 PFMI is at the #NJMGMA! PFMI General Manager Jim E. Sweeney with NJMGMA - New Jersey Medical Group Management Association President & RWJ Regional Director of Operations Donald Callahan, MBA, FACMPE. If you're in Atlantic City, come to the Tropicana and say Hi! #booth307
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 The TIPAAA Annual Meeting provided me a lot of information to think about, but there were some topics that I didn’t know I needed to think about! The break out session on Tele-Medicine was extremely interesting to me. The presenters believe that Tele-Medicine is already here but will become more impactful on patient care in the next few years. So, what does Tele-Medicine have to do with your practice? According to the session, Tele-Medicine will help increase revenue for private providers, reduce burn out and increase patient satisfaction.  In the US right now, major health care insurers such as United Health Care, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Aetna, and Anthem Health already have over 100 million combined users and perform over 7 million online consults yearly. More astonishing is that the AMA has estimated that almost 80% of office visits could have been handled via Tele-Medicine in 2018. Think about how crowded your waiting room can get. Now think of the number of people that your office could have taken care of with just a phone call or video chat. By freeing up your office time, doctors have time to get back to patient care.  Who can benefit from Tele-Medicine? Any medical provider! Think about the dermatologist who can see a patient’s rash over video chat and prescribe any necessary medications without having their waiting room clogged. A physical therapist can observe the gait of a patient without making them come in for a visit. Follow-up surgical visits can be performed via video chat, saving both the doctor and patient time and money.  Tele-Medicine will provide added revenue to medical providers and allow them to remain independent. Is Tele-Medicine right for your patient load? Listen, there are always going to be patients that will want to come in to the office for a consultation. But for a lot of people today, the convenience of Tele-Medicine makes it very attractive. Patients won’t have to miss a day of work, it reduces any travel time to and from the doctor’s office, reduces the number of Emergency Dept visits and, best of all, they don’t have to sit in a room full of other sick patients.  As stated, more and more insurance companies are willing to pay for Tele-Medicine if it means keeping patients out of the hospital. Patients find it to be convenient. Doctors have to decide what is right for them. I think it is worth looking in to. Your practice can benefit from Tele-Medicine financially and in patient care. Sincerely,
Mia Marinaccio General Operations Manager  Memorial Day: It isn't just the start of the summer season, but an official holiday set aside especially to remember those who honourably served our country.
The federal holiday was created to honor soldiers who have died in military service and is observed annually on the last Monday of May. It was recognized as a national holiday by an act of Congress in 1971. Memorial Day traces its roots to "Decoration Day" — a 19th century U.S. tradition where the graves of Civil War soldiers were decorated at the end of May. So, while we're all looking forward to summer and spending time with family and friends, don't forget to remember those who helped keep our country the Land of the Free, Because of the Brave! Now, if you're one of the many looking to get away this holiday weekend, know that you're joining nearly 42 million fellow Americans who are kicking off their summer with travel plans, too. Stay safe out there!  I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the TIPAAA 2019 Annual Conference March 21-23. (TIPAAA -The Independent Physician Association of America) This year was their 24th Annual Meeting. The break-out panels covered a broad spectrum of topics ranging from “The Future of Healthcare Delivery Outside of the Physicians Office”, “Blockchain -vs BitCoin”, to “Cyber Security Trends In Healthcare”, & “Physicians & ACOs” – just to name a few. One of the most interesting break-outs I attended came on the first day. A panel of physicians from several IPAs discussed the value an IPA can be to private practice physicians. Today, many physicians are struggling to find ways to remain independent. Hospital acquisition of small practices seems to be the disturbing trend in healthcare. We see this first hand with clients on our own service. Many doctors are entering into “employment models” with hospitals and losing their private practices. In an effort to circumvent this trend, doctors are turning to IPAs as a way to remain independent while still being able to flourish fiscally and in patient care. Some of the benefits of joining an IPA include: support from other physicians who share resources, data, financial risk, and even overhead costs. IPAs also offer assistance with practice management and administration tasks, peer support, and the ability of the IPA to negotiate favorable contracts offering significant savings to the members. You can save on everything from EMRs to office medical supplies, and even contact center needs (such as PFMI). Being part of an Independent Physician Association allows individual providers the opportunity to remain independent, while having the collective strength of its association to expand their patient base and remain competitive in today’s evolving healthcare environment.   This is great! So why isn’t everyone part of an IPA? Well first, IPAs require you to sign a contract. If the IPA you are looking to join is underfunded that could affect a physician's personal finances. Also, one must consider the trend of “Risk Contracts” IPAs are being asked to take on. Of course I was at an IPA conference, so they didn’t offer too many cons. They did warn IPAs to make sure they plan for “risk contracts” which could affect the profitability of the association.
