In 2014, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will affect Medicaid for many states, so healthcare providers are working hard to meet all requirements before the tidal wave of new beneficiaries and claims comes, according to Healthcare IT News.

Will Saunders, president of government healthcare solutions at Xerox, explains that the real heroes are state healthcare workers due to the huge pressures upon them right now. Saunders says that many state employees have worked in this field for decades but none have seen this gigantic amount of change until now. The Affordable Care Act will bring approximately another 15 to 17 million people to the Medicaid program and states will have to meet various new mandates by the January 1, 2014 deadline.

"Every state has an incredible desire to improve their systems and find true cost containment. Medicaid covers the toughest, most chronically-ill people," Saunders told the news source. "Regardless of where healthcare reform goes, states are going to be challenged with the expense for being the safety net for those vulnerable citizens. Once you kind of meet and see the role that Medicaid plays, it’s remarkable."

There are ways to improve healthcare systems and take on the large amount of work that the healthcare reform law is bringing. A healthcare professional can save costs and serve their patients smoothly and efficiently by adopting electronic health records (EHR).

By implementing chiropractic EHR, a chiropractic office will save on paper costs and greatly improve their patient processing systems. With a low cost monthly subscription, chiropractors would be purchasing affordable EHR software and easing chiropractic workflow. Also, adopting web-based medical software allows a chiropractor to save time and money on installation and gives the benefits of online access. The future of computing is moving toward web-based EHR software.