Please click on the question you'd like answered:
	How do I get my own user login and password?
	What do I do when I have lost my password, or it has expired?
	I don't know how to generate the reports I need from the Practice Profiles, Clinical Audit etc.
	I am interested in making use of MHS' services / systems - who do I contact?
	Please give me a road map to MHS
	How do I view news articles from a few weeks ago?
	I am lost in this website - please give me a site map!
	What is DocChat and how do I use it?
	What is Medical Forum actually about?
	I have some news / journals / suggestions which may be of use to other visitors to this site - where do I send this information?
	Is it true that MHS only does 'profiling'?
	What does MHS hope to achieve by managing costs - member, doctor & hospital costs?
	What is a CPN?
	How does the Chronic Medication Authorisation programme actually work?
	How can users provide feedback?

How do I get my own user login and password?

Your login, consisting of your user name, user type and password, enables you, the user (practice / network manager etc...) to access the profiling reports of your practice / those reviewed by you.  You are also granted access to other facilities such as the DocChat forum.  If you would like to obtain your login you need to register with us.  The registration form is a brief questionnaire, which you can fill in quickly on the website.  You will then be contacted to confirm your details and given your login details. [Register now]

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What do I do when I have lost my password, or it has expired?

If you have tried to login unsuccessfully, check that:
- the user name, user type and password you have typed in are all correct

- you have typed your password in using the correct case (CAPITALS OR lower case) - PaSsWoRdS aRe CaSe SeNsItIvE ! 

If you are still denied access it may mean that your password has expired.

If this happens, or if you have lost your password, please contact us, so that we can assist you.  

Please email us at webmaster@mhs.co.za (remember to include all your contact information).  You will be contacted with your password details.

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I don't know how to generate the reports I need from the Practice Profiles, Clinical Audit etc. 

Once you have entered your user name, type and password, you will enter the General Performance Parameters (default report).  On the left hand side of your screen are a variety of drop-down menu's which allow you to configure further reports as you choose.  Click on one of the 'help buttons' (they appear as small icons with a "?") beside the report generating options.  These will step you through on how to choose a report.

Alternatively, you can go through a demonstration presentation/simulation.  You may need to download PowerPoint to view these - follow the steps. 

You may also select options from your User Menu (the yellow menu which appears on the top right of the main toolbar as you login).  Here you can select various reporting systems in which you'd like to generate your reports.

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I am interested in making use of MHS' services / systems - who do I contact?

If you are interested in finding out more about how our systems and services can benefit  your organisation / practice, please email your questions / information requests to webmaster@mhs.co.za and your message will be forwarded to the appropriate person within 1 working day.  Please include your full contact details on the message, so we can get back to you in good time.  Thank you for your interest.

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Please give me a road map to MHS

MHS is based in Bryanston, Johannesburg.
If you are traveling on the Western Bypass highway (Concrete highway),
Take the William Nicol turn off
Turn South into William Nicol 
Turn East off William Nicol Drive, into Sloane Street, and MHS is about 300m down the road, in an office park called Knightsbridge Manor. 

When you arrive at our office, please be sure you park only in bays marked for MHS - otherwise your wheels might get clamped!

Click on the map below, to view a printable version.

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How do I view news articles from a few weeks ago? 

All News articles published on this site are archive into two pages:
1) - Past News items (articles kept for a quarterly period, e.g July - September 2002)
2) - Archived News Items (every single article that has ever been published on the site, divided into yearly quarters).

Both these pages can be accessed from the Industry News Page in the Medical Forum section (navy buttons in the top corner of the News page)

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What is DocChat and how do I use it?

The DocChat facility is a dynamic forum for you to engage in discussions and 'chats' with other users.  You can respond to issues already discussed, or initiate a new discussion on a topic of interest to you. 

Here you can post a message that any other registered (and logged-in) user can read. You may want to discuss some issues about therapy or patient management, or advertise an interesting event in your area. 

