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CarePICS

Non-Healing Wounds

Who’s to Blame for Non-Healing Wounds? CarePICS Helps Collaboration for Better Outcomes!

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Despite the best efforts of healthcare practitioners and continuous treatments, some wounds have trouble healing. The result can be prolonged suffering and other adverse effects. Patients or their families may be left looking for someone to blame.

Could the physician have prevented this outcome? Or does the responsibility lay with the patient? The more important concern should be how can you adjust and improve your processes for the future.

CarePICS can not only open lines of communication with patients so guidance on homecare can be offered and provided but can also help improve the quality of care. Wounds will heal so there’s no one to blame!

A Failure of Teamwork

Physicians are entrusted with the weight of responsibility of understanding and treating illnesses.

“No provider wants to be negligent,” says Dr. Chris Bromley, President and Chief Medical Officer for CarePICS. “Bad outcomes hurt not just patients but also the reputation of the physician and healthcare organization and can even lead to malpractice lawsuits.”

Sometimes the answer is not simple negligence on the physician’s part. The patient is not necessarily to blame either, even if they don’t correctly adhere to your prescribed regimen or attend follow-up appointments.  

According to the Journal of Wound Care, the World Health Organization (WHO) believes that a wound that does not heal speedily and healthily is a failure of collaboration in education and practice. Organized collaboration is essential to effective wound care, and that means including the patient as part of the team.

A patient may not be managing their wounds well simply because they didn’t understand the doctor’s instructions. How can you facilitate better communication and connection between yourself and patients to ensure wounds heal properly?

CarePICS Streamlines Processes and Communication

CarePICS is the virtual wound and vascular care platform that streamlines processes and communication with patients. If you’ve ever worried that rushed appointments led to confusion or frustration, this technology functions as a central hub to simplify appointments and advance both doctor and patient forward along the healing journey.

Capabilities of the unified solution every step of the way include:

  • Patient records are stored and easily accessed as structured, consistent electronic health records (EHRs)
  • Physicians can take notes in the CarePICS app during the appointment
  • A smart ordering system fills custom medical product requests for patients
  • CarePICS automatically sends out prescriptions and schedules for follow-up appointments

“Like with any new technology, it’s critical that users are provided with the knowledge and resources to utilize CarePICS,” says Dr. Bromley. “The mobile and web application is easy-to-use, but physicians need to work with patients during appointments so there’s no lingering questions or ambiguity.”

For more information

Are you ready to work as a team with patients’ needs in chronic wound care over months, years or even a lifetime? Visit the CarePICS website to learn how the virtual care hub can help you coordinate care so chronic wounds heal.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

Readmissions Rates

Tackling the Challenge of Readmissions Rates with CarePICS

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The risk of cardiovascular events and death for critical limb ischemia (CLI) patients can lead to not only a lower quality of life but financial hardship for both patients and physicians.

“National readmission rates can be as high as 30% for CLI patients,” says Lorie Henderson, administrator and clinical director for the PULSE Amputation Prevention Center in El Paso, Texas. “These high readmission rates are costly for hospitals.”

PULSE has tackled this challenge with continued prevention efforts and improved treatment strategies optimized by utilizing CarePICS. Henderson says the virtual wound care platform has been key to mitigating CLI-related morbidity and mortality at the clinic.

Hospital Readmissions Hurt Hospitals

Readmissions cost hospitals in the vicinity of $26 billion annually, says the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

“Hospital readmissions are a leading healthcare concern, both in terms of implications for the quality of care provided to hospitalized patients and for the healthcare costs associated with readmission,” say Dr. Audrey J. Weiss and Dr. H. Joanna Jiang. “Some readmissions, such as those for cancer and related treatment, are expected and planned, but many readmissions are not.”

CLI patients are some of the readmissions that are difficult for healthcare organizations to incorporate into budgets.

“Readmission for CLI patients can indicate a significantly higher risk of amputation and an increased length of stay of up to 12–15 days,” says Henderson. “The major causes of CLI patient readmission are missed follow-up appointments and a breakdown of communication.”

Fortunately for PULSE and many other hospitals, medical practices and clinics, CarePICS offers a robust solution for supporting CLI patients and healthcare staff.

CarePICS Eliminates Trips to the Hospital

Readmission rates have dropped down to 7% since PULSE adopted CarePICS three years ago. The average stay for CLI patients has also been reduced to 5–6 days.

