Patient Engagement
This week I caught up with our friend, Frank Martin, of The Medical Consultants Group. We talked about how his consulting firm can help a wide range of medical practices, from solo offices to multi-site large groups. Frank talked about the variety of facets of a business that is a medical practice improve operations.
Frank talked about strategies for helping patients related to managing their out-of-pocket obligation, including deductible and co-payment. We also discussed how the ACA has placed new emphasis on patient satisfaction and outcomes relating to how the practice (or isn’t) reimbursed. Another requirement is to provide an electronic portal that allows remote access to patient data BY the patient, coupled with a means to transmit/receive relevant information to/from patients.
We discussed the difference between legacy EMR systems (where software was installed on hardware in the office) and cloud-based applications where data and the software exist on a remote cloud-computing-based architecture. The decision-making capability of the cloud-based applications, coupled with security and rapid access to important data, make modern cloud-based EMR applications the wise choice for practices to convert to today. These modern applications do not require on-site updates of the application on every device. Now, the application is updated where it lives, meaning the user’s experience is not interrupted or inconvenienced.
Frank places great emphasis on helping his client practices become better-running businesses. To that end he works with the group to be able to change processes, or software, business plan, and/or other key facets such as office location and office space leasing to operate more efficiently and profitably.
Special Guest
Frank Martin / Medical Consultants Group 
- Past recipient, “Volunteer of the Year, Big Brothers Big Sisters”
- Published author
- Successful entrepreneur in the healthcare sector
