Perfecting the Practice Therapy Brands

Ed Wrzesinski, General Manager for the Procentive Electronic Health Record (EHR) practice management system at Therapy Brands, joins our host Sage for today’s episode. A seasoned Healthcare Executive with experience in the payer, provider, and vendor sectors, and an in-depth understanding of the healthcare market, Ed brings his vast experience to the podcast today to discuss tips for practice management and the role technology has played in managing private practices.
 
He begins the conversation by describing the evolution of technology in healthcare administration, and the reasons for some hesitation in adopting EHR practices in the past. Ed also discusses the great advantage that analytics tools provide for both small and large corporations as well as the benefits of networking to reduce the learning curve when managing a healthcare practice. The episode concludes with Ed reviewing the benefits of outsourcing practice management and also ways to improve aspects of practice management. Filled with experience, knowledge, and wisdom, Ed Wrzesinski is truly an expert in the field of practice management with so very much to share with listeners here today.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   The evolution of technology in healthcare administration
-   The challenges with EHR adoption in the past
-   Tips for practice management
-   How do analytics products save time?
-   Key advice for beginners running a private practice
-   The benefits of networking and joining an organization
-   Outsourcing practice management
-   Ways to improve the least efficient aspects of practice management
 
Quotes:
 
“In healthcare today, data is power.”
 
“Having equivalent data so that you can make intelligent decisions about how you're running your practice is absolutely critical.”
 
“The more time-saving tools you have in your belt, the better.”
 
“One of the key things to really learn is to join an organization”
 
“You truly learn how to manage practice by doing it. And so having that network of folks that can help to bring you along absolutely can help accelerate that learning curve.”
 
“In the end, software for practice management, and time investment in practice management, end up being things that pay for themselves really quickly.”
 
“It can be hard to grasp and fully accept the concept of your practice as a business that, at the end of the day, has a bottom line that you need to nurture, but that is the truth.”
 
“If you don't take care of the health of the business side of your practice, you're no longer going to be in existence, to be able to help people. You know, it's not a luxury, it's a necessity to look after the financial health of the practice.”
 
Show Links:
 
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Joining our host today is Jonay Meyer to discuss electronic note-taking in healthcare practices. Jonay is a seasoned forms consultant at Procentive with 7+ years experience building complex and customized forms for agencies. She brings her expertise today to educate all on the importance of paperless note-taking and the challenges that may come with this.
 
Jonay begins the conversation by discussing the importance of note-taking in practice management, the relationship between note-taking and insurance billing, and the impact of technology on note-taking, particularly how it allows clinicians to focus more fully on clients. The episode comes to a close with Jonay discussing some challenges practices face with electronic note-taking and how to simplify the process and eliminate these challenges. Accurate and effective documentation is essential to the success of any organization - especially so in the healthcare space - and in today’s episode, this industry expert shares her extensive experience and wisdom to show listeners how exactly to achieve this.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   Why note-taking is necessary in practice management
-   Exploring the connection between note taking and insurance billing
-   The influence of technology on note-taking
-   Challenges that come with note-taking and how to overcome them
-   Streamlining and simplifying the note-taking process
-   Advice to administrators struggling with note-taking
 
Quotes:
 
“Documentation is the organizational bedrock of good health care delivery and outcome tracking.”
 
“Note-taking is essential. It's important for the clinicians to be able to document those services, any issues that there are in their approach to treatment and care”
 
“The last thing that we want to do is bog down clinicians with completing forms. So the easier the note taking is, the more clients they can help make an impact.”
 
“Documentation is key to insurance billing, to helping clinicians do their job quickly, efficiently.”
 
“Technology and note-taking allows the clinician to have access to the client, to keep records at their fingertips.”
 
“We all know the stereotype about doctor's handwriting.”
 
“Asking does not hurt anything.”
 
Show Links:
 
Therapy Brands
Procentive Homepage

Today our host is joined by Lori Clark and Emily Hardin to discuss the impact of the pandemic on telehealth and the challenges that come along with it. Lori is the Co-Founder and Customer Care Manager for thera-LINK, Emily is the Senior Product Manager at Therapy Brands, and today they bring the expertise they each possess in their areas of specialty to discuss things providers need to know about telehealth.
 