PULSE has been able to bring these numbers down by utilizing CarePICS’ robust capabilities, which include:

  • Creating connections across all disciplines and guidance provided to patients throughout the entire healthcare journey
  • Communicating between departments via HIPAA-compliant messaging and image sharing
  • Adding notes on cases, which streamlines the communication flow
  • Real-time consulting with specialists brought on during an appointment if a patient shows symptoms other than vascular-related

CarePICS’ greatest benefit, however, is eliminating the need for a trip to the hospital.

‘“Phone triage” is how we keep CLI patients healthy and at home and away from exposure to potential pathogens,” says Henderson. ‘CarePICS’ incredible telemedicine functionalities facilitate check-ins and monitoring and tracking the healing process. We only direct patients to the hospital if a wound isn’t progressing well or has become infected.’

At that point the readmission process is incredibly simplified by a powerful team-based approach. CarePICS can help patients plan their stay and the length of time they’ll be in the hospital. They can then be admitted directly and bypass the emergency room.

Throughout the patient’s stay, CarePICS’ centralizes all consults, studies, prescriptions and more for easy access at the click of a button. The secure, innovative technology can create and send patient reports to both attending physicians and specialists. This integrated and optimized workflow increases efficiency and reduces clerical work.

“The only hurdle so far has been getting patients to sign up for the app,” Henderson says with a laugh. “All patients have different bandwidth for tech. Our doctors have to make sure a patient signs up before they leave an appointment!”

For more information

Your healthcare organization needs a set of strategies to address reducing readmission rates. Visit the CarePICS website to learn how the virtual care hub can help overcome this growing healthcare issue.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

Malpractice

Safeguard Against Wound Care Malpractice Cases with CarePICS

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Wound care malpractice cases can harm your reputation and bottom line. It’s important that healthcare practices use the latest technology to ensure the most accurate reporting, especially when adapting to telemedicine appointments.

How can you ensure you have accurate capturing and reporting? Turn to CarePICS. The CarePICS virtual hub provides the most precise measurements and documentation possible to safeguard wound care providers from malpractice cases.

Are You at Risk for a Malpractice Suit?

Wound care has increasingly been recognized as a critical specialty in recent years.

“The number of elderly and obese people living with chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease keeps rising,” says Dr. Chris Bromley, President and Chief Medical Officer of CarePICS. “Those conditions escalate the likelihood of acute and chronic wounds.”

But this paradigm shift brings its own unique challenges. Wound care clinicians face compliance concerns, patient miscommunication, incomplete or missing documentation, and more — which can lead to malpractice suits.

Those issues are compounded by new procedures and products for wound care treatment that can cause privacy violations. For example, taking an image with your smartphone and sending it to a colleague through unsecured channels is a significant healthcare violation. Telemedicine also has its own federal and state regulatory requirements and patient-physician pitfalls.

CarePICS’ Robust Accuracy and Documentation Capabilities  

CarePICS is a valuable asset in navigating a malpractice suit. The HIPAA-compliant web and mobile app delivers powerful accuracy and documentation capabilities, such as:

  • Eliminating contradictory paper trails so patient records can be created and retrieved in a user-friendly electronic format
  • Digitally storing imaging and corresponding reports in a cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant server
  • Interfacing with electronic medical record (EMR) systems, even with practices who don’t currently use CarePICS
  • Time-tracking all interactions between patient and physician
  • Providing a secure method to send voice, text, still photos and streaming images
  • Empowering collaboration between physicians and specialists to determine a more accurate diagnosis or treatment next steps

“The technology’s robust functionalities can decrease inaccurate assessments, reduce errors and eliminate confusion with an easily accessible audit trail,” says Dr. Bromley. “You’ll be able to avoid or be prepared to defend yourself against any malpractice suits.”

For more information

Visit the CarePICS website to learn more about how the virtual hub technology can protect you and your practice from litigation — while improving patient outcomes and reimbursement opportunities.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

Doctor and Nurse Discussing MIPS Requirements

Gather and Submit Quality Data to MIPS with CarePICS

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The ongoing reporting demand for the federal Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) program may be challenging for your practice. But if you see more than 200 Medicare Part B patients, you are eligible for bonuses that you want to take advantage of.

