. Since 2004, leading healthcare providers have trusted Sequence Health to help acquire, manage and engage patients through complex episodes of care. 1 Burger King Deviously Explains Net Neutrality by Making People Wait Longer for Whoppers 2 Net Neutrality: What You Need to Know Now 3 3 Ways the Net Neutrality Repeal Could Affect Healthcare 4 Now That Net Neutrality is Dead, the Question is: Will It Help Healthcare? 5 One Possible, Surprising Victim of Net Neutrality Repeal? Health Care 6 FCC Repeals Net Neutrality Rules, Potentially Affecting Telemedicine 7 Healthcare Organizations Voice Worry Over End of Net Neutrality 8 Net Neutrality Repeal Threatens Telemedicine
2018 Healthcare Trends We Expect for Marketing, IT and CRM Written by web_developers on January 23, 2018. Posted in Other. It’s actually not that hard to make confident predictions about what will be the key trends for healthcare marketing and healthcare CRM in 2018, especially if you closely follow what’s going on in the healthcare industry. The trick is to take a few moments to step back from daily observations and to try to find common themes that are emergent. With that in mind, here are some trends we are anticipating for 2018! Modifying Healthcare Marketing for Millennials In 2018, healthcare marketing will take unprecedented steps to market healthcare to Millennials. There’s no reason to debate about the precise years for when this generation was born. The bottom line is most (if not all) Millennials are now solidly in adulthood, and that means they are the newest demographic in healthcare. There’s also no reason to discuss the finer points of what makes Millennials Millennials. All that needs to be said is they play by a different set of rules when it comes to how they make decisions and engage with brands—and this is a riddle healthcare marketers will be attempting to solve in 2018. More Mobile-First In 2018, healthcare marketing and IT will take unprecedented steps to adopt “Mobile-First.” We’re now in an era where it’s not enough to say “mobile healthcare” will be a trend. That’s already happened. In our most recent blog, “Five Key Mobile Website Design Tips for Hospitals and Clinics,” we touched on the subject of “mobile-first” as it relates to a major Google shakeup for healthcare SEO, and you can expect for us to talk more about this in 2018. Even if you aren’t familiar with the concept, the “mobile-first” term isn’t hard to discern: It’s the best practice of prioritizing mobile technologies over others. For SEO, it means search engines will first look to the mobile version of a Website to determine who gets the best SERP (search engine results) rankings. Mobile-first isn’t just about SEO though. Virtually anything that is part of a patient’s mobile device UX (user experience) — social media, apps, widgets, videos, etc. — will need to look and feel like it was a priority and not an afterthought. IoT, mHealth and Telehealth Waits for Cybersecurity Improvements In 2018, healthcare IT will take unprecedented steps to improve cybersecurity and open more doors for new medical technologies that can radically improve outcomes and revenues. We are also in an era where healthcare is grappling with with having both too much and too little—and it’s potentially stalling something great advances in healthcare. First, there’s too much access to patient information. On one hand, that’s wonderful—and it ties in nicely with more and more patients using the Internet (especially mobile devices) to find healthcare providers, engage with caregivers and improve their outcomes. On the other hand, access and information has put many hospitals at risk because there’s too little cybersecurity. (Unfortunately, the “ransomware” trend from the past couple years is probably going to continue in 2018.) Meanwhile, the medical device industry is aching to exploit the vast advantages of IoT (Internet of Things), mHealth (mobile health), telehealth and other platforms that can have monumental benefits for healthcare, both in terms of providing more and better care while reducing costs. The conflict is with how these innovative devices need access to all of that information—on largely underprotected networks. As a result, their potential is not being fully leveraged, which in turn slows continued innovation. For those reasons, you can be assured the healthcare and medical device communities will be putting significant effort into improving cybersecurity in 2018. As Sequence Health’s Central/Western Regional Director, Chris Stearns is one of our most reliable resources for awareness of what is going on in our industry. Sequence Health is a cloud-based technology and services company that improves profitability and patient outcomes for hospitals and practices through end-to-end patient engagement solutions backed by clinical and non-clinical teams. Its HIPAA-compliant, SaaS platform improves care team workflows, automates patient communication and tracks patient progress to optimize the patient journey. Since 2004, leading healthcare providers have trusted Sequence Health to help acquire, manage and engage patients through complex episodes of care.