Although there may be risk in joining an IPA, many of the doctors that we spoke with are very happy with their decision to become a member. IPAs offer not only security for independence but allow doctors to get back to the business of being a doctor and caring for patients. On an unrelated note, yet, something I found astonishing: I learned that at one time there were over 1500 EMR systems. Even today, one office can use 5, 10, or even 40 different EMR systems. No wonder there are so many classes on medical coding and billing. You need a PhD to figure out all of the different systems! I also didn’t realize how much doctors and their staff really don’t like EMRs. Who knew? I'm certain you did. As they say, you learn something new every day. Stayed tuned for next month’s article, where I will share information I learned on “Tele-Medicine”. According to the presenters, it is already here but will be more mainstream soon. Sincerely, Mia Marinaccio General Operations Manager  It's #NationalTelephoneDay today... right in the middle of #PatientExperienceWeek. What a perfect combination to represent how we've transformed the core of communication into an unparalleled experience for medical professionals all across the country!
Thanks to the invention of the telephone, we've taken that ubiquitous piece of technology to bring our clients a level of service we are sure is hard to beat. From providing them an award-winning service in customer satisfaction, standard of quality, and eye-popping affordability, to treating their patients like our own, to continually finding ways to bring even more value to every dollar spent with us, it's no wonder that Physicians First Messages is the Doctors' First Choice Medical Call Center! Call PFMI today for your free trial, a guaranteed 20% savings.  #TaxDay on a Monday isn't how most of us like to start a week!
Worried about the number of zeroes in that IRS check and how to balance that out for your medical practice's budget? We've got the solution for you, and #WeCanHelp you recoup some of your overhead costs in the form of HUGE savings in addition to the savings you already receive for the tax write-off! Call PFMI today at 866-737-1132 and receive 20% off your current monthly bill guaranteed. No contracts. No Commitments. No Kidding! We bet you're feeling better about #TaxDay2020 already.  National Doctors’ Day is observed March 30 each year, and was established to recognize physicians, their work, and their contributions to society and the community. We've been celebrating this day with our doctors every year since the 90s, but do you know the history of this annual event commemorates an incredible breakthrough in medicine?
From our friends at VeryWell Health: The holiday was officially signed into U.S. law in the early 1990s by President George Bush. The history of Doctors’ Day dates back to the early 1930s, however. It was conceived by Eudora Brown Almond, a physician’s wife in Georgia. She chose the date of March 30 because it is the anniversary of the day that surgical anesthesia was first administered to a patient. This was an innovation by Dr. Crawford W. Long in 1842 in Georgia. Dr Long noticed that his friends felt no pain when they injured themselves while staggering around under the influence of the recreational use of ether. He immediately thought of its potential in surgery. Conveniently, a participant in one of those "ether frolics," a student named James Venable, had two small tumors he wanted to be excised. Fearing the pain of surgery, Venable kept putting the operation off. Long suggested that he have his operation while under the influence of ether. Venable agreed, and on March 30, 1842, he underwent a painless operation. However, Long did not announce his discovery until 1849. Amazing! And it makes you wonder, what did we do for anesthesia before 1842?? So yes, thank you Doctors, for all you do, and Happy National Doctors' Day from all of us at PFMI!  We love our dentists! They help us all stay healthy and cheerful, as we put our best smile forward and face the challenges and enjoy the rewards of each and every day.
Dentists all across the country are smiling, and saving thousands with Physicians First Messages, Inc. Not sure what the Doctors' First Choice Medical Call Center can do for your dental practice? Take it from our Owner, John Calhoun who knows a thing or two about the subject. He offers: Here are 4 Immediate Benefits to Using a Medical Call Center for Your Dental Practice. Now if those aren't more reasons to smile, we don't know what are.  We're so excited to share the news!
As TIPAAA's preferred Medical Call Center, Physicians First Messages will be joining hundreds of you, our clients and your medical colleagues, at TIPAAA's 24th Annual Meeting in sunny Orlando, Florida next month! We hope you'll join us as we all learn and benefit from from medical innovators who share their proven strategies for long-term success for medical practices in the healthcare industry. Obviously, we're thrilled to reconnect with old friends, and to also make new ones... so thrilled we can barely contain it. After all, who doesn't love a road trip! See you there!  Love savings? We do too! Tell a colleague about our Award-winning Doctors' First Choice Medical Call Center. When they sign up with PFMI you save off your bill every MONTH for the life of their account!
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