MIPS is facilitating changes in practice patterns across podiatry, wound care and office-based labs. Physicians can potentially earn higher reimbursements and benefit from more focused processes.

To be eligible for MIPS means providing the proper documentation to qualify. CarePICS is the solution you need to gather and report all MIPS requirements.

What Exactly is MIPS?

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) established MIPS in 2017. This points-based program was voluntary at first but became mandatory for Medicare-participating physicians in 2019.

Eligible clinicians can choose every year to continue to be paid on a fee-for-service basis and report cost and quality data. You can submit clinical quality measures (CQMs) to MIPS through claims, registries, Qualified Clinical Data Registries (QCDRs), health information technology developers and certified survey vendors.

Clinicians are evaluated by MIPS after each performance year based on a 100-point performance scale divided into four categories:

  • Quality (40% of score)
  • Promoting interoperability (25% of score)
  • Improvement activities (15% of score)
  • Cost (20% of score)

Providers may be reimbursed more (for meeting quality outcomes) or less (if they fall below an averaged national metric).

“If you don’t meet MIPS standards, then reimbursement payments can be dinged by as much as 5%,” says Dr. Chris Bromley, President of CarePICS. “There’s no specialty society or quality measures to create the kind of system that documents and transmits the necessary materials to Qualified Clinical Data Registries to get reimbursed.”

How Can CarePICS Help with MIPS?

Fortunately, CarePICS created an authoritative HIPAA-compliant virtual care platform that guarantees better patient outcomes while increasing reimbursement. Clinical staff can use CarePICS for wound measurement and documentation to create structured, consistent electronic health records. These EHRs are all collected into a centralized hub and passed along to QCDRs.

There are several CQMs that podiatrists and wound care clinicians should be aware of in relation to patients, especially those with diabetes:

  • MIPS Measure #126: Diabetes Mellitus: Diabetic Foot and Ankle Care, Peripheral Neuropathy
  • MIPS Measure #127: Diabetes Mellitus: Diabetic Foot and Ankle Care, Ulcer Prevention – Evaluation of Footwear
  • MIPS Measure #128: Preventive Care and Screening: Body Mass Index (BMI) Screening and Follow-Up Plan
  • MIPS Measure #226: Preventive Care and Screening: Tobacco Use: Screening and Cessation Intervention
  • MIPS Measure #318: Falls: Screening for Future Fall Risk

Physicians can reconfigure processes to focus more on reporting these CQMs to MIPS. Nurses can make it a priority to ask a patient their MIPS info as soon as they are in the exam room.

“An office can speed up documentation for a new patient by 55% when using CarePICS,” says Dr. Bromley. “And the documentation process can speed up by as much as 85% with subsequent visits.”

CarePICS is an efficient tool for submitting quality data to MIPS. Maximize MIPS reimbursements with the easy-to-use mobile and web app.

For more information

How can you know you’re sending the best possible data to meet the four MIPS categories? Visit the CarePICS website to learn more about the virtual hub technology’s powerful consolidating and coordination functionalities.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

CME-Lectures-CarePICS

Build Up Your Mastery of Telemedicine with CarePICS Sponsored CME Lectures

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Are you a vascular specialist or wound care clinical looking to grow your knowledge of telehealth medical practices while earning continuing medical education (CME) credits? Take advantage of CarePICS-sponsored lectures and symposiums to build on your mastery of telemedicine.

Read below to learn how to view these free comprehensive guides on incorporating telehealth best practices into your workflows.

Insightful CME Lectures       

These telemedicine talks focus on potential barriers, practical application techniques, diabetic risk factors, digital wound care solutions, the future of telehealth and more.

You can access all the digital presentations at the PRESENT Podiatry and PRESENT Wounds sites for your convenience. Register with the sites and sign up for subscriptions to earn CME credits.