Improving Value-Based Care Outcomes With Social Determinants Written by web_developers on April 4, 2017. Posted in Other. To those unfamiliar with the harsh-sounding concept of “social determinants” in any aspect of healthcare, it might at first seem peculiar (at best) and dangerous (at worst). Then, when it involves payment models like value-based care that are used by Medicare, for instance, it becomes even more daunting. After all: Shouldn’t patients be recognized and treated based strictly on their healthcare needs rather than whatever “social determinants” might skew a decision one way or another? One should not be alarmed or suspicious of “social determinants,” as it is not as ominous as it may seem. Most simply, the idea is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution for treating patients, especially those with chronic illnesses—because no two patients are alike. One set of differentiators is “social determinants,” which, as highlighted in an HFMA.com article, are defined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “the complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures and economic systems that are responsible for most health inequities.” Or, put another (and simpler) way by Modern Healthcare.com: “There’s no question that race, gender, socio-economic status and health literacy influence a patient’s healthcare access, cost and outcomes.” And that is how “social determinants” have become part of the discourse in healthcare, especially for those responsible for their hospital’s patient population management. But what it doesn’t answer is why. There are two ways to approach this. The first is in a more general context, best expressed by Healthcare IT News.com, in which it said a reason “healthcare providers are starting to catch on to the importance social determinants” is because “the pressure is on for providers to start thinking more about what happens outside of a doctor’s office and how it affects the patient.” That “pressure” leads to the second approach, which is more specifically related to the value-based care payment model. As we explained in one of our earlier blogs, “Healthcare Payment Reform: Fee for Service vs Value-Based Care,” value-based care “is assessed, and rewarded, based upon the value practices and procedures offer patients.” And because the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid now use the value-based care model for reimbursing certain treatments (which we analyze in another of our blogs, “How are MACRA and CJR Connected?,” the pressure has become more intense. Put bluntly: If adding data from social determinants is indeed part of a solid patient management strategy that theoretically can directly improve outcomes—both for the patient’s health and the hospital’s finances—a new question arises: How much of a difference could it actually make? Is it worth the effort and resources? Healthcare Informatics.com suggests that social determinants could have significant positive impacts on risk stratification models. It cited a report that said traditional risk models “only account for 10 percent of a patient’s overall health outcomes,” as where social determinants “account for about 70 percent of health outcomes.” Naturally, something that can cause a 60-percent boost to patient outcomes probably isn’t an easy technique to adapt. The aforementioned Modern Healthcare.com article verified that notion when it said: “What’s still fuzzy [about social determinants] is an understanding of which factors are within a provider’s control, and how to adjust for these factors in value-based payments.” Until a universal set of best practices emerges for integrating social determinants into a population health management strategy, there are some fundamental guidelines that can be used, such as the following shared in the aforementioned HFMA.com article: • Conduct a community health needs assessment • Collect diverse, relevant data pertaining to the population • Stratify patients according to risk • Implement solutions based on the findings Derek Rudnak is a freelance healthcare marketing content creator that frequently contributes exclusive blogs to Sequence Health. Sequence Health is a recognized leader for innovative patient management solutions—which includes its Platform as a Service (PaaS), Sequence. To learn more about how Sequence can help you improve patient outcomes, please contact us.
