Medicare E/M Physician Resource Guide
New CMS Resource for E M Coding Now Available in Transmittal CMS has created a new one-stop resource for E M coding. It can be found in Transmittal to the... Read More >
Physician Net Worth
Is Your Net Worth Growing Each Year? Why It Matters for Physicians A recent survey by Medical Economics magazine showed that physician net worth was moving ahead briskly but that... Read More >
Six tips to train physician staff, protect physician at same time
Preparing Your Staff for Effective Financial Conversations with Patients Key Training Tips Give plan members early warning about the financial responsibilities they may face for treatment. Your preparation may include... Read More >
2006 Exempt Organizations (EO) Implementing Guidelines
nbsp The IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities TE GE Division just released its FY Exempt Organizations EO Implementing Guidelines. Most notable for tax-exempt hospitals, the Director of EO Examinations... Read More >
Protect physician current real estate holdings
Protecting Your Practice Real Estate Ownership and Lease Tips To protect your real estate holdings, you should revise your arrangements now and bring all practice owner-physicians into the real estate... Read More >
OIG Releases 2006 Work Plan
OIG s Work Plan Key Focus Areas and Medicare Part D Impacts The OIG s message is clear When Medicare Part D takes effect January , the feds will be... Read More >
How to avoid physician refund requests
Top Scenarios That Trigger Overpayment Refund Requests and How to Handle Them Fielding requests for overpayment refunds is unfortunately an all-too-familiar scenario for most providers. Here are the top three... Read More >
Don’t invite disaster into your physician scheduling plan
Key Strategies for Implementing Open-Access Scheduling in Your Practice Implementing open-access scheduling without careful planning invites disaster. Once you determine how much to open the schedule, develop a new set... Read More >
HIPAA Allows Physician Disclosure of PHI When?
Understanding Required by Law Disclosures of PHI Under HIPAA HIPAA allows disclosures of PHI without authorization when such disclosures are required by law. What does this mean? The regulations define... Read More >
Physician Hospital E/M Usage
For services billed in year 2004, the following are the Medicare utilization statistics for Hospital Admits: 99221 5.5% 99222 35.8% 99223 58.7% Hospital Visits: 99231 23.3% 99232 56.7% 99233 19.7% Read More >
2006 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Not on CD-ROM
CMS Prioritizes Accuracy Medicare Fees to Be Updated Online Instead of CD-ROM The Centers for Medicare amp Medicaid Services CMS has decided not to place the fees on the CD-ROM... Read More >
Medicare releases 2006 final physician fee schedule
From Part B News Key Changes in the Physician Fee Schedule What You Need to Know The final physician fee schedule won t be published until the Nov. , Federal... Read More >
CMS to collect quality data under new program
CMS Launches Physician Voluntary Reporting Program Key Measures and Details Last Friday, the Centers for Medicare amp Medicaid Services CMS established the Physician Voluntary Reporting Program PVRP , a step... Read More >
Verify insurance on the Internet
Maximizing Efficiency Internet vs. POS vs. Phone Verification for Insurance In addition to using the Internet to handle patient registrations, consider using it for insurance validation. One insurance company recently... Read More >
Don’t let overdue accounts die on your physician’s desk
Streamlining Collections Implementing a Veto-Only System for Physician Review If you have a well-defined collection process in writing, as you should, it probably requires that you give delinquent account information... Read More >
Open Access Scheduling for Physician Practices
Optimizing Same-Day Appointments Balancing Patient Access with Physician Efficiency Trying to meet patient and referrer demands without sacrificing physician efficiency leads many doctors to adopt different appointment styles such as... Read More >
Last-chance opportunity to deduct general sales and use taxes
The next few months may provide a last chance opportunity for taxpayers who itemize deductions to deduct state and local sales taxes in lieu of state and local income taxes.... Read More >
Medicare and Physician Rural Location
CMS Releases Comprehensive Medicare Guide to Rural Health Services for Providers and Physicians The Division of Provider Information Planning amp Development at the Centers for Medicare amp Medicaid Services CMS... Read More >
Social Security Wage Base Increases for 2006
On Social Security Online, Automatic Increases, Contribution and Benefit Base, http www.ssa.gov OACT COLA cbb.html , the Social Security Administration has announced that the wage base for computing the Social... Read More >
Physicians should protect their practice from unfair carve-outs with an antisteering clause
Protecting Your Practice How Antisteering Clauses Can Shield Against Revenue Loss from Carve-Outs When you contract with a health plan for your services, you base your deal on the reimbursement... Read More >
Physicians: Turn Unneeded Policies Into Cash
From the Journal of Accountancy How to Navigate Life Settlement Transactions Options, Steps, and Tax Implications WHEN INDIVIDUALS OR BUSINESSES HAVE UNNEEDED life insurance policies they have three options continue... Read More >
How Long do Physicians Have to Keep Medical Records
The American Health Information Management Association AHIMA provides help sorting through the rules regarding how long you must retain records at your practice. Use AHIMA s tables as a basic... Read More >
10 Reasons Why Physicians Change Jobs
Per the Physician Compensation Report www.hcpromarketplace.com . Desire for higher salary . High malpractice premiums . Underutilized medical skills desire for upward advancement hours too long high call schedule .... Read More >
Physician Consultation v. Referral
From the Group Practice Solutions newsletter www.hcpromarketplace.com The distinction between a request for a consultation and a referral seems straightforward at first glance. A consultation occurs when a physician gives... Read More >
Physician Billing Problem-Correct Place of Service Coding
Audit Reveals High Rate of Place of Service Coding Errors in Medicare Claims According to the July issue of Texas Medicine www.texmed.org , a recent audit of Part B claims... Read More >
EMRs in Physician Practices Becomming Commonplace
The Growing Adoption of Electronic Medical Records Key Findings from a Recent Physician Poll In a poll released in the September issue of Physicians Practice www.physicianspractice.com , a surprising number... Read More >
How to Avoid Provoking a Wage Hour Audit
Avoiding Costly Penalties Essential Audit Points for Managing Employee Pay and Classification From the Americian Institute of Professional Bookkeepers www.aipb.org To avoid major penalties, audit your own practices to avoid... Read More >
A Thought on Disaster Planning
Disaster Preparedness for Medical Practices Protecting Records and Insurance As Hurricane Rita nears the Texas coastline, I wonder how many medical practices are prepared for any kind of a disaster,... Read More >
Medicare Part B monthly premium rises more than $10
Medicare Part B Premium Increase Factors Behind the . Hike for Rapid growth in the intensity and utilization of Part B services in hospital outpatient services is a primary reason... Read More >
Three practical rules for setting a buy-in price
How to Determine the Right Buy-In Price for Your Practice Key Considerations Determining the right buy-in price is an inexact science. But applying one consultant s acid test can help... 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 >