Lectures

  • Home monitoring to prevent re-ulceration in people with diabetes — Lawrence Lavery, DPM, MPH discusses the evidence for primary and secondary prevention. He also discusses the barriers for visual inspection, the effectiveness of standard prevention strategies, as well as the evidence of education, therapeutic shoes and temperature monitoring. Access here or here.
  • Telemedicine: Seeing Treating and Being Paid for Providing Care Without Patients Stepping into Your Office” — Paul Kesselman, DPM, DABFAS discusses the various forms of telemedicine and its future, while demonstrating why it’s not a fad. Access here or here.
  • Telemedicine: Understanding Coding and Reimbursement — Paul Kesselman, DPM discusses the complex coding and reimbursement of telemedicine. He also talks about documenting telemedicine visits as well as the impact and future of telemedicine. Access here or here.
  • The Benefits of Mechanically Powered Negative Pressure Therapy — Matthew Garoufalis, DPM, FASPS, FACPM, CWS, FFPM, RCPS (Glasg), discusses application tips and techniques with dNPWT based on case scenarios. He also relates the difference between disposable NPWT and electrically powered NPWT as well as the evidence for dNPWT. Access here or here.
  • Using Cyclical Pressurized Topical Oxygen Therapy for Post-surgical and Chronic Wounds — Matthew Garoufalis, DPM discusses the role that oxygen plays in healing post-surgical and chronic wounds. In addition, you can learn more about the science that supports cyclical pressurized topical oxygen therapy as well as the “QuickStart” approach to using cyclical pressurized oxygen therapy. Access here or here.
  • Who should you prioritize for prevention? — Lawrence Lavery, DPM discusses risk factors for developing foot ulcers. He also reviews diabetic foot risk classifications and the incidence of diabetic foot disease by risk categories. Access here or here.

Promotional Symposiums by Dr. Chris Bromley, DPM

  • Building an Amputation Prevention Program Using Teams and Tools — Dr. Bromley discusses integrating CarePICS into his practice. He is joined by Dr. Laiq Raja, MD, FACC, FSCAI, and Lorie Henderson, FNP-C, of the PULSE Amputation Prevention Center in El Paso, TX. The three experts break down how CarePICS can help bring multispecialty teams together to improve patient outcomes. Access here or here.
  • Digital Solutions to Improve Vascular and Wound Care — Dr. Bromley discusses how to use CarePICS to improve wound care, documentation and coordination of care while benefiting from increased revenue. Access here or here.

These telemedicine talks focus on potential barriers, practical application techniques, diabetic risk factors, digital wound care solutions, the future of telehealth and more.

You can access all the digital presentations at the PRESENT Podiatry and PRESENT Wounds sites for your convenience. Register with the sites and sign up for subscriptions to earn CME credits.

Lectures

  • Home monitoring to prevent re-ulceration in people with diabetes — Lawrence Lavery, DPM, MPH discusses the evidence for primary and secondary prevention. He also discusses the barriers for visual inspection, the effectiveness of standard prevention strategies, as well as the evidence of education, therapeutic shoes and temperature monitoring. Access here or here.
  • Telemedicine: Seeing Treating and Being Paid for Providing Care Without Patients Stepping into Your Office” — Paul Kesselman, DPM, DABFAS discusses the various forms of telemedicine and its future, while demonstrating why it’s not a fad. Access here or here.
  • Telemedicine: Understanding Coding and Reimbursement — Paul Kesselman, DPM discusses the complex coding and reimbursement of telemedicine. He also talks about documenting telemedicine visits as well as the impact and future of telemedicine. Access here or here.
  • The Benefits of Mechanically Powered Negative Pressure Therapy — Matthew Garoufalis, DPM, FASPS, FACPM, CWS, FFPM, RCPS (Glasg), discusses application tips and techniques with dNPWT based on case scenarios. He also relates the difference between disposable NPWT and electrically powered NPWT as well as the evidence for dNPWT. Access here or here.
  • Using Cyclical Pressurized Topical Oxygen Therapy for Post-surgical and Chronic Wounds — Matthew Garoufalis, DPM discusses the role that oxygen plays in healing post-surgical and chronic wounds. In addition, you can learn more about the science that supports cyclical pressurized topical oxygen therapy as well as the “QuickStart” approach to using cyclical pressurized oxygen therapy. Access here or here.
  • Who should you prioritize for prevention? — Lawrence Lavery, DPM discusses risk factors for developing foot ulcers. He also reviews diabetic foot risk classifications and the incidence of diabetic foot disease by risk categories. Access here or here.

Promotional Symposiums by Dr. Chris Bromley, DPM

  • Building an Amputation Prevention Program Using Teams and Tools — Dr. Bromley discusses integrating CarePICS into his practice. He is joined by Dr. Laiq Raja, MD, FACC, FSCAI, and Lorie Henderson, FNP-C, of the PULSE Amputation Prevention Center in El Paso, TX. The three experts break down how CarePICS can help bring multispecialty teams together to improve patient outcomes. Access here or here.
  • Digital Solutions to Improve Vascular and Wound Care — Dr. Bromley discusses how to use CarePICS to improve wound care, documentation and coordination of care while benefiting from increased revenue. Access here or here.

