4 healthcare trends that will impact medical practices in 2020 Healthcare is changing. Consumer trends, regulatory changes, the introduction of technology and the general economic climate are impacting how healthcare is delivered, both globally and in South Africa. As a result, healthcare is more dynamic than ever before, balancing the responsibility of quality patientRead more
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What the technical recession means for your medical practice As we are about to enter the third month of living in a technical recession, the majority of South Africans will still be trying to understand how it affects their day-to-day life and monthly expenditure. Unfortunately, until President Ramaphosa rolls out his international investment strategyRead more
When small data trumps BIG DATA Big Data is a term used to describe large and complex data sets which reveal certain patterns that can help with decision-making. It’s a compelling concept: want to understand patient behaviour; predict the next big global disease; or see which geographical location has the highest cancer diagnosis rate?Read more
Cash, card or cheque? A look at payment options With so many options in the marketplace, knowing which payment options to offer patients can seem overwhelming. So we took a look at the most popular payment methods being used by GP medical practices across the country and uncovered a surprising trend. Our graph shows thatRead more
How quickly is your practice ageing? Collections are one of the most critical functions of any business, yet for many medical practices, it often goes unmeasured. Many medical professionals don’t have a clear picture of how well they are doing in this critical area, and don’t realise the effect on their cashflow and profitability. Fortunately,Read more
SA’s Junk Status is the new health scare for medical professionals South Africa’s healthcare is facing tough and complex challenges. This is partly due to an ageing population and the growing prevalence of chronic illnesses. However, another concern is SA’s declining economy, and the likely impact of our recent downgrade to junk status. Read more
What does ‘big data’ mean for your practice? What Does Big Data Mean for Your Practice? If you want to find out how Big Data is helping businesses, there’s no better example than healthcare. Beyond improving profits and cutting out waste, Big Data in healthcare is predicting epidemics, curing disease, improving quality of lifeRead more
To contract in or out? That is the question. ]Many healthcare professionals have become frustrated with having to deal with multiple medical aids. It costs money in administration and staff, claim submission, processing errors, waiting for payments and, of course, bad debts (exhausted benefits that patients never pay). However, there can be considerable benefitsRead more
Revenue Cycle Management trends of 2016 Have you ever heard of the term ‘revenue cycle management’? Also called RCM, it is all about how you manage your practice’s claims processing, payment and revenue generation. It includes validating patient information, collecting patient-liable amounts, coding claims correctly, tracking claims, collecting payments and following up on rejectedRead more
40% of all chronic claims are related to primary hypertension Chronic disease is a major problem in South Africa. To try to understand it better, we analysed around 700 000 chronic claims sent by General Practitioners (GPs) and came across an interesting observation: primary hypertension accounted for approximately 40% (or 2 in every 5)Read more