Patient Engagement and Healthcare Technology Integration were the Stars Of HIMSS 2017 Written by SQHealth-admin on March 7, 2017. Posted in Other. Industry trade shows always have some sort of buzz — those two or three topics that really dominate conversations among attendees. The hot topics at this year’s massive Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Conference (HIMSS) were patient engagement and healthcare technology which are particularly noteworthy because of just how real they are. That’s because the buzz was driven by value-based healthcare, a complete redesign of reimbursement calculation already well underway by Medicare and some of the industry’s largest private payers. Nobody has to wonder if these ideas are going to come to fruition or if a change in facility policies or consumer behaviors will alter them. The 800 pound gorilla of healthcare coverage has committed to this transformation and it is most definitely happening. As we chatted with clients, partners and competitors, three big ideas driving healthcare technology development came up again and again. They are all closely related to the massive shift in how providers get paid, but patients will also be tremendous benefactors of operational and procedural changes to healthcare management. Patient engagement is all that matters. Providers face a pretty substantial dilemma: Patient outcomes are becoming the prime determinant of reimbursement amounts, but there is so much that goes into those outcomes that is out of their control. If a patient with a brand new knee has to be readmitted because he didn’t follow post-operative care properly once discharged, the hospital could get penalized for that. Providers are being held accountable for more than they can directly oversee and they know that engaging with patients is key to keeping costs down. Of course, it also results in healthier and happier patients. There is a tremendous need for healthcare technology platforms that engage patients throughout their entire care episodes, from pre-operative education all the way to full recovery. Providers want it to be easy for them to integrate across multidisciplinary teams of clinicians, marketers, accountants, and even human resource departments. The front-end for patients has to be easy to navigate and ready to engage with patients on the channels they use most (supporting mobile channels is an absolute must). Just a few years ago, the industry was focused on population health, but now it is all about engaging with individuals in user-friendly and personalized ways. Seamless integration is a must-have. The amount of data that is collected and processed for any care episode is immense and it would be impossible for any single solution to manage absolutely everything perfectly. Instead, providers are looking to build out networks of technology that best support their unique service offerings and patient demands; but if those systems can’t talk to each other, it creates way too much extra work and opportunities for error. Open APIs are becoming absolutely essential to integrate all of the different solutions serving the complex array of functionalities that providers and health systems need. There is no more room in the marketplace for platforms that can not easily integrate with enterprise EMR and any other system a provider uses. “This solution can do everything you need” is dead in the water. It’s been replaced by “this solution can easily share data with any other technology that you have.” Healthcare tech is moving at the speed of consumer tech. Healthcare technology has lagged behind consumer technology for decades. That is changing as even the largest healthcare systems are replacing clunky enterprise solutions with new platforms that solve value-based healthcare problems and engage with patient populations using the communication methods they prefer. The industry is at a critical mass where these ideas are driving healthcare IT development and the provider market is eager to adopt new solutions. This is moving at breakneck speed. As recently as last year, some major technology providers were just beginning to scratch the surface of this idea. But at this year’s conference, it was easy to see how much time and effort has been spent building interfaces that are easier to consume and incorporating ubiquitous technology. The designs of the past that favored workflow optimization over ease of use have been dumped, and providers couldn’t be happier about it. HIMSS provided a great opportunity for healthcare industry stakeholders to see what the future holds for IT solutions. It was also affirming for us here at Sequence Health to see that the market is craving what we offer — a healthcare technology solution that puts patients at the center of a model that drives engagement, cuts costs and integrates cross-functional teams and technologies.
