Running head: Strategic Business Proposal 1

Strategic Business Proposal

Karen Huacasi

University of San Diego

Strategic Business Proposal 2

Strategic Business Proposal

Heartland Health is a primary care practice that is looking to transition from paper

charting to an electronic health record (EHR). This organization seeks to qualify for Medicare

reimbursement by demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology. CureMD is an

EHR system that will help Heartland Health meet the requirements for meaningful use stage two

and three. It includes features such as electronic prescribing, clinical decision support, e-learning,

and a patient portal. In addition, CureMD is found to be the most affordable when compared to

two other competitors, and it is found to be the most easy to use.

Heartland Health’s mission is to continue the healing ministry of Christ by serving the

underprivileged community and providing high quality, effective, and holistic care. Heartland

Health’s vision is to be the number one provider of primary care services in the community

within the next five years. The results of a situational analysis showed that longevity of clinicians

and geographic distribution are two strengths that Heartland Health possesses. Two weaknesses

were identified as paper charting and staff resistance to change. Opportunities include a new

company bringing many jobs to town and the median resident age. However, Heartland Health is

threatened by the new HMO opening in a nearby town and by the possibility that Medicare might

be adjusted downward if the practice cannot demonstrate meaningful use.

Heartland Health’s two primary care offices are made up of 12 staff members. The

leadership team provides guidance for these staff members. The physician leader holds the

official leadership role at this organization. Under the physician leader, the office is divided into

clinical services and the front office. The healthcare technician oversees the front office. At

Heartland Health, the physician leader communicates closely with the health care technician.
Strategic Business Proposal 3

During weekly meetings the leaders review and approve product service proposals. However, the

physician leader is the only person that can sign off on a proposal.

A three-year financial prospectus was created for the adoption of CureMD at Heartland

Health. In the first year, RVUs are forecast to increase by 1,200 with additional revenue of

$54,000. The first year’s operating expense for the EMR installation is $44,200. The operating

margin is 18.1%. The cost per unit for Year 1 is 36.8. A capital cash purchase of $9,000 is

required. Cash at ending of a three-year period is $71,200.

The entire healthcare team at Heartland Health is expected to benefit from the

implementation of the new EHR system. The practice will profit from the adoption of CureMD

through increased revenue and averted costs. This EHR system will have the capability to

provide patients with appointment reminders, allow for electronic medication prescription, and

decrease adverse effects of drug interactions through its computerized decision support features.

The health information technician and nurse practitioner have been selected to be CureMD

champions at their respective clinic sites.

Customer feedback regarding the new EHR system will be collected and analyzed before

and after the implementation of CureMD. Surveys, testimonials, focus groups, and semi-

structured interviews will be held so that customer concerns can be addressed and resolved in a

timely manner. Heartland Health will track results of using using two different methods.

Heartland Health will track profitability by reviewing the number of RVU’s generated before and

after the implementation of EHR system. Meaningful use goals will be tracked through the use of

the Meaningful Use Dashboard. The implementation of CureMD will play an essential role in

helping Heartland Health participate in the EHR incentive program, improve patient outcomes,

and ultimately help realize the mission and vision of this organization.
Strategic Business Proposal 4

Historic and Current Economic Climate

Historically, cost reimbursement by Medicare was the main form of payment in hospitals

and for other institutional providers the United States. These institutions were paid based off of

reasonable cost and apportionment (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018). This form of payment was

called historical cost reimbursement.

Later on, diagnosis-related group payments (DRG) were introduced. DRG’s “take all

possible diagnoses… and classifies them into 25 major diagnostic categories…these categories

are then further broken down into distinct medically meaningful groupings or DRG’s” (Cleverley

& Cleverley, 2018). Hospitals are then paid based off of these groupings.