For More Information

CarePICS is here to help you provide your patients with the best possible care while supporting practice growth goals. Visit the CarePICS website to learn more about how our virtual hub can benefit both patients and providers.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

Carepics Stacked Logo Small

The CarePICS Help Center Empowers Clinicians to Optimize Wound Care Capabilities

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Are you a wound care clinician, podiatrist or vascular specialist who recently adopted CarePICS into your practice and workflows? The new virtual hub for wound and vascular care is user-friendly and intuitive. But we want to ensure you’re using the app to its optimum capacity.

That’s why CarePICS now features a Help Center with web-based training. The Help Center enables clinicians to reach the future of digital wound care.

Read more about how you can opt-in to our online training to learn how to get the most from CarePICS.

Welcome to the CarePICS Help Center           

Gain the ability to screen, assess and treat peripheral artery disease (PAD), critical limb ischemia (CLI) and wound care patients more effectively:

  • Go to www.carepics.com and click the Login button in the top right of the screen.
  • Log in your account by going to https://app.carepics.com/login. If you don’t have an account, go here to sign up.
  • Navigate to the Help Center option in the bottom left of the menu.
  • Choose from a list of dropdown sections within the Help Center to find assistance for specific issues and learn how to set up and use CarePICS.

For example, you can select “Sending a Referral” to get more information on that topic. You will see a step-by-step description of how to send a referral as well as an interactive menu that will take you through the entire process.

While most of the selections are available through mobile platforms, there are three modules that can only be accessed through a desktop computer:

  • Download Clinical Summary (All)
  • Download Clinical Summary (Specific Album)
  • Download Clinical Summary (Data Range)

Fully harness the power of the simple, secure, technology-enabled care solution with the CarePICS Help Center!

For More Information

CarePICS is here to help. Email mailto:support@carepics.com for assistance if you have any questions about training through the Help Center. And visit the CarePICS website for more information on how you can get the most out of the new virtual hub for wound and vascular care.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

CarePICS technology streamlines the e-referral process

E-Referrals: How CarePICS Streamlines Communication Between Providers

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Patient care management can become more complex with referrals. The rapid increase in recent years of referring more patients has led to a decrease in the quality of communication and collaboration between primary care physicians, podiatrists, vascular specialists and their referral networks, according to the Association of Departments of Family Medicine.

The result? Patients may experience increased out-of-pocket costs and inconsistent care. What can you do to avoid these outcomes for your own patients?

Use CarePICS for streamlined and data-rich e-referrals. Our HIPPA-compliant virtual care platform increases primary care resolution and promotes coordination of care by efficiently delivering patient information.

Project CORE’s Initiative to Improve the Referral Experience

E-referrals are an integral part of telehealth since the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) launched Project CORE: Coordinating Optimal Referral Experiences in 2014. Project CORE partnered with AMCs, children’s hospitals and healthcare organizations across the U.S. These partnerships have led to successful implementations of enhanced referrals within electronic medical records (EMRs) in over 40 healthcare organizations.

CarePICS’ Powerful E-Referral Functionality

CarePICS e-referral functionality builds off the precedent set by the Project CORE model. This powerful technological solution improves patient experiences with strengthened workflows and streamlined processes.

Tired of filling out tedious referral forms? E-referrals through CarePICS eliminates paperwork and simplifies sending images. The feature also makes in-person visits more valuable, as podiatrists and vascular specialists can gather as much pertinent information as possible for the referral provider.

CarePICS streamlines e-referrals

Providers can send these digital referrals to any specialist or referral partner even if they don’t use the same EMR or the CarePICS app. Anyone in a provider’s multispecialty care network can benefit from the CarePICS robust platform and capabilities.

For more information

Do you want to learn more about how CarePICS e-referrals help create a transparent and organized method for specialist referrals? Visit the CarePICS website to read more about virtual tools for better wound and vascular care.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

Patient-telehealth

G2010 and G2012 — How You Can Increase Reimbursement Opportunities with CarePICS

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The demand for virtual communication has only increased in the last two years. The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally reframed telehealth from a niche offering to a priority.