Easy Ways You Can Support Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in March 2017 Written by web_developers on March 4, 2017. Posted in Other. [tweet “… easy and quick tips to support the cause and engage with your facility’s patients.”] Once again, we are putting a spotlight on this month’s national health observance—which for March 2017 is Colorectal Cancer Month—so that busy hospital and clinic marketing teams can get some easy and quick tips to support the cause and engage with their facility’s patients. Normally we wouldn’t be as explicit about previous month’s observances, however, there are some striking consistencies what we wrote last month about supporting American Heart Month. The first relates to why we tailored this and last month’s content for bariatric surgery centers. Most simply a significant percentage of partners are bariatric surgery centers, although we provide patient management solutions for all types of hospitals and clinics. Thus, we are again positioning our tips for bariatric surgery center marketing and patient management—however, they can easily be used by general healthcare providers and many other specialties or centers of excellence. Linking Bariatric Surgery with Colorectal Cancer The second consistency may seem redundant if you read last month’s blog, but we assure you, it’s not! However, as with heart disease, there are very real connections between colorectal cancer and bariatric surgery (which includes patients with obesity and diabetes). And like we said last month, don’t just take our word for it! According to the National Cancer Institute’s “Cancer Fact Sheet”, “People who are obese are slightly (about 30%) more likely to develop colorectal cancer than normal-weight people” and “A higher BMI is associated with increased risks of colon and rectal cancers in both men and in women, but the increases are higher in men than in women.” Additionally, the NCI said “the United States had the highest fractions attributable to overweight/obesity for colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and postmenopausal breast cancer and “that obesity may worsen several aspects of cancer survivorship.” It should not be difficult see to detect a pattern: Untreated or poorly managed patients with obesity and diabetes are at greater risk for developing other health problems that either can be prevented or treated with bariatric surgery. Promote Your Bariatric Surgery Center’s Colorectal Cancer Programs [tweet “…your bariatric surgery center can modify or repurpose existing programs, content and collateral.”] The third consistency is practically a facsimile of what we wrote last month about how your bariatric surgery center can modify or repurpose existing programs, online content and print collateral that relate to lifestyle improvements that can directly or indirectly improve heart health. This includes several suggestions from the National Health Information Center’s American Heart Month Toolkit such as: • Better weight management • Controlling cholesterol and blood pressure • Drinking alcohol only in moderation • Quitting smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke Create Colorectal Cancer Screening Campaigns The Centers for Disease Control has created the Screen for Life: National Colorectal Cancer Action Campaign which was designed to inform men and women aged 50 years and older about the importance of having regular colorectal cancer screening tests. Unfortunately, as the CDC explains, “about one-third of adults aged 50 or older (about 22 million people)—the age group at greatest risk of developing colorectal cancer—have not been screened as recommended.” The CDC provides virtually everything you need to develop a colorectal cancer screening campaign, including: • Buttons and Badges • Campaign Research • Colorectal Cancer Quiz • Personal Screening Stories • Print Materials • Public Service Announcements • Resource Toolkit • “Screening Helps Prevent Colorectal Cancer” Infographic • Social Media Posts and Images Another way to reach patients is to explore automated phone calls and text messages, which we very recently explored in our most recent blog, “Automated Phone Calls and Texts Can Improve Patient Outcomes.” (In fact, one of the examples mentioned was a study about how automated phone calls got 578 patients to schedule colon cancer screenings, which led to the diagnosis of pre-cancerous polyps in an estimated 145 patients…25 percent rate of detection!) [tweet “Another way to reach patients is to explore automated phone calls and text messages…”] Use Social Media for #ColorectalCancerAwarenessMonth Along with using social media to share and find useful information related to American Heart Month (including trending hashtags such as #colorectalcancerawarenessmonth and #80by18 and #getscreened), it’s also an excellent opportunity to expand your networks. For instance, if you don’t already, here are some worthy Twitter accounts you might want to follow: • @preventcancer, the official Twitter page for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the only U.S. nonprofit organization solely devoted to cancer prevention and early detection. • @CDCgov, the official Twitter page for the Centers for Disease Control Not sure what to post in your Tweets (or on Facebook, Pinterest or Instagram)? The CDC has created a list of suggested social posts and images that can get you in the right direction! Sequence Health proudly supports Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. For more about our company and our patient management platform Sequence, please contact us.