They begin by taking us on the journey of how they started in telehealth, and then Emily discusses designing products made for provider experience and patient experience. Together, they review the impact of COVID-19 on telehealth, the benefits telehealth brings to organizations, and the obstacles with telehealth. Our guests finish up this highly informative episode by explaining exactly why providers should seek out support on their journey in telehealth. Relatively new, but quickly scaling up due to COVID, telehealth’s role in society continues to grow in importance, rendering the information and advice shared here today more necessary than ever before – you owe it to yourself to listen in.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   Lori and Emily discuss their journey in the world of telehealth
-   The impact of COVID-19 on telehealth
-   Designing usable products for providers and patients
-   The benefits of telehealth in today’s world
-   Transitioning to telehealth- what are the obstacles?
-   Things to consider when choosing a telehealth platform
-   Why providers should seek support when needed
-   Advice for providers new to telehealth
 
Quotes:
 
“We were so very grateful for two things: that we had worked really hard to develop a great product, and also that we joined the Therapy Brands family because we would not have been able to manage the influx of customers.”
 
“During the pandemic, we saw more than ever how important those connections are when we were isolated. And so to be a company that can make that connection happen is really thrilling to us.”
 
“COVID-19 has been just this huge catalyst for telehealth. ”
 
“The thing that has surprised me the most is how much the people who are providing telehealth and receiving telehealth really value a person in support.”
 
“Generally, mental health providers are intuitive, they're very empathic, they can feel other people's energy or emotions when they walk in the room.”
 
“Thinking through what role this tool is going to have in your practice is going to be really important for your decision making”
 
“Pay for the best Wi-Fi that you can. Prepare yourself, practice as much as possible, and prepare your clients.”
 
“Telehealth is different and new, but it is effective.”
 
 Show Links:
 
The Therapy Brands
 
thera-LINK Homepage
 
Lori's LinkedIn Page

Special guests Alicia Swanson and Chris Werner join our host Sage on this week’s episode to discuss the necessities required for running a large healthcare organization. While Alicia is Therapy Brand’s Senior Director of Customer Success, Chris is one of their Customer Success Managers, and today they bring their expertise in customer success and knowledge on the tools needed to run a large healthcare organization to the podcast to share with listeners.
 
They begin by describing the importance of technology for large-scale practices and how it can help cut costs and save time for these practices. Our guests go on to discuss the biggest obstacles that larger healthcare administrators face, some of which include getting information back out of the system and the staff turnover these practices experience. They also review the tools these organizations can use for a successful administration as well as the value in outsourcing areas they find difficult. The episode concludes with words of advice from Alicia and Chris on how larger healthcare organizations can improve their growth – wisdom acquired through extensive experience which will prove highly valuable to all who take it to heart.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   The relationship between technology and large scale healthcare administration
-   Dissecting the biggest obstacles for administrators of big healthcare practices
-   Tools for successful healthcare administration on a larger scale
-   Why you need to outsource areas where you need help
-   The importance of getting the right data
-   How larger healthcare organizations can improve their growth
 
Quotes:
 
“I always feel like I have my customer hat on where I'm thinking like a customer and you know, any decisions that are done internally, I get to be that voice of the customer.”
 
“Everything you're doing in life is requiring technology at this point.”
 
“Technology is always evolving and changing in capabilities.”
 
“Customers are most successful when they are willing to ask questions.”
 
“Management through influence versus management through authority. That is what healthcare does.”
 
“If you have a great system, and you're able to pull out all of this data and make these key decisions, you're going to go really far in your business and grow at a pace that you're able to keep up with.”
 
“Knowing what you're good at, and what you should outsource to another tool or service is going to be critical to your success.”
 
“If you try and wear all of the hats and do all of the things, you're not going to grow at the pace that you want to.”
 
“Make sure you are working with someone who wants to partner with you and hear what you have to say.”
 
Show Links:
 
Therapy Brands
 
Chris Werner’s LinkedIn
Alicia Swanson’s LinkedIn

In today’s episode, our host Sage is joined by Dr. Jessica Kasirsky to discuss the importance of compliance in healthcare management both in the physical space and software aspect of the industry. Dr. Kasirsky is the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Therapy Brands where she is responsible for the patient safety of brands, regulatory reporting, and health care compliance.
 