A historic payment reduction was the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA). According to

Wu & Shen, this was the most significant Medicare payment reduction in decades (2011). So

significant, that these cuts could possibly still affect hospitals today. The BBA “reduced DRG

payment levels between 1998 and 2002 and permanently altered the formula for special add-on

payments” (Wu & Shen, 2011). Wu and Shen found evidence that Medicare payment cuts that

resulted from the BBA possibly had a long-term effect on patient outcomes (2011).

The United States experienced a recession from 2007 to 2009 that had a strong impact on

American hospitals (Bazzoli, Fareed, & Waters, 2014). Different groups of hospitals experienced

fianancial challenges during this recession. Both financially weak hospitals and financially

strong hospitals experienced a drop in total margin. However, weak hospitals were almost in the

same financial situation during the recession as they were before it. According to findings by

Bazzoli et. al, the recession did not have a large permanent effect on vulnerable hospitals (2014).

However, vulnerable hospitals do have weaknesses that make it difficult for them to respond to

new changes within the healthcare delivery system (Bazzoli et. al, 2014).
Strategic Business Proposal 5

Current

In today’s economic climate, solo primary care physicians (PCP’s) are more likely than

salaried PCP’s to be concerned about providing high quality care, likely because reimbursement

is based on the quality of care provided (Baek, Xirasagar, Stoskpf, & Seidman, 2012). This is

largely because of the Affordable Care Act. For this reason, quality linked financial incentives

are often used to motivate providers to provide high-quality care in the primary care setting.

A form of reimbursement that exists today is the bundled payment. Bundled payments

allow the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to transfer risk to providers by

“determining a target price for clinical episodes and holding providers financially accountable if

the provision of services within the episode is higher than the target” (Cleverley & Cleverley,

2018). When Medicare pays hospitals for bundled services, it is referred to as Prospective

Payment Systems. This payment system provides one “comprehensive all-inclusive payment” to

the hospital. The hospital then uses this large payment to pay for the services provided and to pay

outside suppliers (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2018).

Reimbursement varies according to location in today’s economic climate. States with the

highest physicians’ annual wages are Nebraska, Kansas, Indiana, Mississippi, and Michigan

(Riley, Withy, Rogers, DuBose-Morris, & Kurozawa, 2017). States with the lowest physician’s

annual wages are District of Columbia, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, and Hawaii (Riley et

al., 2017). Lower reimbursement makes it more challenging to hire and maintain physicians in

these states, especially where cost of living is high. To combat this issue, Medicare is “currently

revising its payment methodologies through the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act

of 2015” (Riley et al., 2017). This change will focus on value-based payments, which will

encourage physicians to provide high quality care.

Strategic Business Proposal 6

Product and Services

Heartland Health is a primary care practice made up of two offices. Four primary care

providers are employed at these two offices. Heartland Health is looking to transition from paper

charting to an electronic health record (EHR) in order to receive Medicare reimbursement for

demonstrating meaningful use of certified EHR technology. In addition to this incentive,

Heartland Health seeks to adopt an EHR because it will improve efficiency and quality of care

(Bates, Ebell, Gotlieb, Zapp, & Mullins, 2003).

Product Description

Providers who use technology to meet a set of requirements for “meaningful use” are

financially incentivized as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009

(Wheatley, 2013). Some of these requirements include protecting patient health information,

clinical decision support, electronic prescribing, health information exchange, patient specific

education, and patient electronic access (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, n.d.).

Heartland Health reviewed various products and services in order to find the vendor that best

suited its needs. Three vendors were selected; Cure MD, eClinicalWorks and NextGen, A

competitive analysis was used to compare Cure MD to eClinicalWorks and NextGen with a

focus on price attractiveness and ease of use.

Price attractiveness is a criterion that was analyzed during the decision-making period.

The cost for the CureMD EHR suite is $295 per month per provider, the most affordable option

out of the three vendors that were considered (CureMD, n.d.). Because our practice has four

providers, the cost per month would come out to $1,180. eClinicalWorks charges $449 per month

per provider and offers comparable features. NextGen only provides quote-based pricing, which
Strategic Business Proposal 7

is notoriously high (Parker, n.d.). CureMD meets requirements for the EHR incentive program

and is offered at a reasonable cost.