With the removal of government restrictions, telehealth codes are more usable and lucrative. CarePICS has taken advantage of these evolving rules to offer providers better wound care options for patients while achieving strategic objective and growth goals.

What should physicians know about how telehealth codes can be utilized with CarePICS virtual hub technology in 2022? Read more to learn how our mobile and web app’s Report function helps you maximize patient interactions while increasing reimbursement opportunities.

Virtual communication: HCPCS codes G2010 and G2012 utilizing CarePICS

CMS developed two new codes for 2019 to pay a nominal amount of money for a virtual check-in and for reviewing and image or message, “store-and-forward.” They are HCPCS codes G2010 and G2012.

With the CarePICS app, you can increase your usage of two of these codes. CarePICS’ Patient App let’s your patients send photos and messages instantly. In just four easy steps patients can:

  • Tap Send Report
  • Take a picture
  • Send

With CarePICS, patients and colleagues can send messages or pictures at any time through our HIPAA-compliant technology. It’s also a great method to improve patient communication and create an efficient process for tracking patients’ wound-healing progress and improving clinical outcomes. CarePICS will log these communications between you and your patient and provide you with a simple report at the end of every month so your staff can bill for the codes that apply through using the application.

In case you wanted to know more about the codes, take a look here.

G2012 brief communication technology-based virtual check-in

This code is for sue when the check-in does not result from a service within the past 7 days, or result in a service in the next 24 hours, or next available appointment. It is for brief, non-face-to-face service provided by a physician or non-physician practitioner, not a staff member. It may only be used for established patients. The provider must have E/M for their scope of practice, and it is mainly used to determine if an appointment is needed.

It does require verbal consent to bill and is subject to co-insurance and deductible.

CodeDescription
G2012Brief communication technology-based service, e.g., virtual check-in, by a physician or other qualified health care professional who can report evaluation and management services, provided to an established patient, not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment; 5-10 minutes of medical discussion

G2010, store and forward

Do you ever wish a patient could send you a picture of their wound or rash AND you can bill for it? Well, now is your chance. Providers will be paid to look at pictures sent to them by established patients.

This code has the same requirements that it does not arise from a service within the past 7 days or result in a service in the next 24 hours or next available appointment.

The provider looks at the image or video, and there is subsequent communication by the provider or staff member to the patient. Follow up is required. If the image is insufficient to make a determination, it cannot be billed.

It also requires consent (verbal, written or electronic) and the charge will be subject to co-insurance and deductible. It may only be provided to an established patient.

CodeDescription
G2010Remote evaluation of recorded video and/or images submitted by an established patient (e.g, store and forward), including interpretation with follow-up with the patient within 24 business hours, not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment

For more information

Do you want to know more about how you can adopt CarePICS as a means of comprehensive care for your healthcare group? Visit the CarePICS website to learn more about smarter solutions for managing patients with wounds and vascular disease.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting and automated medical supply ordering.

CarePICS technology helps podiatrists and vascular specialists through virtual consults

5 Ways Virtual Consults Can Benefit Your Practice and Patients

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When a podiatrist needs a quick answer from a vascular specialist, the informal curbside consult is usually the go-to option. But what if the podiatrist and the vascular specialist both operate out of independent practices or the same practice with multiple locations? What do they do if they don’t share a common EMR?

And what if a specialist isn’t readily available, or a patient lacks the time or money to meet with a vascular specialist if a follow-up is necessary? And what should the podiatrist tell the patient in the meantime?

How CarePICS Supports Virtual Consults

CarePICS helps improve care coordination between podiatrists and vascular specialists. The model uses two key elements: virtual consults, aka eConsults, and digital referrals to facilitate more efficient, effective communication. 

Using CarePICS virtual consult, podiatrists can quickly determine the best course of action with the guidance of a specialist. When the patients sees the vascular specialist, tests, care plans and interventions can be documented for the podiatrist to review.

Furthermore, a CarePICS virtual consult request may be reimbursable using CPT code 99452.

