2020 threw everyone for a loop. Now is the time to think ahead.

2020 has been a wild year that just seems to keep going. From the absurd – murder hornets, a coin shortage, and mystery drones over Nebraska and Colorado. To the unthinkable – COVID, social unrest, and natural disasters. All this on top of ensuring you, your families, your co-workers, and your patients are safe and healthy and while still managing the challenges healthcare providers were already facing. You’ve heard enough people say “I wish 2020 was over already.” It might be nice if we had a magic wand to erase some of the events we experienced so far in 2020. Alas, in the absence of magic, we all need to continue doing what’s important to emerge strong from 2020. And, while it may seem more intimidating than ever before to focus on “what’s next”, there’s no better time than now to start thinking ahead to 2021. What things will impact your practice and patients next year? What should you start planning for? What can MicroMD help you with? Let’s walk through some key changes we have on our radar to help you prepare.

What’s on the horizon for practices in 2021?

E/M Office Based Coding Changes effective January 2021

The American Medical Association (AMA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have together achieved a complete overhaul of the Evaluation and Management (E/M) office / outpatient visit codes, the first in almost 30 years, set to take effect on January 1, 2021. This historic provision includes significant revisions to the Evaluation and Management (E/M) CPT code descriptors and standards of documentation. The goal of the revisions is to decrease administrative documentation burden, minimize audit requirements, as well as to ensure E/M office visit payments are resource-based. Documentation can now center on the way physicians think and care for their patients rather than checking boxes for billing requirements. The changes that will go into effect will initially be only for outpatient office visit codes 99201-99215, with the goal to expand to additional E/M codes in the future. It will be important for practices to understand the upcoming changes and plan for the impact, including software upgrades, identification and documentation of new procedures, training for both back office and clinical staff, and monitoring of claims submission to understand how well your practice has transitioned to the new requirements.

The MicroMD Product Management and Development teams have been busy learning the requirements, getting feedback from multiple practice types and specialties, and updating your software to align with the new requirements. And our Marketing, Training and Support teams are working on a number of communications, webinars, and educational resources to help you make the most of these changes. Stay tuned.

2021 Quality Payment Program (QPP) Changes (Proposed)

While the 2021 rule has not yet been finalized, the changes appear to be less onerous than in previous years. A lot of behind the scenes work will be done by our Product Management and Development teams going into 2021 as there are a host of new requirements for the 2015 Edition EMR Certification. We’ll also be working with users on a “Real World Testing” plan where we’ll need your help to tell us what’s working and what isn’t as part of documentation and workflows in order to capture the appropriate data for reporting. In the meantime, here’s a look at the key provider-facing changes:

Increased competition for patients from non-traditional practice settings

With the shortage of primary care physicians, many patients remained loyal customers of their doctors. Although, with the rise of urgent cares, retail clinics, work clinics, telehealth networks, etc., patients have more choices. Some specialties will be less impacted than others. It’s important to remember that ultimately your practice needs to be a profitable business and that two keys to a profitable business are customer retention and acquisition, with patients being your customers. This is a great time to consider extending hours, making capacity for same day appointments, making telehealth visits a standard, offering additional services, engaging patients through automated email and phone reminders and marketing communications, and mobile pre-visit forms / check in tools.

The rise in patient consumerism

This goes hand in hand with the increase in competition for patients. Patients are consumers. Patients are customers. And more than ever patients are demanding flexible hours, mobile solutions, safety, price transparency, and payment options. Many patients want the bells and whistles that competing providers are offering and are increasingly basing their decisions on online reviews, website presence, physician comparison scores, and ease of access and engagement. Just as your patients are reimaging how they want to consume healthcare services, it’s worth considering how you can reimagine how to deliver it with patients in mind.

Improved visit safety for staff and patients

Because of COVID, a number of practices closed. Others implemented curbside check in procedures to limit waiting room exposure for both patients and staff. While curbside check in is a great interim solution, smart technology solutions are emerging than can help automate those steps to minimize wait room time, reduce the need for PPE, maintain social distance, and collect co-pays, while at the same time reducing the data entry and manual paperwork burdens for the front desk and billing staff. Secure telemedicine visits and remote patient monitoring kits can also offer a social distancing option for a number of conditions and follow up visits.

How can MicroMD help you plan for 2021?

Our job as your valued PM and EMR software and solutions partner is to help you reimagine healthcare. We’re here to ensure you have the solutions and services you need to manage a successful practice. That means providing you with tools and knowledge to help you make meaningful practice changes. We continue to launch enhancements and solutions with the goal of helping you address your biggest practice challenges, including some of these upcoming 2021 impacts. And we’re focused more than ever on helping you optimize your use of MicroMD and solutions through proactive outreach, optimization check in calls, free training, educational webinars, blogs, and eBooks.

Check out our Solutions Central Marketplace to learn more about our carefully curated portfolio of features and solutions to help you reimagine healthcare. And if you have any questions, please reach out to your Account Representative, Client Support, or your Trainer.

We’re pleased to have been able to help you get back to the business of healing through the COVID pandemic. Now we’re excited to be a part of how you reimagine healthcare.

I wish you and yours health and perseverance.