There are those who will tell you that implantation of computerized chips into humans in much the same way as they are now being used for household pets is just around the corner. The reality, however, of where we are headed with medical technology can be summarized today by HITECH, the Health Information Technology and Clinical Health Act. This Act (part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) was developed to bring us firmly into the realm of electronic storage and sharing of health information. What this means for you is a variety of positive advances in how your practice runs in today’s technological age � encouraging the use of medical billing management, HIPAA compliance software, and other medical office software in your everyday operations. The provisions of the Act can even be the source of low-interest loans or grant money for your practice to get up-to-speed with the requirements of HITECH.
The Congressional Budget Office anticipates that by 2019, 65% of physicians will have adopted health information technology in their practices, but there is no reason that you can’t get started now. Today, you can find a wide variety of computerized programs that will increase efficiency in the management of your practice. Various forms of medical billing software, medical office software, HIPAA compliance software, and medical scheduling software are widely available and come in all shapes and sizes, so bringing your practice into the age technology can be much easier than you may believe. The most difficult part of the process may be in selecting the product best suited for how you run your practice.
Keeping the provisions of HITECH in mind when making a selection of such software will go a long way towards ensuring your ultimate compliance with the requirements of the Act, particularly those that increase your level of responsibility under HIPAA. You will want to consider programs developed by people well-versed in your industry, who will be committed to keeping up with the ever-changing face of the regulatory requirements. You will also want to look at programs that combine several functions of your office, rather than trying piece-meal to select a stand-alone product for each different operational aspect. One such product that you should consider is AcuBase Pro, by Trigram Software, which will keep you on the cutting-edge of technology, privacy requirements and the components of HITECH that are just around the corner.