We have decided to keep this forum closed to practitioners who are registered with us. This protects the integrity of the information and discussions, as well as enabling a more open discussion amongst the doctors.

BEGINNING A NEW DISCUSSION:
Click on the Begin a new Discussion hyperlink and fill out all the details. Just add a new message, with a catchy title, instead of replying to an existing message. 

REPLYING TO A MESSAGE:
As you reply to a particular message in DocChat, your message is added to the "thread" and is shown underneath and indented from the original message.

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What is the Medical Forum all about?

This section of the site is focused primarily on assisting practitioners and patients with the continuation of their medical education / awareness, as well as their enjoyment of the resources provided in this portal.

There are links to 

• recent Industry News (updated daily), 

• statistics of interest

• Condition / Treatment information & education (for Doctors)

• Common Condition / Health Living  information & education (for Patients)

• journal articles, 

• Training courses

• Medical congress schedule

• useful sites 

• DocChat forum

This section will be growing constantly, so please make good use of it and enjoy!

 If you have any suggestions or material you think should be included, please let us know. 

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I have some news / journals / suggestions which may be of use to other visitors to this site - where do I send this information?

Even though we offer a variety of information for our users and as much comprehensive information as possible, there is always more that could still be included. If there is anything - items of interest, news articles, journals or other suggestions - which you would like added, we would love to hear about it.  

All information on our site is for the benefit and interest of our users, so if you feel that something should be added, or if you would like to see more of what we offer, please email us on webmaster@mhs.co.za.

We would appreciate your input!

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In a word - No.  MHS offers so much more than profiling.  

We provide appropriate expertise, computer systems and software, as well as other specialised products, services and resources for the design, development and on-going monitoring and management of managed health care to medical scheme administrators, medical schemes, and health care funders, as well as to providers of health care.

Profiling is just a part of what we offer, and it is a significant tool in allowing us to develop appropriate solutions for clients.

All our offerings are integrated and focused on the facilitation of rational, appropriate, cost-effective healthcare.

For more information about our complete range of services, please work you way through the Services menu (the blue tab on the top toolbar of the screen)

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What does MHS hope to achieve by managing costs - member, doctor & hospital costs?

David Boyce, our MD, explains that "We learnt very early that while medical schemes and medical scheme administrators have very large databases of claims, these databases are almost valueless in the context of managed healthcare because their information is financial.  In managed health care, you need clinical information to be able to influence clinical outcomes".

MHS's analysis of profiles and costs is extensive and tremendously detailed.  But the basic principle that underlies MHS's services is the development of a "win-win" partnership between patients, practitioners and healthcare funders.  This is achieved through (very briefly):

• the correct and appropriate treatments being administered to patients

• appropriate and non-abusive behaviour of patients towards medical treatment

• correct and full utilisation of database information, to enable, among many other things, our client medical schemes to offer appropriate benefits and coverage of treatments and identify where there is a need and where there may be abuse.

The management of member, doctor and hospital costs benefits those involved at every stage of the treatment and payment therefore.  As many databases are based on financial rather than clinical information, the costs are used by MHS to identify clinical situations and future costs can be properly managed on all levels.

For more information about services, please work you way through the Services menu (the blue tab on the top toolbar of the screen)

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What is a CPN?

A CPN is a coordinated provider network, an MHS-designed Managed Care initiative that strives to combine the clinical expertise of Doctors and the financial/actuarial expertise of Healthcare Funders with the Managed Care resources of MHS in order to seek equitable solutions to the problems experienced by the Healthcare Industry. 

It is the management of a network of providers of all disciplines made up of provider groups (IPA’s Group Practices, Networks. etc.) that are participating In the MHS managed care initiative. The nature of CPN is that it does not in any way interfere with the internal management of each participating group, it rather entails the collective management of all the groups.