Ease of use was also considered in the competitive analysis. When compared to

eClinicalWorks and NextGen, CureMD was found to be the most easy to use. For example,

CureMD has an inbuilt E&M code calculator that allows the provider to generate the correct

level of visit at the click of a button (Parker, n.d.). The suite offer workflow automation and

support in case end-users encounter issues with the system.

After completion of the competitive analysis, Heartland Health settled on the CureMD

EHR system because it scored high in price attractiveness and ease of use. CureMD is 2015

edition ONC certified and meets requirements for meaningful use stage two and three. It is

HIPAA5010 Certified and is well known for being easy to use, reliable, and high performing. It

features electronic prescribing, electronic labs, patient portal, e-learning, clinical decision

support and interoperability.

Competitive Analysis

Table 1

Competitive Analysis

CureM eClinical
NextGen
D Works
Price attractiveness H M L

Ease of use H M L

Note. L = Low, N = Medium, H = High.

Strategic Business Proposal 8

Organization, Productivity, Labor

There are four annual cost assumptions that can be made about Heartland Health. The

first is related to providers. Four providers are employed at Heartland Health. One is a medical

director, one is a physician, and two are nurse practitioners. The medical director is paid

$250,000 a year and the physician is paid $200,000 a year. The nurse practitioners are each paid

$120,000 a year. Altogether, $690,000 is spent annually on provider’s time. The second annual

cost assumption is related to technology. Two electrocardiogram machines, two copiers, eight

computers, two ultrasound machines, and two electronic scales come out to $33,000. The third

annual cost assumption involves supplies such as paper, tongue depressors, bathroom supplies,

and exam room supplies. $25,000 is spent on the listed supplies. The final assumption is indirect

costs. A part-time information technologist will be paid $60,000. A biller will receive $40,000.

Two receptionists will each make $30,000. Four medical assistants will each receive $30,000.

The lease is $6,000 per month for two office suites, which comes out to $72,000 annually.

Utilities cost $500 every month for both offices, resulting in a total of $6,000. In the end, the

total annual expense for the indirect cost category is $358,000. The total annual expense for

Heartland Health based on these annual cost assumptions is $1,106,000.

Office visits are 15 minutes long. This basic unit of service is used to calculate relative

value scale (RVU). Taking the total hours providers have available to charge and multiplying it

by four, because there are four 15-minute intervals per hour, calculates RVU’s. A 15-minute

patient visit would cost $39.51. The most costly component of the visit is the provider’s time.

The average expense for provider time per RVU is $24.65 per month. The least costly component

of the visit is the “supplies” category, which is only $0.89 per month.
Strategic Business Proposal 9

Heartland Health has produced its one-month expense budget. Upon examination, it was

decided that the “provider’s time” cost category had a favorable variance. Heartland Health

budgeted $57,602 and actually spent $56,000, leaving $1,602 leftover. This favorable variance

may be because the providers did not take sick days, vacation days, or overtime pay this month.

Technological cost variances were unfavorable this month. Heartland Health budgeted $2,753

this month and ended up spending $3,000 on technology. This means they spent $247 more than

they had planned in the technology cost category. Perhaps a technological device broke down

unexpectedly this month, and a new one had to be purchased. Supply cost variances were also

unfavorable this month. The budget for supplies was set at $2,076, and the actual cost came out

to $2,588. Supply cost might have gone $512 over budget because more patients came through

the office than usual. More patient’s usually means more supplies in use. Indirect costs had a

favorable variance. $29,839 was budgeted and only $28,965 was used. This resulted in $874 left

over. The total one-month budget variance was favorable because $1,717 was left over from

what was budgeted for monthly expenses at Heartland Health this month.

