The healthcare industry has always lagged behind the rest of Corporate America in regard to information technology. However, the Obama administration has devised its own remedy to make this sector a healthy contender in the ongoing race.Under The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009—signed into law by President Obama last February—the government has instituted a $19 billion plan to hasten the adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) in hospitals and doctors' offices. Fueled by incentive bonuses, the ambitious plan has sparked bold predictions of a troubled fate for small physician practices as consolidation becomes more frequent.
Although the direction is clear, one question still remains. How long do we have to wait for the results? The general consensus indicates five years. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), provisions in the Recovery Act will authorize bonus payments "for eligible professional and hospitals participating in Medicare or Medicaid if they become meaningful users of certified EHRs" beginning in 2011. These incentives are expected to lessen the financial burden healthcare providers may face to incorporate this technology.
Furthermore, beginning in 2015, the Recovery Act will mandate penalties under Medicare "for eligible professionals and hospitals that fail to demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHRs," said CMS.
But not everyone is buying the hype. Take Jim Magdaleno, for example. Magdaleno, product manager – healthcare for Oxnard, California-based TFP Data Systems, argued that electronic filing has been a major topic ever since the Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act (HIPAA) back in 1996. Fast forward 13 years later, and it's the same old discussion.
"Even though the current Obama administration is aggressively pursuing full compliance of electronic transmissions in all healthcare within five years, it's highly unlikely that it will occur. First, HIPAA has been trying to accomplish this since 1996. Then, we have to look at the small physician landscape and the data shows that 91 percent of small medical practices in the United States are not using electronic filing procedures where it pertains to diagnosis, prescriptions and insurance billing," he stressed. "The data also shows that it could cost anywhere from $25,000 to $40,000 per doctor to make the transition from paper to electronic, and could take up to four to six months. Is there a stimulus reimbursement available for physicians? Yes, but there are stipulations and guidelines by Medicare and Medicaid and [it] will take as long as five to seven years for doctors to recoup any part of it."
Nevertheless, Magdaleno believes it is crucial to stay informed about the issues and any changes that could alter the medical landscape print professionals have come to know. Because the push for EHRs is so prevalent, Magdaleno makes sure to conduct some of his own research, which includes talking to various physicians he meets along his travels. He agreed a paperless theory is beneficial in simplifying the cumbersome administration process—something that HIPAA is trying to accomplish. "But how can a small medical facility be forced to make the transition if it will potentially kill the practice due to cost," he asked.
Magdaleno's own physician recently made a partial transition from paper to electronic, delivering test results and prescriptions via a portable computer. "I asked him how he liked it and he said that he would not go back to the way it was—less chances to make a mistake—and added that his office still produces paper and that will not go away soon," he said. "It took six months to be comfortable with the transition and he saw less patients during that time which ended up costing [the office] more."
And, Magdaleno continued, his doctor was only able to get that far because he belonged to a larger group. His professional peers are not in a position to afford such an investment.
Mark Gerling, executive vice president of sales for the St. Louis-based The Flesh Company, echoed Magdaleno's sentiments. The current plan to speed up the adoption of EHRs will affect the print market over time, but Gerling remains confident the typically paper-intensive healthcare market will follow this pattern for years to come.
"The medical industry has always been slow to change, and I think that will continue to be the case with electronic medical records. If history has shown anything in healthcare related to electronic forms, a hospital can choose to move forward with an electronic forms program, but unless everyone is on board with the program, they still want a hard copy form for documentation. As long as the doctors control the revenue, if they want hard copy documentation there will always be print for us to sell," he insisted.
Ironically, the focus on healthcare may prove to be favorable for the printing industry. Plenty of untapped opportunities await savvy distributors. "The level of attention being placed on healthcare by the new administration is a great stimulus for our business. It's simple ... more people gain health insurance coverage, more claim forms are needed. It may well decline in the distant future as electronic filing grows. Pay phones, record stores and even movie rental stores are all feeling the effects of a digital, electronic revolution, but this industry is far behind that curve," Magdaleno enthused. "There's a lot of forms to be sold and money to be made in the next few years. Plus, if our customers develop strong relationships via the healthcare form, then their customers will come to rely on them for other products as well."
One of The Flesh Company's more successful medical products has been a patient sign-in sheet. This particular product is a form/label combination designed to allow patients to sign in at a medical office or facility, while preventing other patients from viewing their personal information, keeping in compliance with HIPAA regulations.
In addition, The Flesh Company is focusing on incorporating value-added features to help products achieve optimal use. In particular, the company has found a niche in printing various barcode symbologies including 128ABC, Code 39, 2 of 5, UPC/EAN and along with many others, Gerling mentioned. He went on to say 2-D barcodes, including Datamatrix, PDF 417 and Maxicode, will become more in demand.
"With the medical industry's need to encode more information in a smaller space, we have seen the growth of 2-D barcodes. Where traditional 1-D barcodes act similar to a license plate to reference information stored in a database, 2-D barcodes can fulfill the same function while taking up significantly less space, or can function as the database itself, and therefore assure complete portability for 2-D-labeled items like patient records," Gerling said.
Both participants also agreed distributors shouldn't avoid selling to the healthcare market despite recent national headlines about the ailing economy. "We've all felt the effects of the downturn in the economy, but the healthcare forms are somewhat recession-proof," said Magdaleno. "Healthcare forms are an easy sell for our dealers because it is very targeted. ... It's not an optional buy. There's only two basic forms, the CMS-1500 for non-institutional use and the UB-04 for hospitals and institutions. And the CMS-1500 is the most widely used business form in America today. ... Beyond that it's just a matter of laser or continuous and, if continuous, the number of plies."
He added that large facilities increasingly are looking to regional vendors to save money and are open to striking deals now more than ever. "The biggest misconception is that the purchasing contracts of large groups have with medical facilities are iron clad. It just is not true," he asserted.
Nevertheless, looking ahead, distributors will have to slightly alter their approach as they survey the playing field for new accounts due to the efforts of the present administration. Magdaleno continued, "Medical accounts have to be categorized differently—how you help that medical facility make the transition from paper to electronic output is a true value that you can provide a business partner that won't forget. Find out as much as you can about becoming a partner with an electronic Healthcare Records Company and don't forget that paper is going to be with us for a while yet."
However, at the end of the day, it's all about compliance and, in turn, helping distributors establish a secure comfort level when using technical, industry-specific language with potential clients in the process. "We have a simple approach: we are not here to sell the dealer healthcare forms. We are here to help the dealer sell healthcare forms. If we can help them succeed, our success will come alongside theirs," Magdaleno said.
And that is a pill anyone can swallow.
- Companies:
- Flesh Company, The
- TFP Data Systems
- People:
- Gerling
- Jim Magdaleno
- Obama
- Places:
- Oxnard, California
- St. Louis