Training for Better Outcomes

Building a committed and motivated staff is a Better Outcome that most offices would like to achieve. Training staff is not an easy task to accomplish, with heavy patient loads and trying to keep on top of continuously changing regulations, it is almost impossible keep on track with traditional classroom or binder training. The benefits of online training fit well within the healthcare industry as staff can navigate freely and control the pace at which they move through a course and online c

ourses can be updated quickly to keep on top of changing regulations.

The Better Outcome of saving not only time but money is another top priority for many offices. As worker’s compensation premiums and costs in general increase, many offices are looking for areas to cut expenses. Traditional training costs employers almost $1000 a year per employee. Online training costs clinics less than $100 a year per employee. Not only can you cut direct expenses with Online Training by 90%, but as reported by the department of Occupational Safety and Health Administration that every $1 that is spent on safety training employers save $4-6 in work related accidents. This cuts costs of workers comps claims down significantly and allows offices delegate expenses elsewhere.

How MedTrainer Creates Better Outcomes

Measured Management

Measure success and manage users, locations, courses, transcriptions and more with ease.

Learning

Efficiently and effectively train staff as individuals or as a group using MedTrainer's learning platform. Create customized curriculums, courseware bundles, and have access to over 60 of our core courses for healthcare.

SDS Management

Manage SDS (Safety Data Sheets) by uploading your own or searching our database of millions of SDS sheets. Employers must ensure that the SDSs are readily accessible to employees for all hazardous chemicals in their workplace. This may be done in many ways. For example, employers may keep the SDSs in a binder or on computers as long as the employees have immediate access to the information

Award Winning Service

Need help with something? We are by your side all the way! Contact us via email, chat, telephone or even good old snail mail with support questions or inquiries. We are open from 8AM to 6PM local time regardless of where you are in the United States.

Resources

Save time and money with access to our resource section which features thousands of documents and resources from regulatory bodies such as CMS, HHS, OSHA, the CDC and more!

Document Management

Effectivly create, edit, and manage safety plans, internal policies and incident reports. Increase safety for better employee retention and performance outcomes

• The National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI), estimates the annual workers' compensation benefits paid for all compensable injuries and illnesses in 2009 at $58 billion.

To learn more about how MedTrainer can help you achieve better outcomes in your organization visit www.medtrainer.com.

First Impressions of Safety!

What safety impression does your office make on your patients, employees and an OSHA inspector? Your office appearance should send the message of a well-organized, efficient, safety centered practice. The next time you walk in the front door of your office, pretend you are patient, a potential new employee or  an OSHA inspector.  Ask yourself  the following questions:
 Is the waiting area clean and organized? 
Are the silk plants full of dust bunnies?
Are the real plants thriving or drooping? 
Is the carpet worn, frayed or dirty? 
How old are the magazines? 
Are the clinical areas cluttered with unused items? 
Are the counters free of clutter (so surface disinfection can easily occur?) 
Are sharps containers overfilled?
Is the sterilization area clean and well organized?

Perhaps you can see where this is going. There are some compliance basics that go along with the appearance and overall well-being of your physical location. Compliance standards apply to both employee safety and patient safety. Employee Safety standards are covered by OSHA standards. The following are some examples of safeguards which must be in place to ensure employees are provided a safe work environment.Training is essential in order for employees to understand safety measures in place in their work environment. 
Annual bloodborne pathogen training is required by law on an annual basis.
Personal protective equipment (PPE) must be provided by employers at no cost to the employee. Employers must also provide laundering of reusable PPE. 
Employees should not take contaminated PPE home for cleaning. MedTrainer's Courses go extensively into all these topics want more information about our courses visit www.medtrainer.com/courses.

New York's "Emergency Medical Services and Surprise Bills" Law

On April 1, 2015, the “Emergency Medical Services and Surprise Bills” Law went into effect throughout New York.  Healthcare providers will be obligated to provide patients with their plan affiliations prior to the provision of non-emergency services, and verbally at the time of the appointment.