Heartland Health has created a one-month productivity report. This month, productivity

at Heartland South had an unfavorable variance. Heartland Health budgeted 1,166 RVU’s and

only produced 1,111. This results in an unfavorable variance of 55 RVU’s. Perhaps more patients

than usual did not show up to their appointments or cancelled at the last minute. Productivity at

Heartland North also had unfavorable variance. 1166 RVU’s were used but Heartland Health

budgeted 1167 RVU’s. This resulted in a 1 RVU variance. This slight variance may again be due

to patient’s that did not show up to their scheduled appointments or cancelled very late.
Strategic Business Proposal 10

Heartland Health
Costs and RVU Development

Annual cost assumptions Total annual Total relative value

expense scale (RVU) cost per 15-
minute

a. Providers time Providers’ time $24.65

1 medical director = =$690,000
$250,000
1 physician = $200,000
2 nurse practitioners=
$120,000 x 2 = $240,000

b. Technology (EKG Technology = $1.18

machines x 2, copiers X2, $33,000
computers x 8, ultrasound
machines x 2, electronic scales x
2) $33,000

c. Supplies (paper, tongue Supplies = $25,000 $.89

depressors, bathroom and exam
room supplies $25,000

D.Indirect costs Indirects = $358,000 $12.79

.5 information
technologist = $60,000
1 biller = $40,000
2 receptionists =
$30,000 x 2 = $60,000
4 medical
assistants = $30,000 x 4 =
$120,000

Lease $6,000 per month

for 2 office suites = $72,000
Utilities 500 per month
for 2 offices= $6,000

Total: Total =$1,106,000 $39.51

Strategic Business Proposal 11

RVUs calculations

Assumptions:

The basic unit of service is a 15-minute office visit, a relative value scale (RVU)

Costs:

a. Provider

A provider works 40 hours per week less 1 hour for lunch = 35 hours/wk. Each provider has 2

weeks vacation/yr. There are 50 remaining weeks x 35 hours = 1,750 hours a year. For monthly,

it is 1750 hours divided by 12 = 145.83 hours per month per provider. With 4 providers there are

4 x 145.83 = 583.32 hours per month.

There are 4 15-minute relative value scale (RVU) used for fee-for-service rate reimbursement.

583.32 x 4 =2333 RVUs per month.

Annual expense per year is $690,000. To obtain a monthly expense,$690,000 divided by 12 =

$57,500. $57,500 divided by 2333 RVU = $24.64 Average expense for provider time per RVU is

$24.64/month

b.Technology $33,000 per year divided by 12 = $2750 per month. Average expense for

technology is 2750 divided by 2333 RVUs per month = $1.18 per RVU

c. Supplies $25,000 per year divided by 12 - $2750=$2083.33 per month; 2083.33 divided by

2333 RVUs per month = .89

d. Indirects $358,000 per year divided by 12 =29,833.33 divided by 2333 = 12.79

Heartland Health
One-month Expense Budget

Cost RVU Actual Budget Variance

Category
Provider’ $24.65 $56,000 $57,602 1602
Strategic Business Proposal 12

s Time
Technolo $1.18 3000 $2753 (247)
gy Cost
Supply $.89 2588 $2076 (512)
Cost
Indirect $12.79 28,965 $29,839 874
costs
Total $39.51 90553 $92,270 1717

Heartland Health
One Month Productivity Report

Heartland Offices Actu Budget RVU Variance

al
Heartland South 1111 1166 (55)
Heartland North 1166 1167 (1)

Extra Credit:

One-month expense budget

Provider’s Time Budget should be $57,500. Favorable variance should then be $1,500.

Technology Cost budget should be $2,750. Unfavorable variance should then be $250. Supply

cost budget should be $2,083.33. Unfavorable variance should be $504.67. Indirect cost budget

should be $29,833.33. Favorable variance should be $868.33. Total budget should be 92,166.67.

Favorable variance should be $1613.67.

Strategic Business Proposal 13

Leadership

Heartland Health has a clearly organized leadership team. The physician leader is at the

top of the organization chart. He holds the official leadership role at this organization. Under the

physician leader, the office is divided into two sections, the clinical services and the front office.

