New Medical Trends in 2017 to Watch For.

The end of the year is an excellent time to rethink your strategy for building your practice and increasing relationships with your existing patients. In fact, many medical and dental practices around the country are already looking to the future with electronic patient intake forms, online patient registration practices and these other medical trends.

Incentive Payments Will Drop For Some Health Entities.

Health care organizations and practices receiving incentive payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)will increase. However, practices that do not meet the meaningful use requirements will face a 75-percent decrease in incentive payments. Thus, practices participating in the incentive program are re-evaluating their use of electronic health records (EHRs) to ensure they meet requirements. While practices may not be ready to implement stage three standards, implementing digital patient registration forms can help make the transition smoother.

Voluntary Adherence to Stage 3 Requirements Will Be Widely Embraced.

Stage three requirements within the incentive program will become more important in 2017; it will be the final year for voluntary adherence. In 2018, adherence will become a requirement for practices participating in the incentive program, and trying to ensure compliance at the end of 2017 will only set your practice up for failure.

Use of EHRs and Digital Processes Will Expand.

The use of EHRs will continue to expand as more people demand instant, real-time access to all recent, relevant medical information. In addition, the use of EHRs for sharing of information between practices, hospitals and other care providers. Meanwhile, health care costs are expected to increase at the same rate of 2016, reports PwC. Consequently, the use of digital patient intake forms and electronic patient registration will reduce overall operating costs, including those related to filing of insurance claims.

The costs associated with implementation will also decrease as ease of access and self-service form creation becomes commonplace. In fact, Practice Sense will be releasing a drag-and-drop feature, enabling rapid and efficient form creation and deployment.

The implementation of digital processes in your practice will lessen wait times and reduce upset when seeing new patients or inactive patients. Ultimately, if you do not offer any sort of digital access for patients, you will see a decline in the number of active patients visiting your practice for their health or dental care.

Telemedicine Will Increase.

From television to internet advertisements, telemedicine will be an important medical trend of the coming year. While your practice may not be ready to see patients over the phone or Skype, you will need to make sure your online presence is competitive. In other words, you may want to consider creating blogs and online resources for improving the health of your patients outside of the office.

2017 will bring about change to how medical and dental practices view age-old registration and information-sharing to patients and other care providers. Start looking toward these dental and medical trends today, and your practice will be prepared for the challenges of a connected health care system. To learn more about implementing digital patient registration forms and other ways to prepare, contact Practice Sense online or by calling 1(800) 619-2955.