Dr. Kasirsky begins the conversation by discussing her journey in the healthcare industry.  Having come from a family of healthcare practitioners, she has a background in emergency medicine and has since transitioned from the physical space into the software space to impact more people. She discusses the relationship between compliance, consumer trust, and industry safety in today’s episode and the importance of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards. She also discusses the misconceptions concerning healthcare compliance and how to ensure the aspects of security: technical, physical, and administrative. The episode concludes with Dr. Kasirsky describing safety breach stores she has encountered, and sharing her expert advice for healthcare administrators concerning compliance. As you listen in today, you will quickly discover precisely why Dr. Kasirsky is renowned as an exceptional speaker, communicator, manager, and motivator, as she effortlessly demonstrates the ability to render her abundance of often complex knowledge fully accessible to all.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   Dr. Kasirsky’s journey in the healthcare industry
-   Transitioning from the physical space to the software world in healthcare
-   Healthcare compliance, consumer trust, and industry safety - what holds them all together?
-   How software capabilities meet compliance standards
-   What are Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) standards?
-   The impact of COVID-19 on compliance
-   What administrators and providers need to know about healthcare compliance
-   Misconceptions about healthcare compliance
-   Safeguarding the three aspects of security
-   Cases of HIPAA breach Dr. Jessica has encountered
-   Advice for providers and healthcare administrators
 
Quotes:
 
“I do miss the interaction with patients, but I feel like I can reach an impact so much more in the software space.”
 
“We cannot address the overall quality of care without first addressing a key component of quality, which is patient safety.”
 
“The ultimate goal, of course, is simply to improve the overall quality of health care, and better quality of care will translate into fewer medical errors, thereby increasing consumer confidence in their health care providers, and reducing medical malpractice suits. ”
 
“As patients move in the healthcare ecosystem, their health records must be available in a structured format that is understandable and exchangeable.”
 
“It's the most important thing we can do - keep the data safe and do everything we can to keep personal health information secure.”
 
“There are so many moving parts to keeping people safe, and it seems to me that every participant has to have an equal level of prioritization on compliance in order for it to really work.”
 
“Security is a three-legged stool.”
 
Show Links:
 
Therapy Brands
 
Jessica Kasirsky’s LinkedIn

Allison Milam joins our host to discuss the importance and future of technology in healthcare.  A Board Certified Behavior Analyst with 11 + years of experience, Allison is currently a Product Owner-BCBA for the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) products at Therapy Brands where she serves as a liaison between customers in the ABA practice management space and the software product team.
 Allison begins the conversation by describing her journey as a provider and how she transitioned into the software space. She then discusses how the Electronic Health Record (EHR) has evolved as an industry over the years, the part technology has played in this evolution, the future of the EHR industry, and trends she expects to witness in the future. The episode comes to a close with Allison describing some challenges she expects the EHR industry to face in the coming years. Allison’s extensive experience and understanding in this space paint a healthy picture of the future of healthcare administration.
 
The Finer Details of This Episode:
 
-   Transitioning from working as a provider into the software space
-   The evolution of the EHR industry over the years
-   The top benefits of EHR technology for practitioners and healthcare administrators
-   Using EHR as a practitioner
-   The future of the EHR industry and practice management software
-   Challenges as EHR expands in the future
 
Quotes:
 
“Technology has a hand in how practices manage patient data, access operational analytics, distribute payroll, comply with industry regulations, and more.”
 
“I was a lot more effective and able to do my job better because I could design programs and see the whole entire picture of what was going on.”
 
“I definitely think there will continue to be an expansion of different types of services offered with telehealth.”
 
“We're not just there storing information. We’re there helping them make their biggest decisions for their company.”
 
“We don't want to become too reliant on a system...because we do know that there's going to be failures, you're going to have power loss, you're going to have the internet go out, you're gonna have the system down. So there needs to always be backup plans in place .”
 
“These systems and using technology, especially in the therapeutic space, is not going anywhere anytime soon. And if you want to be able to provide the best services for your patients, it's important to adopt a helpful and a useful program for you.”
 
“The more collaboration, the more we're talking to each other, the more peer-to-peer interaction and asking questions and getting answers, and helping each other grow that there is in this space, the better off we're all going to be.”
 
Show Links:
 
Therapy Brands
 
Allison's LinkedIn Page