Overview
With a focus on overall patient wellness and value-based care, explore how 2022 is making way for modern medical practice.
In the past, when someone went to a medical clinic, it was for traditional treatment. The popular view of medicine was that the mind and body were independent of each other. In recent years, however, research shows that mental and physical health plays off of each other in ways that we didn’t understand in the past.
Now, patients expect medical professionals to coordinate their care and consider both their physical and mental well-being. They want a holistic approach to healthcare that will change the face of medical practice in 2022 and beyond. Here, we’ll look at what patients want and how modern medical practices can meet these needs.
Two Concerns Will Change The Modern Medical Practice
We’ve already discussed one of the major concerns for patients going into 2022. Holistic healthcare will play a major role in the future of healthcare and the ability of medical practices to attract new patients.
The other factor driving medical innovation is the concern patients have over billing practices. Patients have seen the cost of healthcare rise over the past few decades. They have legitimate concerns over what they’re going to pay.
According to surveys, 91% of patients have a hard time understanding their healthcare costs, and 75% say that medical bills confuse them.
Most of the confusion over healthcare costs comes from a lack of understanding of what it costs to run a medical practice. There are two approaches that professionals can take to alleviate this confusion. First, they can drive down prices using automation. Second, they can work to educate patients about their bills and steps they can take on their own to keep costs down.
“Clinicians need to believe that this change isn’t being done ‘to them’ — instead they need to be active participants who want to utilize digital technologies.”
Clinician, UK
Automation Will Help Drive Prices Down
As a way to keep the cost of insurance down, many families opt for high-deductible plans that require large out-of-pocket costs. These patients want to see their bills before they leave a medical office instead of waiting for them to come in the mail. Faster billing is one of the greatest benefits of automation. Machine learning improves decision-making and speeds up pre-authorizations.
Patients receive their bills before they leave the office, which benefits both the consumer and the practice. The consumer can have their questions answered before they leave. Employees can handle any concerns immediately instead of having to take extra time later.
Automation also allows practices to manage their personnel better. Automation can handle labor-intensive tasks, allowing employees in a clinic to focus on patient care. This technology allows practices to handle sudden influxes of patients and manage more patients.
Patients who automate their records will become greater stakeholders in their treatment. They’ll develop a better understanding of treatment options and their bills. This will raise patient satisfaction and lower the amount of time staff has to devote to answering questions. Machine learning will also improve patient record security. The technology can discover attempted breaches and shut down any information before it becomes compromised.
Holistic Care Improves Patient Health
The 2022 medical practice will look at other forms of treatment that aren’t considered traditional. These treatments will help patients save money and provide them with the holistic care they seek.
Many practices already employ nutritionists that help patients focus on their diet. An improved diet helps with more than obesity. Diabetic patients can control many complications of the disease with a diet that consists of fatty fish, leafy greens, and nuts. By making a few small changes to their diet, these patients can lose weight, control their insulin levels, and reduce inflammation.
Of course, reducing obesity can help protect patients from heart disease, sleep apnea, mental health issues, and more. Focusing on the diet is one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to improve health.
Practices will also start looking at other treatments. Meditation and yoga are both great options for patients that can’t afford or choose not to take prescription drugs.
Meditation is a proven way to control stress, and lower anxiety, and could help aging patients with memory loss. Yoga has several benefits for those with flexibility and muscle issues, and is also a proven way to reduce stress and anxiety.
One study in 2005 showed that patients with osteoarthritis in their knees experienced less pain and improved their physical functions with yoga.
Medical professionals will also start coordinating patient care with mental health professionals. Mental health issues such as depression don’t cause issues such as diabetes, but it does lead to life choices that do. Depression leads to lethargic behavior, poor dietary choices, and sometimes drug use. These issues can then increase a patient’s risk of heart disease, diabetes, liver and kidney issues, and more.
By connecting both the mental and physical health of patients, practices can address both the symptoms and underlying causes of health issues. By taking care of both, patients will see healthcare costs lowered over time. The medical system is now poised to pivot away from the treatment of symptoms and more toward treating underlying issues. This new focus will give patients long-term and measurable results.
How The Right EHR System Can Help
Electronic healthcare records software affects every aspect of your medical practice. With PrognoCIS, you can fully customize your EHR system to meet the individual needs of your practice. We make it easy to transfer information from your current EHR to our system so that you won’t have to experience any downtime.
Our system is HIPPA compliant and cloud-based to protect your patient’s information. We use sophisticated security software to keep your records safe.
Consultations can take place from inside the office or from home. Patients will have more flexibility and immobile patients can get the medical help they need.
We offer dynamic solutions to meet the needs of any medical practice in 2022. We provide solutions for practice management, telemedicine, e-faxing, texting, and medical credentialing.
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