The Challenges of Operating a Nephrology Practice

Nephrology: Diagnosis: Chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease, End-Stage Renal Disease. Biometric/Activities being monitored: Activity, Blood pressure, Weight, Glucose, Pain scoring, Medication compliance, Physiological symptom survey engine with threshold and alert management capabilities. Types of Services: PCM – Principle Care Management CCM – Chronic Disease Management RPM – Remote Patient Monitoring RTM – Remote Therapy Management Wellness Nutrition Barriers to Adequate Nephrology Management Potential factors that could negatively impact proper chronic kidney disease management for your patients: Chronic kidney diseases require extensive and extended care that quickly adds up the bills resulting in patients avoiding the hospital care system altogether. Due to the comorbid nature of CKD, its care management requires constant collaboration between members of different healthcare teams. This is not always possible due to time constraints, differing work schedules, and other reasons resulting in poor service. Discrepancies in following standard CKD guidelines across various departments due to a lack of proper technology to update the latest test results, diagnosis, prescriptions, and diet charts on time. Various reasons like disabling pain, professional commitments, lack of funds, and similar factors hinder a patient’s ability to visit the hospital premises frequently–as is necessary for CKD care. Various Studies Conclude Virtual Care Improves Nephrology Outcomes Several primary studies and systematic reviews conclude that virtual care services yield better or comparable results to traditional chronic kidney care management services. VCM makes Nephrology Chronic Care Management(CCM) more accessible, faster, and robust. It addresses patient complaints and concerns on time by ensuring coordination between various medical departments. Patients can call or contact their primary care provider via phone, minimize their symptoms, keep their medical bills in check, and improve their quality of life. Increased engagement with virtual care providers also improves patient compliance with care plans. Nephrologists can rely on technology to provide live counseling sessions, interact 1:1 with their patients, educate them to make informed choices, and ensure timely medical intervention with live updates of physiological symptoms relayed via virtual clinical threshold and alert management systems. WHY SmartCare 360? Improve Patient Outcomes Virtual Care Management systems allow patients with kidney diseases to have more facetime with doctors, facilitate home treatment, flexible appointment scheduling and easy follow-up, and also optimize a Nephrologist’s time and resources. Everything from the patient’s medical therapy, drug intake, nutrition, and exercise to behavioral practices is significantly improved with virtual care services. Create Profitable Revenue RPM reduces expenses and increases overall revenue by providing real-time data, offering improved care delivery, and avoiding potential complications. MRG Health’s all-inclusive wellness program can boost your bottom line by $10,000/month for every 400 patients. Cost Effective for Patients Virtual Care services provide more affordable options for patients with kidney diseases than traditional services. Say goodbye to huge bills that add up right from getting a consultation with a Nephrologist to utilizing care services. Physicians adopting RPM also qualify for special government grants that offset care costs and add to the profits. Give us a call at 1-855-MRG-5333or SCHEDULE AN ASSESSMENT Today

