- Easing Administrative Burden in Occupational and Employer Health
- Employer Protocols and Drug Screen Randomization for Occupational and Employer Health
Bridging the Communication Gap in Occupational and Employer Health
One of the biggest challenges in Occupational and Employer Healthcare is communication. In a normal healthcare setting, only two parties communicate about a patient’s health – the patient and the provider. In Occupational Medicine – a third party, the employer, is involved and sometimes even a fourth party is involved if results need to be reported to a governmental agency such as the DOT.
Regulations such as HIPAA, ERISA, and the Americans with Disabilities Act dictate that only certain information can be shared with an employer without a patient’s consent. Every employer has their own set of requirements for employee health information and their own preferred template for submitting such information.
To help overcome these communication challenges, PrognoCIS has developed several tools to assist providers in communicating with employers, patients, and outside agencies – the Employer Portal, the Patient Portal, and interfaces with HRIS/payroll systems and the Department of Transportation.
The Employer Portal allows providers to send HIPAA to secure documentation and messages to employers and HR representatives and allows for separation of medical care from injury care or medical surveillance documentation.
The portal is configurable by the department within each employer so that the appropriate members of an employer receive the appropriate information. Medical surveillance program results can be sent by default or restricted until sent manually. The Return to Work module allows employers to monitor days missed and current work status.
Using the Patient Portal allows providers to send Health Maintenance Reminders to alert employees of a pending test or exam requirement. Patients can request appointments, complete medical history forms, sign legal documents, and message with their provider. Telemedicine is integrated into the EMR system and is available for the patient via the Patient Portal App (MyHealthRecords) or by Zoom meeting without a patient portal login.
PrognoCIS can interface with HRIS and payroll systems such as SAP and PeopleSoft to automatically submit and pull information such as employment status. For employers who require DOT physicals, an interface is in progress to automatically submit DOT physical certifications, eliminating hours of manual entry.
Easing Administrative Burden in Occupational and Employer Health
Occupational and Employer Health Clinics face a higher level of an administrative burden than many other specialties. These administrative burdens are caused in part by the multitude of legislative organizations governing occupational medicine: OSHA, the Department of Labor, ERISA, DOT, Worker’s Compensation, HIPAA, and ADA. Not to mention employer-specific job requirements, position-specific requirements, and industry-specific requirements. All of this is on top of the payer, state, and national practice guidelines.
In addition to all the various guidelines and restrictions native to the industry, providers often must be cautious about their documentation as it can relate to an employee’s work status, Worker’s Compensation, and disability determinations. They also must juggle a larger variety of visits than most providers. Any given day could include medical surveillance program evaluations, DOT examinations, employee wellness, urgent/sick care, injury care, and/or care for family members and dependents.
At PrognoCIS, we’re doing what we can to make things a little easier for these providers. The following is a list of special features aimed at easing the administrative burden and the workflow challenges for occupational and employer health:
The Employer Portal allows providers to send HIPAA secure documentation and messages to employers and HR representatives and allows for separation of medical care from injury care or medical surveillance documentation.
Employer Protocols automate documentation workflow and charge entry.
Health Maintenance Reminders can integrate with existing wellness incentive programs and make staying on top of medical surveillance programs easier.
Tablet-based ProCheckIn, the MyHealthRecords App and the PrognoCIS Patient Portal allow patients to complete forms, sign legal documents, schedule appointments online, receive and send HIPAA secure messages.
Case Management allows you to track injuries, Worker’s Compensation Claims, and authorizations for treatment.
Text Reminders and/or Appointment Reminder Emails reduce no show rates.
The Zoom integrated Telemedicine application allows providers to evaluate and treat patients anywhere and allows for social distancing of sick patients.
Flexible scheduling templates for rooms, resources and Health Promotion Events.
DOT Examination templates and automatic upload interface with the national DOT database.
Configurable protocol-driven Drug Screen Randomization to comply with employer, state or federal guidelines.
Pre-loaded library of Standardized Forms and Screening Tools (Or design your own) for provider and patient documentation.
Existing Interfaces with HRIS, SAP, and/or payroll systems available.
Control Room – Allows for managing several locations or companies in multiple databases from one control room screen.
Employer Billing – invoice-based billing, fee schedules and statements.
Existing Equipment Interfaces such as Draeger Alcohol Breathalyze and Welch Allyn Vital Signs.
Mass encounter claim generation for Flu Shot Clinics.
Employer Protocols and Drug Screen Randomization for Occupational and Employer Health
Every employer accessing occupational and employer healthcare has their own unique needs. Occupational and Employer health providers often struggle to keep up with the various medical surveillance or examination algorithms, urine drug and alcohol testing requirements, forms and billing instructions.
PrognoCIS helps providers automate documentation workflow and charge entry by creating an independent Employer Protocol for each employer, position/job class, and/or visit type. The employer protocol allows providers to set up specific instructions that can be easily accessed within the patient record. Advanced Employer Billing allows providers to use standard claim forms or invoice-based billing, fee schedules, and statements. The ability to split charges to multiple claims and responsible parties/TPAs without manual intervention is also available.
Health Maintenance Reminders can integrate with existing wellness incentive programs and make staying on top of medical surveillance programs easier. Drug Screen Randomization can be configured to comply with employer, payer, state or federal guidelines. Providers can choose from a pre-loaded library of standardized forms and screening tools, employer-specific forms, state-specific forms or load their own provider preferred forms. DOT examination certifications can be uploaded automatically through an interface with the national DOT database.
All of these tools make occupational healthcare easier from start to finish and allow the provider to focus on delivering quality care rather than keeping up with the administrative process of employer preferences and state and federal mandates.
