In our modern healthcare environment, medical technology and procedures are constantly changing overtime. Additionally, there are a number of challenges faced by the healthcare system such as aging population, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, improving health technologies, and rising expectation of its consumers. All these challenges put an ever-increasing pressure on the healthcare department as a whole. As an outcome, there is an ongoing competition and high demand for quality care. One such practice that has implemented certain innovative and collaborative solutions to overcome such challenges is Hill Physicians Medical Group (“Hill”).
Background to the Hill Physicians Medical Group
Hill is a for-profit organization that is among the largest and well-known independent practice associations (IPA) of USA, located in northern California (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). It has an estimated staff number of over 2,000 physicians, which pertains a wide range of practices from single to multiple groups (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Additionally, Hill has an effective management that is “lead by a shareholder-elected Board of Directors compromising 12 physicians” (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009, p. 3). In terms of payers, Hill provides medical care to patients that are primarily enrolled in HMO plans of northern California, such as Aetna, Blue Cross, and Blue Shields (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Also, to improve quality of care and healthcare outcomes, Hill has implemented many patient-centric approaches, for instance, Ascender, NextGen EMR, RelayHealth, predictive modeling, chronic care management, and what not (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Furthermore, these approaches have revolutionized the healthcare quality provided by Hill. Therefore, the overall healthcare structure and innovations are an important quality factor in modern healthcare (Elf, Fröst, Lindahl, & Wijk, 2015). The Current and Previous Innovations of Hill In today’s digital world, the handwritten medical records are being replaced by a more systematic format of electronic medical records (EMR). EMR, which is primarily designed to provide medical records, medical histories, demographics, , insurance type, billing, and any other special notes (Cucciniello, Lapsley, Nasi, & Pagliari, 2015). Therefore, Hill has adapted this type of innovation, and the software being used is called the NextGen EMR (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). This innovation is still replicable, in fact in higher demand than ever, especially after the passing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009. According to which healthcare organizations are provided more than approximately $19 billion towards the implementation of various health information technologies (HITs) (Cucciniello et al, 2015). NextGen EMR software, apart from being a user friendly, it also contains other features that are essential for a multi-site organization such as Hill. Some of these key features are NextGen Practice management for financial as well as administrative work, NextGen Ambulatory with ePrescribing, secured data sharing via cloud, excellent IT support service, NextGen Patient portal, more than 25 specialties, and other analytics tool for best medical care (NextGen, 2015). In addition, this EMR software also meets the current legal or compliance standards, by the successful incorporation of the ICD-10 codes, which automatically get selected based on date of service (NextGen, 2015). The other major innovation that was implement by Hill was Ascender, which was software that was implemented in 2007 mainly for screening and testing reminders as well as scheduling (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Furthermore, the incorporation of this system even increased the initial number of screening and testing (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). The software was used by 54 percent of Hill practices, but the whole system was disintegrated, as each office had to access it own patient information on a separate computer (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). However, this software is replaced the NextGen EMR’s holistic approach, which collaborates the patient portal with the physician care management (“NextGen”, n.d.). So, the previous Ascender is no longer replicable as NextGen provides the platform to provide testing and lab …show more content…
So, similar to Hill’s infrastructure, federal government needs to promote more chronic care management strategies, such as following up with their patients, sending reminders about their upcoming laboratory tests, and providing certain free or low cost educational classes (Giannini, 2015). Additionally, today’s tech savvy consumers heavily rely on their smart phone for their day-to-day tasks. Therefore, enforcing certain medically approved healthcare monitoring applications by the government itself could be an effective
Background to the Hill Physicians Medical Group
Hill is a for-profit organization that is among the largest and well-known independent practice associations (IPA) of USA, located in northern California (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). It has an estimated staff number of over 2,000 physicians, which pertains a wide range of practices from single to multiple groups (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Additionally, Hill has an effective management that is “lead by a shareholder-elected Board of Directors compromising 12 physicians” (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009, p. 3). In terms of payers, Hill provides medical care to patients that are primarily enrolled in HMO plans of northern California, such as Aetna, Blue Cross, and Blue Shields (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Also, to improve quality of care and healthcare outcomes, Hill has implemented many patient-centric approaches, for instance, Ascender, NextGen EMR, RelayHealth, predictive modeling, chronic care management, and what not (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Furthermore, these approaches have revolutionized the healthcare quality provided by Hill. Therefore, the overall healthcare structure and innovations are an important quality factor in modern healthcare (Elf, Fröst, Lindahl, & Wijk, 2015). The Current and Previous Innovations of Hill In today’s digital world, the handwritten medical records are being replaced by a more systematic format of electronic medical records (EMR). EMR, which is primarily designed to provide medical records, medical histories, demographics, , insurance type, billing, and any other special notes (Cucciniello, Lapsley, Nasi, & Pagliari, 2015). Therefore, Hill has adapted this type of innovation, and the software being used is called the NextGen EMR (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). This innovation is still replicable, in fact in higher demand than ever, especially after the passing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) of 2009. According to which healthcare organizations are provided more than approximately $19 billion towards the implementation of various health information technologies (HITs) (Cucciniello et al, 2015). NextGen EMR software, apart from being a user friendly, it also contains other features that are essential for a multi-site organization such as Hill. Some of these key features are NextGen Practice management for financial as well as administrative work, NextGen Ambulatory with ePrescribing, secured data sharing via cloud, excellent IT support service, NextGen Patient portal, more than 25 specialties, and other analytics tool for best medical care (NextGen, 2015). In addition, this EMR software also meets the current legal or compliance standards, by the successful incorporation of the ICD-10 codes, which automatically get selected based on date of service (NextGen, 2015). The other major innovation that was implement by Hill was Ascender, which was software that was implemented in 2007 mainly for screening and testing reminders as well as scheduling (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). Furthermore, the incorporation of this system even increased the initial number of screening and testing (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). The software was used by 54 percent of Hill practices, but the whole system was disintegrated, as each office had to access it own patient information on a separate computer (Emswiler & Nicholas, 2009). However, this software is replaced the NextGen EMR’s holistic approach, which collaborates the patient portal with the physician care management (“NextGen”, n.d.). So, the previous Ascender is no longer replicable as NextGen provides the platform to provide testing and lab …show more content…
So, similar to Hill’s infrastructure, federal government needs to promote more chronic care management strategies, such as following up with their patients, sending reminders about their upcoming laboratory tests, and providing certain free or low cost educational classes (Giannini, 2015). Additionally, today’s tech savvy consumers heavily rely on their smart phone for their day-to-day tasks. Therefore, enforcing certain medically approved healthcare monitoring applications by the government itself could be an effective