When it comes to running a healthcare organization, the quality of the care you offer should always be the priority.
However, if you can't maintain the right level of profitability within your organization, then it can make it challenging to achieve the level of care that your patients deserve. Being profitable allows you to afford new equipment and software that make the job easier, as well as hire top talent to work for your clinic, hospital, or other healthcare organization.
One significant expense that can keep your healthcare company from being profitable is employee expenses. Obviously, you need a full staff to be able to provide a high quality of care to your patients but making sure that you are finding the right balance. It's important always to make sure you have the right amount of employees on staff, otherwise, you'll end up with having too many staff members with not enough work, or having not enough employees where it harms your doctor to patient ration.
Recently, how employees are paid at healthcare organizations has changed. In 2017, the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) was introduced.
For those who may need a brief review of MIPS, it is one of two tracks under the Quality Payment Program and moves Medicare Part BV providers to a performance-based payment system.
There are three separate programs that MIPS combines into one payment program—Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), value-based Payment Modifier (VM) Program, and Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.
By now, you should already have MIPS fully in place throughout your organization for those that it applies to. However, you may still need some help ironing some details out when it comes to its full integration into your organization.
So, here are three Quick MIPS tips to help you ensure quality throughout your organization, as well as profitability.
Develop an Education Plan
If you've noticed that there is still substantial confusion revolved around MIPS with your employees, then it may be time to develop a MIPS education plan if you haven't already done so. If you have and have gone through it, then it may be time to run through it once again and look for areas where clarity can be improved.
Always make sure that there is transparency in terms of who is covered and how the payment system works.
For example, making it clear that there are four parts to the payment system, which are:
- Quality
- Advancing Care information
- Improvement activities
- Cost
You can read more about the differences between the four here if you need a refresher.
Hold Regular Individual Meetings With Employees
It's not enough to make sure that your employees understand what MIPS is and how it is factored into their pay. You also have to provide transparency in terms of why there pay what it is.
Imagine if you were paid based on your job performance, but never had any idea on why you were paid that specific amount. That would be a little frustrating, for sure. And it would give you zero understanding of what you can do better in the future.
Emphasize that the Patients Are Always First Priority
While your employees may be a tad worried about their final MIPS scores. That being said, it's important to make it clear to your team that as long as they prioritize the patients and making sure that they get the best care possible, organizational success, and comes naturally.
How Medicus IT Can Help Your Healthcare Organization Be More Profitable
When it comes to keeping your company running smoothly, your IT department must be operating at 100% at all times. Unfortunately, healthcare organizations can be a big target for hackers and data thieves alike.
That's where we come in. Here at Medicus IT, we offer robust cybersecurity services, including:
- Managed Cybersecurity
- Phishing Security Awareness Solutions
- Vulnerability Scanning
- Encryption and Management
To ensure that your organization is protected, reach out to us today. For a free assessment, fill out this brief form, and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
We're looking forward to hearing from you!
