Brooke Andrus

Brooke Andrus is a junior copywriter for WebPT, a cloud-based, rehab therapy-specific EMR. She graduated with high honors from the University of Montana with a bachelor of arts in journalism. Before joining WebPT, Brooke held positions in community news reporting, university relations and sports public relations.

Articles by Brooke Andrus

• Final Rule 2015: What PTs need to know

  Friday, November 07, 2014

  The summary of this year's Final Rule is hot off the presses, which means that — among other things — we now know the details regarding the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) for 2015. For those who have been following the PQRS saga since the program first came into being in 2007, it should come as no surprise that Medicare has yet again upped the ante for compliance.

• 7 tips for building a strong community on social media

  Friday, September 12, 2014

  ​Before the dawn of the Internet, building a community — around a business, an institution or any other entity of mutual interest — required a heavy investment of face time (and I'm not talking about the iPhone app). These days, starting a conversation around virtually any topic is as easy as hitting "enter."

• How to calculate your ideal patient load

  Monday, August 18, 2014

  ​As a rehab therapy provider, the strength of your clinic's revenue stream depends mainly on the number of patients you see each day — and the dollar amount you receive for each one of those visits. Naturally, if you want to increase your clinic's revenue, you mostly likely will need to increase the volume of patients you treat.

• 10 ways physical therapists can maximize billing

  Friday, June 06, 2014

  ​In a perfect world, physical therapists wouldn't have to deal with billing. They'd simply treat, heal and magically receive payment for their services. But we don’t live in that fantasy world, and unfortunately, the billing process is anything but magical. If you're a PT, submitting claims comes with the territory.

• What’s the deal with external cause codes?

  Thursday, April 24, 2014

  ​Let's face it: the ICD-10 code set isn't exactly the most enticing reading material. So naturally, mainstream media coverage of ICD-10 has focused on some of the more, shall we say, entertaining features of the coding manual: namely, the external cause codes found in Chapter 20.

• 5 ways the Affordable Care Act is impacting PTs

  Friday, March 07, 2014

  Ever since the federal government got the ball rolling on healthcare reform legislation — aka the Affordable Care Act — it has been a hot topic of conversation among providers and consumers alike. Here's a breakdown of how the new healthcare law is affecting therapists.

• Should your practice hire an ICD-10 coder?

  Friday, February 21, 2014

  ​The switch to ICD-10 will trigger a monumental shift in the way medical practitioners code patient diagnoses. The result is increased specificity in coding, but all that slick, souped-up data comes at a cost — time. And as a rehab therapist, you don't have a lot of that to spare.

• Top 10 gifts for physical therapists

  Friday, December 13, 2013

  ​So, you survived Black Friday — and maybe even scored a sweet deal or two — but you've still got quite a few names left on your holiday shopping list. If one of them happens to be a physical therapist (or if you're a PT looking for a cool gift to give to yourself) and you’re racking your brain for gift ideas, then you’re in luck. Here are the top 10 gift ideas for physical therapists. Sorry, you’ll have to handle shopping for Great Aunt Miriam on your own.

• Why your EMR should tailor to physical therapy, not meaningful use

  Monday, December 02, 2013

  If you're in the market for an EMR, you already know there are tons of options out there. And as a savvy shopper, you're probably trying to whittle down your list of "maybes" to a few "very likely" candidates before you have to make a final decision. With features galore, it might be tough to figure out which ones will be most beneficial to you and your practice. And on top of that, some EMRs are certified for a particular purpose, such as meaningful use.

• ICD-9 vs. ICD-10: What’s the difference?

  Friday, October 11, 2013

  If you’re a proponent of the old “if it ain't broke, don't fix it” mentality, you might be a little reluctant to buy into all of this ICD-10 business. After all, you use ICD-9 now, and that seems to be working just fine. So why rock the boat? Well, there’s another old saying that goes something like, "You don’t know what you’re missing until you reach out and touch it." In this case, those still clinging to ICD-9 are completely overlooking the benefits of the new code set.