Remote Imaging Solutions / Frequently Asked Questions
How much will it cost my practice to go paperless?
The short answer is - not very much at all. We specialize in helping small practices go paperless, and we work within your budget. Our prices are very low, and on top of that we have an option for payment plans.
The cost is directly related to how many practitioners you have, how many computers, and how much training/process help you need. Please see our Pricing page to get an initial estimate for your practice.
Of course, any hardware, network equipment, etc. that you need to make this work would need to be purchased as well - and we can help you with it all. Please contact us for an estimate for your particular practice.
How does the stimulus package affect my medical practice?
The economic stimulus package has allotted $17.2 billion to reward Medicare and Medicaid providers who can prove they are using certified healthcare IT “in a meaningful way. ” The incentives are scheduled to take effect starting Oct. 1, 2011.
According to HIMSS leaders’ interpretation of the law, physicians can earn from $44,000 to more than $60,000 in extra payments over the five-year period, including $18,000 the first year.
To qualify for bonuses, providers must have certified electronic health record technology capable of providing clinical decision support to physician order entry and capturing query information relevant to healthcare quality. The system must also be able to exchange and integrate electronic health information with other sources.
The maximum payment for qualifying physicians under the stimulus package is $18,000 for the first year, $12,000 for the second year, $8,000 for the third year, $4,000 for the fourth year and $2,000 for the fifth year.
For those failing to use certified qualifying healthcare IT by 2014, Medicare payments will be reduced to 99 percent in 2015, 98 percent in 2016 and 97 percent thereafter.
The “meaningful use” of healthcare IT is yet to be determined by the HHS secretary under the new law.
Why should my medical practice go paperless? We're used to our paper charts.
A study published in February of 2009 in the Archives of Internal Medicine that found when doctors in hospitals use health information technology to its full potential, there are fewer deaths, fewer complications and lower healthcare costs.
The study, based on a survey of doctors from 41 hospitals in Texas, found relatively modest increases in technology use had dramatic results. For example, a 10% increase in the use of electronic notes and medical records was associated with a 15% reduction in the likelihood of patient death. The study showed when doctors electronically entered their instructions for patient care, there was a 55% reduction in the likelihood of death for some procedures.
The benefits don't stop at improved patient care. An EHR solution can make your practice more efficient, which means that you can see more patients; also, it can assist your billing process, making each billing transaction more successful.
How can you protect our patient’s data? Going paperless is pointless if we can't protect their privacy.
Obviously security is of the utmost importance given that your data contains patient-identifiable health information. The first layer of security occurs on your computer, before the connection to the Amazing Charts archiving servers occur. When you run the Amazing Charts OffSite Backup utility your databases and patient records are encrypted using a 128-bit cipher algorithm. It has been calculated that breaking this level of encryption would take a hacker over a million years!
Your encrypted patient (and practice) data is then uploaded in a HIPAA-compliant manner across a secured 128-bit encrypted SSL internet connection (the type of connections that banks use). Your data is stored under tight security in the Rackspace data center in San Antonio, Texas. San Antonio is an ideal location for your mission-critical data because of the absence of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornadoes, and is also on the most seismically stable soil in the United States. Inside the data center, servers are physically isolated from everyone but level three technicians.
By the way, what is Remote Imaging Solutions?
An imaging solution is just a way to go paperless. We specialize in helping health care providers go paperless, but we have the expertise and partnerships to help any company - no matter how big - implement paperless solutions.
A remote solution also describes our business model in that we prefer to offer our services over VPN lines and over the web. The world is rapidly becoming a more On-Demand driven society. In plain English, we envision it like TIVO or iTunes. You don't have to watch all the programming, or buy the entire CD anymore. Let your business get exactly what you need when you need it without paying for anything extra.
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