The “Emergency Medical Services and Surprise Bills” law includes greater transparency of out-of-network (OON) charges and network participation, as well as broader availability of a patient’s right to go OON if the insurance plan’s existing network is insufficient and also safeguards against “surprise bills” from OON physicians. Below are some of the key provisions in the new law. This legislation will:

1. Impact billing a reimbursement for some out-of-network healthcare services
2. Require new disclosures from providers regarding their plan participation status
3. Add new rules for health plans regarding their plan participation status
4. Add new rules for health plans regarding networks and reimbursement for out-of-network services.

It is critical for providers and health plans to create an action plan to ensure compliance with the requirements of this law. MedTrainer now has a course available to help you understand how the new law will affect your organization. To view a sample of the course sign up for a Free Trial today!

www.medtrainer.com

Improving Patient Satisfaction One Patient At a Time

In the medical professions, improving customer service means improving patient satisfaction and patient loyalty. This is an important area to focus on, more so than in any other business types, because basically it means that you’re practicing health care services in the most efficient, effective, and practical way possible.

 

An unsatisfied customer in a restaurant - well, he’ll impact the business by eating elsewhere, but no one’s life is at stake. In a medical practice of any kind, dissatisfaction can lead to disengagement that can be life threatening for the patient, and that can prevent adequate patient care.

 

In a very practical sense, if a patient doesn't receive a good quality of customer service, it can also impact the medical office’s bottom line. Having satisfied patients means loyalty, success in a competitive marketplace, and improvements in health care and health care delivery.

 

After all, patients are a strong part of the accountability equation in healthcare. Their selection of your medical office means that healthcare delivery is measured favorably. If you don’t receive a favorable measurement, you’ll end up with no patients. And regardless of your capabilities in healing, if your patients don’t come to the table, you can’t heal.

 

Attracting and satisfying patients depends on customer service. And customer service relies upon communication and accessibility. Of course when you do communicate well, you are satisfying patients. This leads to the attraction of more patients. Your accessibility to your patients and the broader community around you leads to a healthy business model.

 

So What are Some Practices Steps to Improve Customer Service and Satisfaction?

 

Timely service is key.  Deliver service to the patient on your patient’s schedule. Eliminate long waits for lab test result distribution. Create a practice-wide goal of responding to patient questions, via phone, email, or in person. Don’t put off your patient’s concerns until it is convenient for you.

 

Scheduling is also important. Timing appointments to eliminate long wait times is practical and efficient for patients and staff alike.

 

Organization. Like timely service and scheduling, organization is a part of any successful business. In a medical practice this means delegation of tasks, time efficiency measures, and respecting the duties of others within your organization.

 

Peaceful environment. Patients and staff alike do not respond well to disrespect. And why should they? No bullying. We know that you’re not operating a yoga practice. But we can all learn from the serenity of yogis everywhere. Calm down, deep breath, no bullying, respect. Every employee should know how to address patient concerns and complaints.

 

Language skills. Sometimes even with the best of intention, words can wound or disregard. Non-verbal cues are also important. Make good eye contact. Use non-judgmental phrasing. Eliminate boundary markers between patients and staff. 

 

Stay blame free. This contributes to improved language skills and a peaceful community. Speak clearly, use facts, not accusations. An employee may make a mistake once, but if that same mistake happens again, it’s just as likely to be the fault of the medical system or community in which he or she is operating.

 

Overall, we find that patient satisfaction is rapidly becoming a top priority for health care providers nationwide. Quality of care, quantity of care, these are bound areas, not separate from one another.

 

Providers are rewarded for good service as the nationwide Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services put into practice the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, distributing funds  to hospitals based on quality measures through the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey.

 

Improving service is more and more about improving the entire cultural experience of a health care practice, including it’s efficiency, character, and patient outcomes.

 

The $37,500 Mistake Truck Drivers And Medical Office Staff Have In Common

Avoid Fines From $495- $37,500 By Having All  Staff Do Required D.O.T. Training.