6 Major Things to Consider When Hiring a Virtual Care Management Company

How do you reduce stress and frustration among healthcare providers and patients at the same time? Through virtual care management, of course! Thinking about hiring a virtual care management company but not sure whether or not to make the investment? Keep reading to discover the top 6 things you should consider when making this decision. In recent years, virtual care management has become increasingly popular for hospitals, health organizations and private practices and for good reason. It offers a convenient, cost-effective way for patients to receive care from the comfort of their own homes while also freeing up time for providers. This makes it possible to give care to multiple patients simultaneously. It’s a win-win for everyone involved. If you are a healthcare provider who is looking to set up a virtual care management program for your organization, you stand to benefit greatly from it. However, it can be difficult to find a reliable virtual care management company that meets your needs and standards. After all, a project like this can run into the millions. Plus it is important to partner with a virtual care management company who completely understands what you need and can follow through on what they promise. Here are 6 major criteria to consider before hiring any virtual care management company: Easy patient adoption Adoption of any new system, whether it be a piece of technology or a new way of doing things, can always be a challenge. But when that system is designed with the user in mind from the beginning, the path to adoption becomes much smoother. When it comes to healthcare and easy patient adoption, this is even more critical. The virtual care system should not be designed with only the patients in mind, but also for their social support systems and caregivers who play vital roles in their care. As such, the system you go with should be easy to use, accessible, and convenient for anyone. Plus it should not require any special training or tech savviness. In addition, it should be available on any platform such as Apple, Android, Google and all blue-tooth devices. Lastly, if the virtual care management company can gamify the user experience, that is a BIG plus! Gamification incentivizes patients to use the system and drive compliance with their daily care, which in the end, improves the patients’ overall health and care. Initial and ongoing support for the medical staff Having a well-trained virtual care team in place is an important part of providing quality patient care and for relieving the workload of providers. When patients’ biometric data falls outside of their health providers’ parameters, an expert virtual care team can respond accordingly by reaching out to the patients and their personal caregivers to triage the situation and then coordinate the next steps in care. This level of coordination can improve access to care, reduce emergency room visits, and provide faster response times. If the company has a fully functioning and well-trained staff, it frees up your medical team so you can focus on other areas of patient care. In addition, with the right amount of ongoing virtual care support, you can expect to see a reduction in the number of phone calls you receive on a daily basis. Full integration of technology with electronic health records (EHR) One of the major benefits of virtual care management technology is that it can be integrated with existing electronic health record (EHR) systems. This means that there is no need to duplicate work by logging into a separate platform to view patient data. Instead, everything can be accessed from one central location. This can save considerable time and effort for busy healthcare teams while improving patient outcomes by providing more timely and convenient access to care. Time-tracking software for audits As anyone who has ever worked in the medical field knows, effective time management is essential. This is especially true for virtual care providers, who often have to juggle a large number of patients at once. An effective virtual care management system should therefore include a feature that tracks the amount of time you spend on each patient. This is not only useful for later audits, but it also helps you to monitor your own performance and ensure that you are giving each patient the attention they deserve. By tracking your time, you can quickly identify any areas where you need to improve, and make sure that you are providing the best possible care for your patients. Availability of all value-based virtual care services An effective virtual care management system should have all value-based virtual care services by CMS standards, including CCM, RPM, PCM, and TCM. Some companies may only provide one or two types of services, which can cause fragmentation and a lack of patient support. When providers are unable to provide all virtual care services, they stand to lose additional profit gain because patients will be looking to other healthcare organizations to meet all of their needs. Efficient revenue cycle management When it comes to billing and collections, accuracy is key. That’s why revenue cycle management is so important. By having a dedicated team that understands the ins and outs of coding and billing, you can be sure that you are getting the maximum reimbursement for each service. And by basing your fee model on success, you can be sure that you are only paying for results. When it comes to revenue cycle management, efficiency is the name of the game. And with the right team in place, you can be sure that your bottom line will benefit. Virtual care management is a great way to reduce stress and frustration among healthcare providers and patients. It offers a convenient, cost-effective way for patients to receive care from the comfort of their own homes while also freeing up time. If you are a healthcare provider who is looking to set up a virtual care management program for your organization, you stand to benefit significantly. Hiring a reliable