How Virtual Consults Help Medical Practices

 Here are five ways that virtual consults and digital referrals are changing medical practices for the better:

  • Higher-value in-person visit ‒ Using CarePICS, specialists pre-triage patients for office visits to make sure the most acute are seen first. Patients often don’t need to travel to the specialist practice to be evaluated and prioritized. This is key, especially when the patient must travel a long distance and/or if they have limited mobility. 
  • Streamlined communications ‒. CarePICS brings providers and specialists together via a shared digital platform that can help expedite and simplify communications for more continuous and comprehensive care. A CarePICS virtual consult is a way to provide guidance back to the podiatrist for those cases that can continue to be managed without a transfer of care.
  • Shorter wait times ‒. A vascular specialist can quickly access CarePICS to view photos, measurements and trends of a patient’s wound to determine if an in-person visit is necessary. Podiatrists can often get a response from the vascular specialist within a day, if not hours.
  • Better documentation ‒ CarePICS is a point-of-care mobile application that enables better documentation between providers. Condition and specialty specific image categories in the application prompt providers to capture medical imagery that are impactful in detailing a patient’s condition and help determine next steps. Having a secure, shared platform is always better than something that’s unofficially documented or sent via text message. Additionally CarePICS can share with most EMRs.
  • Improved access to podiatry input ‒ CarePICS allows patients with wounds to capture images, send reports and communicate with direct messages to get any issues addressed quickly and efficiently. Patients receiving in-home care may be managed without an in-person clinic visit, freeing up space for more acute patients. Even better, CarePICS may qualify for the new Remote Therapeutic Monitoring codes recently published by CMS.

For more information

Visit the CarePICS website for more information about our virtual hub for wound and vascular care. We’re here to partner with providers with a digital solution to better manage patients and improve clinical outcomes.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical reporting with images and automated medical supply ordering.

Office-based Labs can use CarepICS to prepare for streamlined compliance and documentation

CarePICS Helps Office-based Labs Meet Verification Requirements

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The shift of vascular procedures from the hospital setting to private medical offices raises question about standards, quality and accountability. The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is answering this call for oversight by credentialing inpatient and outpatient vascular care facilities, including office-based labs (OBLs).

OBL providers utilizing CarePICS can easily prepare for streamlined compliance and documentation. And OBLs who aren’t using CarePICS can discover how the virtual platform can improve wound measurement, care coordination and patient outcomes.

The VCV & QIP Program — What to Expect

The SVS is partnering with the American College of Surgeons (ACS) to create the Vascular Center Verification and Quality Improvement Program (VCV & QIP) program. The program’s goal is to better define and verify high-quality and efficient care for vascular patients.

These new vascular verification standards ensure that institutions, such as OBLs, are following high standards and protocols. The SVS and ACS are working to finalize the standards and infrastructure which will give vascular facilities easy access to resources and guidance to achieve verification.

However, the VCV & QIP verification process and program is only aimed at examining vascular-specific centers. Other healthcare facilities and specialists, such as interventional radiologists or interventional cardiologists, are not included under this umbrella verification.

The Benefits of CarePICS for OBLs

Why are outpatient venues such as office-based labs (OBLs) becoming such an important site of service for complex peripheral procedures? “OBLs, in particular, offer physicians a greater degree of control, healthcare savings, increased flexibility, productivity and autonomy. They help eliminate inefficiencies related to inpatient procedures and overnight stays,” says Paul Schubert, CEO of CarePICS.

CarePICS is powerful tool for OBL environments to improve current processes, patient access and outcomes. Vascular surgeons and interventional cardiologists can use CarePICS to tackle many process-related challenges, including:

  • Optimizing wound imaging, inspection and measurement
  • Creating reliable documentation for the sake of reimbursement, auditing and verification purposes
  • Coordinating care  between attending physicians and specialty physicians
  • Enabling compatibility with outside software
  • HIPAA compliance for clinical data sharing, which is critical for meeting the VCV & QIP’s standards

“OBLs performing peripheral procedures without CarePICS may be relying on inconsistent traditional methods,” says Schubert. “You don’t want to risk uncertain accuracy, poor quality and non-compliance with documentation standards.”

For More Information

CarePICS enables you to confidently measure wounds, coordinate care and genuinely improve patient outcomes while meeting the VCV & QIP’s verification requirements. Visit the CarePICS website for more information on how you can incorporate CarePICS into your healthcare organization.

About CarePICS

CarePICS® is a HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform designed to manage vascular disease and wound care patients. CarePICS enables virtual consults, telehealth visits, clinical image reporting, and automated medical supply ordering.

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