hardware infrastructure that is used by more than one company. a fairly good rule of thumb is that if you can run applications inhouse, you can also run them in hosting centers or on virtual server farms in your own operations. Further, you can enable remote access with technologies such as Citrix Xenapp. more on these private cloud technologies later. When security is set up correctly, your in-house applications will be secure. If your billing application is hosted by the vendor itself, some vendors would argue that even though you are sharing a common data center and applications, your firm’s data is kept private. They will refer to their offering as a private cloud. We would contend that this is a public cloud offering and falls under the provisions of the Patriot act. under the Patriot act, information stored at any cloud provider must be surrendered without notification to the government agency or attorney making the request. For billing companies, the risk is that, if you use a cloud provider, your clients' data may be obtained without your permission and without notifying you. Private clouds are where you build your technologies in-house using offerings like Citrix Xenapp, Citrix XenDesktop, or Vmware View. You may find the long-term costs to be more or less when you build a private cloud in-house, but you will typically see greater speed and flexibility. Private clouds also provide users the ability to run from anywhere, anytime with similar performance to the traditional office, just like public cloud offerings do. a few public cloud vendors will build a separate private cloud for you at a premium charge. The key benefits to a private cloud are more flexibility, integration, customization, and in most cases greater security – but at a premium price. Where is the Productivity? You should look at what you are trying to accomplish with your clients. How much data entry or other work is performed by the clients? Can the transaction data be keyed once, or not at all? Can you provide all of the access needed for scheduling appointments, entering the transactions, and making the needed eHR entries? Can clients download transactions directly into their accounting software from your system, their bank, and credit cards? Can the transactions be automatically classified, or at least classified with minimal effort? Do you and your clients have multiple locations or the desire to work from home or other alternate locations? Do you have the need to quickly check the status of or approve transactions? What if you can do this from a web browser, smartphone, or tablet while waiting for an appointment or during idle time? Can the applications be used from anywhere, anytime, and on any device? FEATURE sTORY Further, think about your clients’ experience. What can you do to make everything a client touches easier? What if you can deliver reports, key business measures, and other alerts automatically? What if you can standardize processes and reporting? Would you be able to deliver better operational information, insurance filing, collections, and business advice? What if there are no manual file transfers needed for everyone involved to look at current data? We want our clients to stay on current versions of the applications, but updating software is often frustrating and error-prone on the client's end. What if this can be done automatically by someone else during non-business hours? saas and hosting providers update the software for you and your clients, which is a key productivity gain. Or, if you are providing the private cloud service to your clients, by updating your systems that clients use, you are providing a valuable service that is often painful to the provider. Further, if your systems are set up effectively, the cost savings seen by your billing service far outweigh the costs of hiring extra people for internal systems. For most of our clients, they simply want to practice in their field of healthcare. Billing and dealing with insurances are necessary components of most practices. Other Opportunities after looking at all of these possible client improvements, consider the things you can do for your own people. How can we improve our own processes? What options do we have to make each transaction faster and easier to complete? How do we protect the firm? First, look at making technologies work right. make sure you have implemented hardware and software solutions that are proven. examples include: multiple monitors for all employees, high speed (1gBps) networking, correct cabling systems such as certified Cat 6 or Cat 6a, advanced protection through firewalls with intrusion protection services (IPs), high speed disk storage implemented using storage area Networks (saNs), virtualized servers, workgroup scanners, shared high speed printers and copiers, integrated voice over IP (VOIP), and mobile technologies including smartphones or tablets. make sure you have taken the effort to review and update your software. Put your firm on the latest version of your billing software. eliminate older microsoft technologies such as Windows XP or Office 2003. at this point, Windows 8.1 and Office 2013 are mature enough that you can implement these products, teaching your people new steps to do work in an easier fashion. Protect your network with the latest spam control and anti-virus software. Plan on having enough training that your team of THe JOuRNaL OF THe HeaLTHCaRe BILLINg aND maNagemeNT assOCIaTION 19
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