PREMISES THAT GOVERN THE CPN SOLUTION
- The principle of empowering the clinicians to regulate themselves / their own disciplines is tactically more sound than enforced third party regulation.

- Co-operation of clinician participation via IPA's and Networks in the development of solutions will result buy-in and shared ownership of solutions; therefore reducing bureaucratic controls.

- Evidence of active deployment of managed care principles must be remunerated.

- In the interest of justice as well as for the greater good of the patient and committed clinicians, it is imperative that processes to promote behaviour change and punish persistent inappropriate behaviour be implemented and managed by clinicians.

THE CPN SOLUTION
In order to implement the CPN solution according to the above premises, MHS, in conjunction with its clients, and senior management of some GP Networks, have created the following structures and products:
- A Forum For Health Promotion: Where representatives of provider networks meet quarterly (and ad hoc) with client medical aid schemes under the chairmanship of MHS to resolve contentious issues and to plan together.

- Heads of agreement that govern the relationship have been established and are contained in a Letter of Intent.

- A set of clinical benchmarks (one primary and five secondary benchmarks) is selected quarterly from a larger pool of benchmarks. These benchmarks are risk adjusted to accommodate the demographic and epidemiologic diversity of GP practices.

- The benchmarks are complemented by more in-depth practice profiles that may be accessed via the MHS web sit. The profiles are password protected to prevent unauthorized access to individual profiles.

- Episode Encounter Tracking: The main purpose of the exercise is to save on costs generated by technology – both within and outside of the practice. A critical part of the strategy is therefore that the fund negotiates with all Pharmacists, Pathologists, Radiologists and Hospitals to include the practice number of the prescribing clinician in each claim. This practice number is captured by the fund administrator and forwarded to MHS. MHS in turn are therefore able to evaluate not only the direct costs per practice but also all additional costs initiated by each practice. The main focus of the benchmarks is to curb these additional costs (as well as curbing excess “fat” from the direct costs).

- Teams of Local Area Managers (representing IPA's / Networks) work hand-in-hand with Regional Area Managers (employed by MHS) in the implementation of the Peer Management Process.

- The Peer Management Processes are initiated by a statistical evaluation of practice achievements against the risk-adjusted benchmarks. This is followed by processes of Peer Monitoring and Peer Review that are entirely Network / IPA driven. MHS merely provide the required information and/or data.

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How does the Chronic Medication Authorisation programme actually work?

This service is offered in association with Insight Medical Management, a member of the MHS Group. 

Chronic medicines represent the largest portion of medicine costs incurred by medical schemes. The Chronic Medication Authorisation Programme administers and manages the chronic medicine benefit of medical schemes and their members.

The Chronic Medication Authorisation programme is a pre-authorisation procedure to ensure that prescribed medication for a chronic disease or condition is rational, appropriate and cost-effective. The objective is to achieve optimal at an affordable price. The process involves managing the patient’s therapy by direct, personal communication and interaction with the patient’s doctor , the prescriber of treatment.

Firstly, a database of chronic patients for a client scheme is established and their medicine usage recorded. Medicines which are rational, cost effective and appropriate for chronic conditions are pre-authorised and patients' therapy continuously reviewed. There are interventions (based on current Best Practice treatment guidelines and supported by internationally published literature) with both doctors and patients to suggest alternative, cost effective therapy where appropriate, through clinical pharmacists.

A toll-free answering service is available for patient queries and for enrollment into the programme.  System-generated management reports to indicate trends, condition treatment costs, etc. are also regularly available.  

For more information about the Chronic Medication Authorisation Programme and other services, please work you way through the Services menu (the blue tab on the top toolbar of the screen)

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How can users provide feedback?

A feedback form was added to the Contact Us section of the menu (situated at the top of the MHS website).  When you select the Feedback option from this menu, the feedback form will be displayed.  If you have any comments regarding our website, please complete this form, or send an e-mail to the webmaster at webmaster@mhs.co.za.  We value your ideas and comments!

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