Many healthcare providers are revisiting the various services they provide and looking to make non-Medicare patients a larger component of their patient mix. That, in turn, puts a premium on... Read More >
By CPT definition, a new patient is one who has not received any professional services from the physician, or another physician of the same specialty who belongs to the same... Read More >
If an employer pays for employee physicals or consultations that are performed for employment purposes, do patients employees under HIPAA have a right to access the records as they would... Read More >
In fiscal year , the Justice Department recovered . billion from settlements and judgments involving various healthcare organizations that allegedly defrauded the government. Nearly of the amount recovered this year... Read More >
The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General OIG issued Advisory Opinion - , approving an arrangement under which an internet advertiser proposed to direct potential patients... Read More >
Your practice size dictates how complex you make your cash-control polices, but there are common sense rules that almost any office can implement. Generally accepted accounting principles call for a... Read More >
Whether acquiring another partner or your first partner, merging with another practice or responding to a peer s complaint, building a new compensation plan takes time, patience and modeling. Make... Read More >
Look at physician office employees differently when it comes to planning space and optimizing productivity. Try categorizing staffers according to three patient-flow categories Hourly Includes support staff whose production rates... Read More >
On October , , CMS published on its website the Physician Fee Schedule containing final anti-markup provisions. Generally, payments for diagnostic tests performed by outside suppliers subject to the anti-markup... Read More >
If you have a budget from last year, review it closely. Try to find out why you missed or exceeded projections. Look into the numbers. Accurate overall totals might not... Read More >
Give the definitions section of your contracts some muscle to strengthen your case should you ever have to take on a payer in a lawsuit. You might even find that... Read More >
File it If a piece of paper is workth saving, file it immediately. Don t toss it on your desk for later. Forward it If the paper requires action from... Read More >
Your group s compensation formula may be its most jealously guarded sacred cow. Whether sensible or not, it continues in place as long as members don t object. And your... Read More >
The American Health Lawyer s Association www.healthlawyers.org reports that The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS needs to be more proactive in overseeing and enforcing implementation of the Health... Read More >
nbsp nbsp There is a hidden secret in managed care negotiations that many physician practices fail to utilize involving your the patients and their employer s in the process. Once... Read More >
Inflation-adjusted Amounts To keep pace with inflation, the IRS modified dozens of tax benefits for . For example, the value of each personal and dependency exemption for most taxpayers will... Read More >
. Follow Dale Carnegie s advice Remember that a person s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. Pay attention when someone tells... Read More >
Get ready to relearn the Americans with Disabilities Act by Jan. , . New legislation signed last month has defanged a common employer defense, and the changes are going to... Read More >
Remember that the HIPAA privacy and security rules require you to provide regular HIPAA training for all work force members. But there is no requirement that work force members receive... Read More >
Delayed treatment, dissatisfied patients, and decreased referrals too often result from failure to properly manage the referral process. In an ideal situation, three primary steps take place in coordinating referrals... Read More >
All of us, including our patients, want to be heard. We value relationships with people who really listen. And letting patients know that you see them as people goes a... Read More >
This message is for health care providers, particularly physicians and other practitioners, who have obtained National Provider Identifiers NPIs and have records in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System... Read More >
nbsp On October , , President Bush signed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which included an AMT patch and extension of a number of popular tax breaks, most of which... Read More >
As first reported by Modern Healthcare s Daily Dose newsletter, enrollment figures may be up, but the number of first-time applicants to U.S. medical schools declined slightly this year, according... Read More >
I called a physician office the other day and was greeted by the automated telephone attendant, which I don t mind in many cases, But this one droaned on and... Read More >
The use of search firms generally an approach used by larger practices and clinics with sufficient financial resources is the most costly way to find a new physician for your... Read More >
It can be difficult to lead your practice without first clarifying for everyone the vision of where you jointly want to end up. Without a clear mission statement, practices make... Read More >
With the growth of transparency initiatives, many health plans have posted not only price information for individual providers, but quality rankings as well. Put these rankings into context for your... Read More >
CMS recently announced aggressive new steps to find and prevent waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare. CMS is working closer with beneficiaries and providers consolidating its fraud detection efforts strengthening... Read More >
Sen. Chuck Grassley, ranking member of the Committee on Finance, made the following comment on the report released yesterday from the Government Accountability Office, Nonprofit Hospitals Variation in Standards and... Read More >
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