The operational leader of clinical services role is an unofficial role held by one of the nurse

practitioners at the second clinic site. This unofficial role consists partially of overseeing the

medical assistants at the site. The leader of the front office is the health information technician

who oversees the two receptionists and the part time biller.

At Heartland Health, the physician leader communicates closely with the informal

operational leader and with the health care technician. The health care technician and informal

operation leader report directly to the physician leader. All members of the clinic team

communicate frequently with their respective leaders and the physician leader. When any party

has a concern or suggestion, they all come together to have a formal discussion. Due to the fact

that there are two formal and one informal leadership roles, the leaders meet once a week to

review and approve product service proposals. Each person in the meeting reviews it, but the one

person that signs off on the proposal is the physician leader. Implementing CureMD will not

require hiring another person. However we will need a consultant for eight weeks.

Heartland Health understands that strategic planning is vital to the organization.

Heartland Health’s mission is to continue the healing ministry of Christ by serving the

underprivileged community and providing high quality, effective, and holistic care.

Heartland Health’s vision is to be the number one provider of primary care services in the

community within the next five years.

Strategic Business Proposal 14

A situational analysis of Heartland Health was performed using the strength, weakness,

opportunity, and threat format. One strength of Heartland Health is the longevity of their

clinicians. Between them, they have over 27 years of experience. A second strength is the

geographic distribution of the two clinics across the community. The clinics are fourteen miles

apart but remain in the same clinic. Because both clinics are located on a busy strip mall, the

public can more easily discover and access them. One weakness of this clinic needs to confront

is the fact that they are still using paper charting. Paper charting takes up a tremendous amount

of space. It has become very inconvenient, time consuming. A frequent com plaint is that billing

constantly has to search for a particular patients paper chart behind the receptionists desk, on

providers desks, and on the medical assistant’s desks. A second weakness is that one physician, a

nurse practitioner, and both medical assistants are resistant to change. The last time a new

technology was introduced, these individuals voiced that they were unhappy with the change and

that it was negatively affecting their productivity.

According to the situational analysis, a new opportunity is that Yamaha Industries bring

3,000 full-time jobs to town, and fifty percent of its employees will be relocating to town from

other parts of the country. A second opportunity is that the median resident age is 35.9 years.

This provides Heartland Health with the hope that most patients will be able to manage their own

care and adjust to the changes and added patient features that accompanies a switch to an

electronic health system. One threat to Heartland Health is that clinic connected with a popular

and successful HMO is opening in a nearby town. A second threat is that Medicare readjustment

might be adjusted downward if Heartland Health cannot demonstrate meaningful use of certified

electronic health record technology.

Strategic Business Proposal 15

Electronic Medical Record 3-Year Financial Prospectus

Revenue and Expense Assumptions

1. Sales/Revenue—First year’s annual volume increase is 100 RVUs per month x 12 months =
1200 RVU/yr. Revenue is RVU= $45. 1200 x $45 = $54,000. Second and third year annual
increases in patient visits of 80 visits a month= 960 RVU/yr. x $45 = $43,200. Similar electronic
medical record implementations experienced an increase in the volume of patient office
visits/revenue due to ability to send automatic text messages reminders of visits and seasonal
reminders of flu shots (Menachemi & Collum, 2011).
2. Expense—sum of lines 5-9
3. Operating income—sales/revenue minus cost/expense
4. Operating margin—divide operating income by revenue x 100 to obtain percent

Expense Assumptions
5. Salaries and wages--Training and productivity loss; 4 providers 40 hours training each x
$200/hr. = $32000. 6 receptionists/medical assistants 40 hours training x $15 = $3600. 1 biller 40
hours training x $15 = $600. $32000+$3600 +$600=$36,200 Informatics technician training
required—No additional.
6. Materials and supplies required—no additional
7. Technology—contract services annually--support for computerized technology is $8000
8. Depreciation and Amortization—none {use when recording the depreciation of an asset [e.g.
land, building or equipment (computer)] reducing their historical cost by accumulated
depreciation (refer to page 264 in textbook for more details) Amortization schedule records the
principal and interest contained in each payment.}
9. Interest—none (use when loan is involved and cost of interest must be considered)
10. Total expense— sum of lines 5-9