How Might Repealing Obamacare Affect Medicare Reimbursements? Written by web_developers on January 5, 2017. Posted in Other. Keeping up with the latest changes to Medicare reimbursements—whether they are actual changes, proposed changes, or just speculation—is always a challenge. However, with a new Presidential administration preparing for when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn-in in a couple weeks, the rumors are definitely more intense than ever…especially after Trump’s campaign promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) immediately after he is inaugurated. However, that poses yet another challenge for healthcare administrators that are affected by Medicare reimbursements: Along with simply keeping up with the headlines and reactions, there is the added complexity of not being distracted by partisan politics and other subjective anticipations or interpretations. In that context, here is a digest of expectations, analyses and non-partisan opinions about potential changes to Medicare reimbursements in 2017 and beyond. [Tweet “…here is a digest about potential changes to Medicare reimbursements in 2017 and beyond.”] Repealing Obamacare: Will It Happen? It’s almost impossible to discuss the Medicare reimbursements without address the potential for ACA being repealed. Prior to the election, there was no doubt about Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s intentions to repeal Obamacare. In fact, their campaign Website’s position statement, “Healthcare Reform to Make America Again” made it crystal clear: “On day one of the Trump Administration, we will ask Congress to immediately deliver a full repeal of Obamacare.” However, since the election, things have become less certain. In its statement, “TrumpCare Explained”, ObamacareFacts.com said: “However, after a meeting with President Obama [shortly after Trump won the election], President-elect Trump has suggested he will either amend ObamaCare or repeal and replace it.” Yesterday, the LA Times article “Obama and Pence Visit Capitol Hill to Rally Opposing sides on Obamacare” said that “It’s unclear what, exactly, Trump is recommending” and that “Republicans are in a bind over their efforts to repeal the law.” However, it is a Law360.com article, “Health Care Policy to Watch in 2017” that perhaps provides the most concise explaination of what to expect with Obamacare: “Experts say the end result is anyone’s guess.” One reason that is is so difficult to find a solid answer to the “Will Obamacare be repealed?” question is because it is closely tied to two other questions: When would it be repealed and what would replace it? “It might take as many as three more years to unwind the gears of the Affordable Care Act, especially when it comes to Medicare,” according to the FiscalTimes.com article “Trump’s Dilemma: Can He Repeal Obamacare Without Killing Medicare?” Law360.com further suggests that the answers are murky because of the potential of a “repeal and delay” approach where Congress could repeal Obamacare immediately, “but delay the effective date of repeal by a few years—without simultaneously passing a replacement law.” Repealing Obamacare: If It Happens, What Happens to Medicare Reimbursements? [Tweet “For the sake of argument, assume that indeed Obamacare is repealed. What happens?”] For the sake of argument, assume that indeed Obamacare is repealed. What happens? One thing is certain: It will affect Medicare reimbursements. The Forbes.com article “How Trump’s Plan To Gut Obamacare Will Take Down Medicare.” explains: “Although Trump said during the campaign that he wouldn’t touch Medicare or Social Security—he wouldn’t have secured enough Electoral College votes if he had—tearing apart Obamacare will almost certainly raise costs for Medicare beneficiaries and hasten its decline as a guaranteed, fee-for-service system.” Of course, there are varying opinions about the potential impacts. For instance, it may mostly be a matter of disruption for healthcare administrators, according to a HealthcareITNews.com article with a very self-explanatory title, “ACA Repeal Could Make ACOs, MACRA, Medicare Shared Savings and CMS CMMI More Complicated”. Another suggested impact is that reducing or elminating Medicare (and for that matter, Medicaid) funding will trigger a series of events that may result in financial losses into the billions for hospitals, according to The Hill.com in its article “So What Would Happen If We Repealed ObamaCare?”: “If you remove tens of millions of people from the rolls of the insurance carriers because subsidies are eliminated and Medicaid expansion is defunded, if young adults ages 18 to 26 lose coverage, as well as those with pre-existing conditions, where do those who lose coverage go for care? As you might have guessed, it is your local hospital emergency room. This will result in tens of billions of dollars in uncompensated care being provided by our hospitals. Prior to the enactment of ObamaCare, uncompensated care provided by hospitals in our communities was in the range of $75 billion to $125 billion.” For the moment (and perhaps for the next months or even years), Medicare is still here, and for that matter, so are new programs such as MACRA, which was rolled out days ago on January 1, 2017). In as much as you should be prepared for changes to Medicare reimbursement for whenever they occur (and for whatever reasons), it’s even more important to do what you can now to ensure the best outcomes for your Medicare patients, which can be improved with a reliable and efficient patient management system. [Tweet “…do what you can now to ensure the best outcomes for your Medicare patients…“] If your facility seeks proven, qualified guidance and support to successfully participate in the MACRA rollout, please contact Sequence Health to learn about our solutions.