LUCAS KRAUSE
PhD MSC
 IT Infrastructure & Architecture 
Lucas is a 20+ year experience enterprise Cloud Solutions Architect who has worked with fortune 100 companies and is competent in the following: Enterprise API Gateways – AWS | Azure | Salesforce | Mulesoft | Apigee | IBM Cloud | Anypoint | Cloud Data Warehouse – Snowflake | DBT | Cloudara | Airflow | Kubernetes | AWS | Looker | Prometheus | Full-Stack / Cloud Native – C# / Java / React / Angular / Golang / Python – Cloud DBs – Dynamo / Mysql / Postgres / MSSql / Oracle / Netezza
RENE HINOJOSA
MBA
Compliance & Regulatory 
Experienced Director of Strategic Development with a demonstrated history of spearheading initiatives throughout the healthcare system. Skilled in Physician Relations, Software Documentation, Healthcare Management, Healthcare, and Public Speaking. Strong program and project management professional with years of a proven track record that showcases a creative and proficient skill-set in problem solving.
TY UMOH
MD MBA
Investor Relations & Finance 
Ty has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance from the University of Houston and a Master’s degree in Economics and Corporate Finance from Rice University. Previously, Ty worked as a senior consultant at FTI Consulting, Inc., advising various stakeholders of troubled and distressed companies across a wide range of industries, including financial services, hospitality, gaming, commercial real estate, energy & oil field services, construction, infrastructure, and municipal-related assets. Additionally, my prior experience includes roles at BNY Mellon and Ocean Park Advisors, LLC’s Investment Bank where I was involved in equity and debt capital raising transactions as well as M&A assignments, liquidity forecasting and assessments, business plan due diligence, development of waterfall and recovery analyses, stakeholder negotiations, plan of reorganization development, M&A/transaction advisory including purchase and sale negotiations and seller due diligence support, board/shareholder representation, developing executive compensation/bonus plans, and ad-hoc strategic and operational assessments.
JAVI MALCOLM
MD 
Strategic Development
Dr Malcom’s Medical Professional qualities are based on 10+ yrs. of participation and exposure to numerous resources as an ER Medical Business Co-Founder, IT Market Leader, Mentor, Red Cross Humanitarian Participant, Graduate of Masters Studies, Graduate of Medical Doctorate (M.D.), Hospital Administrator, and member of the Physician Executive Team. My unique background and combination of these attributes & skills have created a unique innovative space that helps reinforce my ability to grasp the different areas of healthcare that positively impact the hospital ecosystem and be a valuable member of the C-Suite team, as DHR Health’s Chief Medical Information Officer, Physician Executive Leadership Committee, and the Cerner Advisory Committee.
Dr. Sun-Wright
MD
Medical Director 

Dr. Sun-Wright holds a PhD in Biochemistry and an MD with a history of strong leadership and process ownership in primary care and multi-specialty clinical settings working with some of the largest healthcare organizations in the country. While serving as a board member and managing partner of a large independent physician association and Chief Strategy Officer as the primary advocate for financial and operational decisions. As Medical Director for Well Med her responsibilities included the development of organizational goals and targets for clinical performance in a governed Medicare Advantage environment.

NARIO CANTU
Pharmacist
Senior Executive Director
Dispensing, assessing and monitoring medications, in patients requiring pharmaceutical therapy. Providing and assessing point of care testing. Providing excellent service and customer satisfaction. Drug information and education. hospital readmission prevention consultant, transition care provider, medication reconciliation provider, pharmacogenomic testing, point of care testing. Medication Therapy Management, medication adherence and legislative advocate as it pertains to pharmacy and patient care.
SABRINA RUNBECK
MPH, MHS, PA-C
Director People & Clinical Outcomes 

Physician Assistant turned Entrepreneur with Bachelor in Neuroscience, Masters in Public Health and Health Sciences, After working 80 hours a week as a cardiothoracic surgery physician associate, my workload took a toll on my personal and professional life. That was when I realized my life needed to change. I ended up taking a deep dive into performance sciences and positive intelligence. As a result, I cut down my clinical hours by 30% and increased my income by 50%.

Reggie Abraham
PhD, MHA, MBA
Managing Director  

Experienced Healthcare Executive with a demonstrated history of working in a hospital setting and various other health care facilities. Skilled in Healthcare Operations, EHR & PM Systems, Budgeting, HR Management, Strategic Planning, and Revenue Cycle Management, . Strong business development professional with a Doctorate in Management and Organizational Leadership, Master’s in Healthcare Administration, Master’s in Business Administration. Exceptional track record of establishing strong leadership teams and developing effective operational efficiencies in healthcare operations. Establish and maintain good working relationships with physicians, staff, vendors, government agencies, managed care companies, and clients.

KYLE CHRISTOPHER
Vascular General, Cardiac, OB Sonography
Founder/CEO - Strategic Development  
Assists Physicians and Healthcare Executives in Leveraging Virtual Care Management Technologies, NEW Billable CPT Codes, and Value Based Care Models to Improve Clinical Outcomes and Create NEW Revenue streams. Kyle holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a minor in marketing, and a Degree in Vascular, General, Cardiac, and Obstetrical Sonography. His philanthropy work focuses on veteran affairs, single mothers, first responders, and mentoring terminally ill and at-risk youth through organizations such as Beauty for Freedom, Ferrari Kid, Southwest Keys Program, ICON Talks, and Living Beyond A Dream.