Net Income Assumptions

11. Net Income—sales/revenue minus the total expense

Cash Flow Report Assumptions

12. Net income—repeat net income from line 11
13. Depreciation—repeat line 8
14. Borrowing—repeat line 9
15. Total sources—add lines 12-14
16. Capital purchasing—software $9,000 for cash purchase; no building; no equipment
17. Working capital—none
18. Total Uses—add lines 16 and 17
19. Cash at Beginning of Period—none
20. Net Cash activities—total sources minus total uses
21. Cash at Ending of Period—add line 19 and line 20

Volume/Productivity Report Assumptions

22. Volume statistic—RVU = 15 minutes of office time with provider; the volume indicator
relates to the sales/revenue: Year 1: 1200, Year 2: 960, and Year 3: 960
23. Cost per unit—total expense divided by RVU
Strategic Business Proposal 16

Table 1 Heartland Health: Electronic Medical Record 3-Year Financial Prospectus

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

1.Sales/Revenue 54,000 43,200 43,200
2. Expense 44,200 8,000 8,000
3. Operating Income 9,800 35,200 35,200

4. Operating Margin 18.1% 81.5% 81.5%

Expenses
5.Salaries and Wages 36,200 -- --
6. Material and Supplies -- -- --
7. Contract Services and Fees 8,000 8,000 8,000
(technology)
8. Depreciation and Amortization -- -- --
9. Interest -- -- --
10. Total Expense 44,200 8,000 8,000

11. Net Income 9,800 35,200 35,200

Cash Flow
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Sources
12.Net Income 9,800 35,200 35,200
13.Depreciation -- -- --
14.Borrowing -- -- --
15.Total sources 9,800 35,200 35,200
Uses
16.Capital purchasing 9,000 -- --
17.Working capital --
18.Total uses 9,000 -- --

19.Cash at Beginning of Period -- 800 36,000

20.Net Cash Activities 800 35,200 35,200
21.Cash at Ending of Period 800 36,000 71,200

Volume
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
22. RVU (Volume statistic) 1200 960 960
23. Cost per unit 36.8 8.3 8.3
Strategic Business Proposal 17

Financial Summary

The health information technology project proposal is for the implementation of an

electronic medical record (EMR) in the offices of Heartland Health (Table 1). In the first year,

RVUs are forecast to increase by __1200___ with an additional revenue of ___$54,000___. The

first year’s operating expense of for the EMR installation is ___$44,200___. The operating

margin is ___18.1%___. The cost per unit for Year 1 is ___$36.80___. A capital cash purchase

of ___$9,000___ is required. Cash at ending of a 3-year period is ___$71,200____.

Strategic Business Proposal 18

Marketing

The entire healthcare team will benefit from the implementation of CureMD. Physicians

can be expected to perceive benefits from the use of clinical decision support (Gans, Kralewski,

Hammons & Dowd, 2005). Nurse practitioners will benefit from improved drug refill capabilities.

Medical assistants will enjoy the ease of access to vital signs trends and laboratory results. The

biller will benefit from improved accuracy for coding evaluation and management procedures

and improved charge capture (Gans, Kralewski, Hammons & Dowd, 2005). The receptionist may

perceive a benefit from the scheduling and appointment reminder features. Finally, patients will

benefit from the ease of communication made available through the patient portal.

Heartland Health will profit from the adoption of CureMD through increased revenue and

averted costs. CureMD is the most affordable option out of the three vendors that were

considered. It scored high in the price attractiveness category of the competitive analysis.

