Payer contracting – Get back to basics
Sometimes the more challenging things get, the better it is to get back to basics. Perhaps the best thing you can do to manage your frustration is return to your... Read More >
Handling Insurance Payer Denials in Physician Practices
Medical claim denials cut right at the jugular of a practice s financial success. With thin margins defining the financial success of a group practice, an aggressive denial management strategy... Read More >
Ideas to help your physician office’s EHR implementation
nbsp Many EHR implementations have failed to meet practice expectations and, in the worst cases, have damaged the practice. EHR implementations by necessity will impact every process and activity in... Read More >
Another reminder – Is your physician office OSHA compliant?
The blood-borne pathogen requirements under OSHA include the development and implementation of an Exposure Control Plan determinations of exposure of employees to items use of safety-engineered needles and other engineering... Read More >
Apologize to your patients for waiting time
Patient Care Matters Apologizing for Wait Times and Improving Service If physicians want to achieve excellent patient relations in their office, they must take a role in apologizing to patients... Read More >
Photocopiers and HIPAA sometimes don’t play nice
As I ve asked before in this Blog, does your medical practice s copier have a hard drive? Failure to scrub and erase data when you dispose of a copier... Read More >
E/M coding without proper documentation will cause trouble
On July , , the United States Department of Justice announced Sound Inpatient Physicians, Inc. Sound Inpatient will pay . million dollars to settle allegations that it over-billed Medicare and... Read More >
Draft IRS Form 8960 Released
The IRS released a draft of Form , which will be used by individuals, estates, and trusts to compute the new . net investment income tax NIIT . Beginning in... Read More >
Income Verification by Health Insurance Marketplaces
According to an FAQ on the CCIIO website, HHS has clarified that, for the federally-facilitated marketplaces, CMS intends to verify the income on of the applications for advance payment of... Read More >
2013 Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) County Data
nbsp Under the Affordable Care Act, group health plans and health insurance issuers are required to provide certain notices in a culturally and linguistically appropriate manner. The rules require certain... Read More >
Some advice on patient walk-ins
Question I need some advice regarding the handling of walk-ins. We are a big pediatric office with providers, and during the winter months we see anywhere from - a day.... Read More >
A few thoughts on physician front desk personnel
nbsp Far too often we hear comments from physicians like It s the front desk. How hard can it be? or All the they do is check patients in out... Read More >
Knowing how to bill for locum tenens services
If you are looking into using a locum tenens staffing company for temporary physician or nurse practitioner staffing support, obtaining a return on your investment is likely among your primary... Read More >
Sample physician compensation models
Sample Physician Compensation Formularies Here are a few sample physician compensation formularies I have worked on in the past. Keep in mind each can be tweaked to fit a particular... Read More >
A simple strategy to reduce practice overhead
Know your current costs. An actionable picture of current costs requires a thoughtfully constructed chart of accounts that groups expenditures logically at a reasonable level of detail. For instance, a... Read More >
HIPAA blunders to avoid
Neglecting Regular Training and Fresh Risk Assessments One-and-done approaches to HIPAA training is a major no-no it s something that causes employees over time to forget about their compliance obligations.... Read More >
The Value of a Coding Audit
Coding accuracy audits can help your organization optimize revenue, reduce compliance exposure, and increase organizational efficiency by Preventing you from undervaluing services performed more money Reducing Eliminating rejected claims and... Read More >
How to handle denied claims in a physician work RVU compensation formulary
Addressing Denied Claims in Physician Compensation Plans I often find physician compensation plans that use a Work RVU based formulary fail to take in to account denied claims charges. When... Read More >
Gandolfiniโs Will Leaves Family Exposed to Heavy Estate Taxes – A Lesson for Physicians
nbsp I read today in the Accounting Today Newswire that the late actor James Gandolfini s untimely death last month at the age of has apparently left his family facing... Read More >
OIGโs Self-Disclosure Protocol Can Now Be Submitted Online
nbsp OIG has launched an online submission process for the Self-Disclosure Protocol. The SDP is for providers who wish to voluntarily disclose self-discovered evidence of potential fraud to OIG. Self-disclosure... Read More >
Handle staffing issues early and honestly in every physician practice merger
nbsp Some of the thorniest territory relates to staffing, especially when it comes to deciding managers and administrators roles in the new practice. Problems often arise when physicians avoid the... Read More >
Employers To Get An Extra Year To Implement Health Law Requirement On Coverage
nbsp The Obama administration Tuesday announced a one-year delay in the Affordable Care Act s requirement that businesses with or more employees offer coverage to their workers or pay a... Read More >
Dear Doctor & Administrator – Treat Every Defect as a Treasure
A culture of fear enables process problems to remain undetected or unreported in your medical practice. Performance improvement depends to a great extent on whether your staff members feel comfortable... Read More >
Dear Administrator – Physician Practices Need You Now More Than Ever
Anybody who works in or deals with physician medical practices knnow about the day to day struggles of how to keep everyone happy in a very uncertain era. I find... Read More >
AMA National Health Insurer Report Card Released
AMA Health Insurer Report Card Key Findings and ABI The AMA publishes an annual report card of the claims revenue cycle activities of the major commercial health insurers and Medicare.... Read More >
Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO Fast Facts
nbsp This document is a collection of annual high level data that illustrate facts about Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs such as, where ACOs are located, as well as ACO... Read More >
Medicare Payments for Services by Physicians Who Were Bought Out by a Hospital about to go down?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/15/health/medicare-panel-urges-cuts-to-hospital-payments-for-services-doctors-offer-for-less.html?_r=0 http://medpac.gov/documents/Jun13_FactSheet.pdf http://medpac.gov/documents/Jun13_EntireReport.pdf Read More >
Another HIPAA violation and related settlement
nbsp Shasta Regional Medical Center SRMC has agreed to a comprehensive corrective action plan to settle an investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HHS about potential... Read More >
1 Out of Every 3 Docs Plans to Quit – Really?
nbsp Blaming low compensation and the hassles of healthcare reform, of general practice physicians say they plan to leave the practice of medicine over the next decade, according to a... Read More >
Simple HIPAA checklist for your physician practice
Review policies and procedures to ensure they are up to date and comprehensive. Review your files and documentation to ensure that appropriate patient information safeguards exist. Assess your organization s... Read More >
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As a top advisor to physicians, I help increase practice profits by delivering hands-on, expert medical accounting/tax support, practice counsel, and revenue-building strategies. Read More >