Why & How to Get Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) Written by web_developers on December 14, 2016. Posted in Other. In order to position your hospital or practice as a specialized cardiovascular center, an outside accreditation can compel you to improve quality of care and patient standards. Earning Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence (ACE) has an important role in how hospitals with cardiovascular centers of excellence can differentiate themselves and increase reputation and public perception. Sponsored by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI), ACE exists solely to evaluate and accredit excellence in heart health. The third party, physician-led organization reviews, evaluates, and certifies hospitals and other facilities in numerous cardiovascular subspecialties, including: • Carotid Artery Stenting Accreditation • Cath/PCI Accreditation • Congenital Heart Disease Accreditation for PCCL • Diagnostic Catheterization Accreditation • Electrophysiology Accreditation • Peripheral Vascular Intervention Accreditation Although not all programs will be a good fit for each hospital, seeking ACE accreditation is an important step in developing a positive public and professional perception. Facilities recognized for excellence are more likely to: • Be rated higher both locally and nationally • Reduce the expenses associated with managing patient care • Minimize the risks and complications of challenging procedures ACE Accreditation Process The ACE review process is complex and comprehensive, providing a thorough way for to empirically evaluate both management and delivery of care for cardiovascular centers of excellence. However, success may depend on a facility’s willingness to overhaul previously acceptable standards. Evaluations by ACE are performed using gold-standard peer-reviewed criteria, putting committee members on the ground in your facility to determine standards of care, patient management, staff proficiency, and more. According to the ACE Website, the path to accreditation includes: • Completing an Online Application: An in-house review of the application is performed by ACE staff to ensure completeness. • Data Review: Nurse and physician reviewers will be assigned to review application data and identify potential issues or items that require further clarification. Physician reviewers are selected from a multidisciplinary pool of experienced carotid stent, vascular medicine, and neurologic clinicians that are consistent with the physicians who perform CAS at the applicant institution. • Site Visit: All facilities will be subject to an onsite review by a team of experienced, trained and objective nurse reviewers. The review includes: • Chart audits • Peer review • Physical inspection • Review of outcomes • Interviews with key personnel • Reviews of standard operating procedures • Angiography Review: A random collection of angiographic studies will be collected for independent review. These studies are evaluated for image quality, adherence to angiographic standards and appropriateness. The Importance of Patient Care Coordination and ACE Accreditation Although ACE accreditation puts a strong focus on comprehensive facility operations, improvements in all areas of your practice can help you secure the certifications you deserve—which includes patient care coordination. Of course, improving your organizational practices won’t only help your achieve your accreditation goals, but they will also enable you to: • Reduce costs • Decrease discrepancies • Comprehensively serve the patient from beginning to end • Provide assessments • Manage your patients and your care team in the most efficient way If you are considering getting Accreditation for Cardiovascular Excellence for your facility, be sure to fully understand what is involved so that you—and your patients—may experience the many advantages of being ACE certified. Sequence Health can support your journey through the ACE accreditation process. Contact us if you need assistance ensuring your facility’s compliance with cardiovascular excellence accreditation standards or would like to improve patient care coordination.