Running a successful chiropractic clinic has always required hard work and attention to detail, but it’s more challenging now than it was a generation ago. Healthcare regulations have intensified and grown in number, and all insurers have exacting specifications for paying on claims.
Many practices have switched at least some of their processes from manual to electronic, including the incorporation of electronic medical records (EMRs). A patient’s EMR is a record of his or her patient encounters at your particular practice, and healthcare reform has prompted increased use of EMRs and other tools that facilitate better practice management.
Changes in private insurers and Medicare have also changed the reimbursement landscape. Reimbursement is moving away from a fee-for-service model and more toward value-based reimbursement. These factors have led chiropractors to take constructive steps to make their practices more efficient so they can remain profitable. Here’s why more chiropractors are turning to EMR solutions, including free EMR systems.
To Improve Billing and Reduce Underpayments
The implementation of an EMR certified by the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) lets you be assured that the technology can perform the functions necessary to comply with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Studies (CMS) Meaningful Use objectives. That alone is valuable, but the right EMR can improve billing as well.
Because each insurer has precise rules about coding and claim forms, accuracy and consistency are essential for reducing claim rejections and denials and minimizing underpayments. Your EMR, if it is ICD-10 ready and has tools for accurate coding, can boost your clean claims rate and reduce time spent correcting rejected claims and following up on denied claims. Ultimately, the result is a tighter revenue cycle, and fewer accounts languishing in Accounts Receivable.
For Better Office Management and Patient Satisfaction
A recent study of customer satisfaction with healthcare providers found that while clinician skill is important, a relationship between a patient and a practice is significantly affected by how well the office is managed. Specifically, an astounding 96% of patient complaints relate to customer service, including perceived disorganization and insufficient communication. In other words, the waiting room is at least as important as the exam room.
How can your EMR help? If your EMR includes office management tools for tasks like appointment scheduling, reporting, and comprehensive “patient-to-pay” solutions, your staff will spend more time providing patient services and less time tackling problems that arise due to disorganization and clunky, outdated processes. An efficient office is better able to communicate with patients and can establish better relationships with them.
To Address Modern Chiropractic Practice Management Needs
An EMR developed specifically for chiropractors makes more sense for today’s chiropractic clinic than a more general purpose EMR system. Chiropractors provide specialized care and need tools that accommodate this specialization. A great EMR can accurately document medical necessity (thus preventing denied claims), help avoid or cope with payer audits, and improve practice efficiency to help make up for shrinking reimbursements.
Without tools designed specifically for chiropractors, less-than-meticulous billing can result in leaving thousands of dollars on the table. The return on investment for a chiropractic-specific EMR can be swift and impressive. Most chiropractors choose EMR software that is hosted in the cloud so they don’t have to bother with care and maintenance of on-site servers, or with hassles like software upgrades and security patches. With cloud-hosted EMRs, the software provider takes care of these contingencies.
Free EMR for Chiropractors
FreeCHIRO offers fully-customizable, cloud-hosted EMR software specifically designed for chiropractors, and it’s 100% free, with no ads to have to put up with. Since there’s no software to install and no hardware to maintain, you have no up-front costs for IT equipment or setup. You simply access FreeCHIRO through the web. This free EMR is ONC certified, HIPAA compliant, and ready for ICD-10 coding.
With our free EMR software, you get powerful front-office tools like legal forms, setup of self-pay pricing, visit tracking, and a single-click dashboard for reporting on all financial metrics. It also lets you verify eligibility, bundle codes and modifiers, and consistently produce accurate claims that are less likely to be rejected or denied. FreeCHIRO even generates letters of appeal when there are denials. And since it’s free, the ROI is fast and impactful. Why bother with outdated processes any longer? Click here, and you can try FreeCHIRO right now. 
Categories: Chiropractic
