March 26, 2020 Cancelled elective surgeries and uncertainty about what tomorrow brings has many medical practices wondering how they will maintain cash flow. Focus on these three areas to bring in revenue while services are slow and poise the practice for increased collections when life gets back to normal. 1. Go after the unpaid A/R....
February 5, 2020 The aged accounts receivable (A/R) report is one of the best diagnostic tools for identifying collections issues and reimbursement system breakdowns. It should be reviewed by physicians and managers every month. Here are 6 questions to ask about this essential report. 1. Is the report generated by date of service or date...
January 22, 2020 As MIPS enters its fourth year, the penalty for not participating rises to 9%. CMS retired 42 quality measures in 2020 including measures specific to orthopaedics, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, vascular surgery, PMR, as well as others. So whether you have been participating all along or 2020 is your first year, there are new...
January 8, 2020 We’ve been reviewing revenue cycle, coding, and documentation for nearly 35 years. These six secrets are gleaned from common mistakes we see practices make. Following them can improve reimbursement and revenue cycle, and reduce your risk. Secret #1: Ignore coding at your own peril. Coding has to start from the top. It’s...
November 20, 2019 It’s that time of year again. As part of its annual CPT Symposium this week, the AMA released the code changes for 2020. There are 394 code changes, including 248 new codes, 71 code deletions, and 75 code revisions. This is in addition to the 2020 ICD-10-CM codes already released – there...
October 23, 2019 For decades our firm has recommended that physicians secure a line of credit as part of good financial management. We recently spoke with Kevin T. Wills, CPA, CMPE, Sr. Vice President of Healthcare Business Banking at PNC Bank, to hear his take on why practices need this important financial insurance and the...
October 9, 2019 Firing an employee is awkward and uncomfortable for everyone involved. But despite a physician’s or manager’s best efforts to hire, train, and motivate staff, sometimes termination is an unfortunate reality. Underperforming, untrainable, even occasionally criminal employees can foster a toxic or hostile work environment and/or limit your team’s ability to care for...
September 25, 2019 Documentation in every setting begins and ends with the physician/advanced practitioner. It is not the quantity but the quality of the documentation that counts. Documentation is supported in the detail. When I work with physicians on clinical documentation, the question that always comes up is: “What do I need to document to...
September 11, 2019 Is your practice experiencing a high number of front-end claim edits that relate to registration errors? Have patients complained about the phone tree or the clinical callback process taking too long? Is payment posting less efficient than it could be? All of these issues point to a need for streamlining workflow and...
August 28, 2019 Is there revenue hiding under the baseboards in your practice? Not likely, but there are likely revenue leaks occurring that are costing the practice thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year if not properly monitored. 1. Missing Encounters. The patient was seen, services were rendered, yet no bill was generated....