Both truck drivers and medical office staff who deal with any aspect of shipping or receiving hazardous chemicals, waste or other hazardous materials are ALL required to have D.O.T training. D.O.T training gives employees the ability to know the specifics behind shipping hazardous materials. Just think… who in your office signs off on the medical waste manifest when your provider comes to pick up waste? Who signs off on the hazardous waste from your lab or surgical center? Can you prove that these employees have been trained and do all your training efforts include:

i. General awareness/familiarization
ii. Function-specific, training
iii. Safety
iv. Security awareness
v. In-depth security training, if a security plan is required
vi. Driver training (for each hazmat employee who will operate a motor vehicle) *most likely not needed for medical staff.

With fines ranging from $495 up to $37,500 per violation (each piece of paper with a signature from your staff who does not carry a certification could be separate violations) There is no reason not to have your staff properly trained. If you currently do not train staff on these trainings there are plenty of places to get this training cheap including my organization.

By: Steve Gallion, CEO, MedTrainer.com

Steve Gallion has been providing healthcare related compliance consulting and services to the industry for over 10 years. He has had multiple companies from IT Security Compliance and Healthcare Waste Management to Regulatory Training and Compliance. He is an expert in many areas of healthcare compliance including OSHA, HIPAA, DOT, Billing and Accreditation. You can learn more about Steve and his company at http://www.medtrainer.com.

Does your office have a plan to protect against hackers gaining access to PHI?

     There are many stories that we here on the news about hackers getting our credit card information but what about hackers gaining access to your social security number, health records, and so much more. HIPAA was put into place to assist healthcare organizations on protecting one’s individual health information. How compliant is your office with HIPAA? Does your office understand the complexity of HIPAA and the new adaptation of the Omnibus Rule? Safety and Compliance training is what get offices into compliance. MedTrainer is a system will help your office get into compliance fast! MedTrainer offers an extensive HIPAA course that assures that all the employees understand the complexity of HIPAA and tests them on their knowledge.

     Our goal at MedTrainer is to keep compliance and training management simple, affordable, comprehensive and engaging.  We strive to save organizations money while keeping them compliant with federal, state and local regulations without over complicating the process.

Take a look at what can happen with a breach of protected health information.

http://www.okcfox.com/story/26306405/hackers-gain-access-to-45-million-patients-records-includes-oklahoma-hospitals

6 Ways MedTrainer Helps You Ensure HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA enforcement activities have been on a rise and MedTrainer would like to help your organization stay compliant with state and federal regulations. Given that the penalties for violating HIPAA have increased under the final rule, this is a situation that organizations want to avoid. With MedTrainer organizations can easily manage all users online and quickly see what compliance & safety training needs to be addressed.

1.     Development of privacy policies. Healthcare organizations must develop, adopt and implement privacy and security policies and procedures document all of their policies and procedures, including steps to take when a breach occurs. MedTrainer develops you safety and plans and incident reports with one simple click.

2.     Appointment of privacy and security officers. MedTrainer lets you create an Admin to easily manage all of your employees even at multiple locations so you can ensure that all staff is up to date with their training.

3.     Conducting regular risk assessments. Healthcare organizations should regularly conduct risk assessments and can easily be does online with MedTrainer as you can review where each student is at with their training. When audits come around the admin can view what areas of safety and compliance your organization needs the training so they can get up to par with state and federal compliance regulations.

4.     Training. MedTrainer assists with training employees who use or disclose protected health information and documents that training online and is an essential step to ensuring HIPAA compliance. MedTrainer also offers refresher courses and helps train the employees in new policies and procedures.

5.     Adoption of potential breach protocols. A protocol for investigating potential breaches of protected health information is a must. MedTrainer easily creates a document of the results of the investigation and stores the incident report within the MedTrainer database where the Admin can easily access it.

6.     Implementation of privacy policies. Privacy and security policies must be properly implemented by healthcare organizations, and they should sanction employees who violate them. MedTrainer assists management with these processes with the incident report builder.

MedTrainer will help healthcare organizations ensure that they remain HIPAA compliant, schedule a free online demo at www.medtrainer.com/demo.