Heartland Health will profit from the use of this EHR system through the appointment reminders

feature. When patients are notified that they have an upcoming appointment, they are more likely

to attend, which reduces the number of no shows. The ability to electronically prescribe

medications will decrease the adverse effects of drug interactions, and thus avert costs (Oreilly,

Tarride, Goeree, Lokker & Mckibbon, 2012). Computerized decision support that provides

clinical recommendations that are followed by physicians will result in improved patient

outcomes and increased profit (Oreilly et al., 2012).

A champion for CureMD has been selected for each clinic site. The health information

technician has been selected because she is someone that knows the staff well enough to hold

them accountable for completing their training requirements. She will also be working closely

with the vendor throughout the project. The nurse practitioner leader is to be the champion at the
Strategic Business Proposal 19

second site. She is highly respected at her clinic and is well known for her ability to inspire the

rest of the team members to adapt positively to change.

Heartland Health plans to collect and analyze customer feedback before and after the

implementation of CureMD. Surveys will be conducted before the implementation to assess how

patients and staff members feel about the current state and flow of the clinic (D'Andrea, n.d.).

Survey will be conducted after implementation of CureMD to request testimonials that will help

uncover the praise or concerns customers have about the product (D'Andrea, n.d.). Focus groups

and semi-structured interviews will also be held so that these items can be discussed face to face

with the customers involved in these changes (Fix et al., 2016).

Heartland Health will use two different methods to track the results of using CureMD.

First it will track profitability. The number of RVU’s generated three months after

implementation of CureMD will be reviewed and compared the number of RVU’s generated

when paper charts were still in use. The health information technician will do so by visiting the

physician’s office and requesting a printed report of the RVU’s and or ICD 10 codes from the

biller. Heartland Health will use the Meaningful Use Dashboard on the first day of every month

to track the clinics progress toward meeting meaningful use goals.

The various features CureMD has to offer will attract and retain patient customers. It will

attract customer through its patient portal and education features. Patients will enjoy the ability

to communication their needs to their providers online, such as requesting medication refills.

They will also enjoy the ability to review their clinical information online and access patient

education. CureMD’s appointment reminders feature will help retain patient customers. The ease

of being able to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy without having to first pick up a physical

prescription at the clinic will also help to retain customers.

Strategic Business Proposal 20

References

Baek, J., Xirasagar, S., Stoskopf, C. H., & Seidman, R. L. (2012). Physician-Targeted Financial

Incentives and Primary Care Physicians’ Self-Reported Ability to Provide High-Quality

Primary Care. Journal of Primary Care & Community Health, 4(3), 182-188.

doi:10.1177/2150131912462036

Bates, D. W., Ebell, M., Gotlieb, E., Zapp, J., & Mullins, H. C. (2003). A proposal for electronic

medical records in U.S. primary care. Journal of the American Medical Informatics

Association, 10(1), 1-10. Retrieved July 8, 2018.

Bazzoli, G. J., Fareed, N., & Waters, T. M. (2014). Hospital Financial Performance In The

Recent Recession And Implications For Institutions That Remain Financially

Weak. Health Affairs, 33(5), 739-745. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0988

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (n.d.). EHR incentive programs: 2015 through 2017

(Modified Stage 2) overview (pp. 9-19). Retrieved November 29, 2017, from

https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-

Guidance/Legislation/EHRIncentivePrograms/Downloads/2015_EHR2015_2017.pdf

Cleverley, W., & Cleverley, J. (2018). Essentials of Healthcare Finance (8th ed.). Burlington,

MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

CureMD. (n.d.). Pricing & plans. Retrieved July 8, 2018, from http://www.curemd.com/price.asp

D'Andrea, K. (n.d.). Successful Marketing Plan. Sales and Marketing. Retrieved August 9, 2018,

from https://ole.sandiego.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-1239898-dt-content-rid-

12733112_1/courses/ENLC-553-01-SU18/Successful.pdf

Fix, G. M., Hogan, T. P., Amante, D. J., Mcinnes, D. K., Nazi, K. M., & Simon, S. R. (2016).

Encouraging Patient Portal Use in the Patient-Centered Medical Home: Three

Strategic Business Proposal 21

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