It’s often the simplest things that cause the worst headaches. Maybe this is because we expect big tasks to cause big problems and are therefore mentally prepared for them. Maybe it’s because when small things break, the cascade of subsequent issues is anything but small. Whatever the psychology, as a medical practice manager you know how difficult it can be to keep up with all of the daily minutiae of running a medical office even under the best of circumstances. You are always looking for ways to streamline back office operations, save money on equipment and services, and coordinate staff and providers, all while keeping a steady flow of happy patients moving through your doors.

One seemingly small area that encompasses all of these challenges is your inter-practice communications. First you have to ensure your team is on the same page. Then comes coordinating outside your practice with patients and hospital staff, directing their questions and concerns to the proper physician. Should be simple, but in reality hiccups are not uncommon.

You know the drill: a disgruntled physician calls after she was erroneously paged while on vacation. Or your on-call doctor failed to respond to a page because he never received it. Even worse, details in a patient’s complaint get scrambled en route to the on-call physician, leading to confusion and delays in care.

Medical answering services are supposed to help with these problems. However, you may still have to do a lot of manual work to keep up with scheduling changes and coordinating on-call duties among your providers. Without the right set of tools mistakes are inevitable, both from your office and from your answering service.

Fortunately, there are solutions to help busy group practices, including technology such as HIPAA-compliant communications and scheduling platforms. And medical answering services can play an invaluable role in helping you coordinate your practice’s communication.

While both classic medical answering services and newer on-call management platforms are designed to help simplify the business of healthcare so your team can stay organized and efficient, they are not created equal.

With that in mind, we have selected 14 critical points to consider when evaluating a medical answering service. The list below will help you more easily assess your unique needs and priorities against the capabilities of each provider.

Your time as a medical practice manager is precious. You want - and need - to be spending your effort making life better for your staff, your providers, and your patients. Your daily goal is to smooth the way towards better medical care and increasing the profitability of your practice. So if your goal is to move forward, why live in the technological past?

Healthcare is staring down the barrel of the largest changes to the industry since Medicare was introduced by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. The recently proposed Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has sweeping implications for the way healthcare providers are paid for their services. The ultimate goal of MACRA is to navigate away from the traditional fee-for-a-service model, to a quality-based reimbursement model.

Although MACRA is sure to be an initial headache for clinicians, medical practices need to understand and prepare for the new legislation or suffer significant financial penalties.

Let’s break it down.

• So, what is MACRA? 
• Am I Eligible? If so, what track is right for me? 
• How am I reimbursed? 
• When do I start implementing MACRA? 
• What will MACRA cost me? 
• Who will know my score? 
• What are the actions I can take to prepare? 

Running a profitable medical practice is is more challenging than it has ever been.  Driven by new regulations like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicare and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), administrators have to spend more of their time dealing with new tools, reporting requirements and practice guidelines that take away from the time they would otherwise spend focused on running the business of the practice.

Since those regulatory burdens are unlikely to go away anytime in the foreseeable future, practices have to develop new disciplines to ensure they can not only continue to grow, but grow profitably as well.

Here are 6 tips to do just that: