Don’t Fear the Future
We have nothing to fear but fear itself… AND dwindling numbers of patients that are willing to come in and pay a co-pay, AND insurance carriers who seem intent on reducing the amount they pay, AND retirement accounts that are reducing, AND… That seems to be the general consensus of some of the physicians that we saw at the last convention we attended. Interestingly, for every 2 physicians that had remarks like that, we talked to 1 that was positive about their income potential for 2009 and sought out new ways to help their patients by looking to expand their practice. Is the glass half empty or half full? We think full! read more…
A Satisfied Staff Pays Off
Motivating Staff in Lean Times
Indeed, as lower reimbursements, rising costs, and the economic crisis take their toll, practice administrators across the country are grappling with the challenge of how to reward their deserving staff when the resources run dry. “We as managers need to be communicating financial information to the physician owners of our practices and then it’s our job to be at the forefront in coming up with creative ideas to [compensate the staff] because morale is important,” says Ken Hertz, a former practice administrator and principal with the Medical Group Management Association’s Health Care Consulting Group. “How you treat your staff is representative of your values.”
In years of profit shortfall, says Hertz, the best way to prevent a costly exodus of your top talent is to develop new ideas for nonmonetary perks. You may also need to revisit your policy for doling out cost-of-living and merit-based raises. “Some businesses give out 5 percent raises every year because they’ve always done it that way,” says Hertz. “But you have to be clear on what your policy is and what is best for the practice.” read more…
Don’t Let Tax Errors Entrap You
From the moment Keith Solinsky joined Atlanta Orthopedics as administrator last year, it was clear the practice was hemorrhaging money. Health insurance premiums for its 30 employees were disproportionately high. Supply costs were stuck in the stratosphere. The problem was that no one had been questioning the status quo, Solinsky explains. For example, “no one had ever seen health insurance rates as high as this group was paying. They stayed with the same carriers for years and the companies just kept raising rates and raising rates. I was able to reduce their costs from $676 per employee to $420 — a $40,000 savings. I also shopped around their malpractice insurance and got that lowered by $40,000. From there I just threw everything else out to bid.”
Look inside a patient’s chart and you’ll find a problem list, maybe one like this: Allergic rhinitis. Migraine headaches. Essential hypertension.
Look inside the average physician’s practice and you’ll find problems, if not an actual list: Revenue-itis. Waiting room headaches. Staff tension.
But most problems have solutions, or at least a way to manage the symptoms, and that’s true for practices as well as patients. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a list of some of the most common business challenges that you face and then asked a panel of experts to prescribe solutions. Their brief recommendations are meant as starting points to improve your operations, not a soup-to-nuts solution to every problem.
You’re bound to recognize a few of your own issues in the following questions and answers. Hang in there.
Outsourcing Your Billing
If you don’t, you are not alone. Thousands of practices have effectively delegated their entire financial operations to third parties. Should you? Let’s take a look at the pros and cons.
First a quick description. The in-vogue name for these financial third parties is “revenue cycle outsourcers,” also known as billing services. Instead of hiring staff to do your billing, you delegate it to the revenue cycle outsourcing firm who manages the entire operation, including coding and review, electronic claims submissions, collections, and financial reporting. The revenue cycle outsourcer’s fees are based on a percent of collected receipts. The more you make, the more they make.
Introduction
Few of us believe that family physicians are adequately paid for the value we deliver to our patients and to the health care system. In my work with the AMA’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee (commonly referred to as the RUC), I am regularly reminded of how desperately we need primary care payment reform. I do see a better future for us on the horizon, but in the meantime, we have to make the best of the dysfunctional health care system in which we work. For the many of us whose compensation depends in part on our productivity, increasing gross revenue is one key to our success. read more…
Just as surely as squirrels can reach the most well-protected bird feeder, a determined employee will find a way to steal from you, experts say.
And not just once.
The office manager of a Kansas cardiologist charged roughly $323,000 in personal expenses over 9 years on a practice credit card before she was caught, convicted, and sentenced to 27 months in prison last year. In addition, an employee of an Ohio practice was recently convicted of stealing $361,000 from her employer over 5 years by altering bank deposit slips.
