The April issue of the Kareo Getting Paid newsletter just went out this morning, and it featured a lot of great articles on subjects including the National Health Insurer Report Card and getting paid what you deserve, internal controls for your practice, and much more. Take a minute to review these useful articles and also be sure to subscribe to the newsletter so you receive it in your inbox automatically. The articles featured included:
Latest from Kareo
By Elizabeth W. Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC
With today’s complex coding and reimbursement systems, it came as no surprise to discover that payment accuracy rates among insurance companies dip as low as 62.08%. That finding comes from the AMA’s National Health Insurer Report Card, and the results are, arguably, alarming… Read More
Thursday, April 19, 2012
1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT
Speaker: Frank Cohen
Did you know that the AMA’s National Health Insurer Report Card (NHIRC) for 2011 revealed you may be paid accurately what you are contractually owed as little as 62% of the time? In this webinar, hear from Frank Cohen, one of the architects of the NHIRC, on what the NHIRC means for your practice profitability and how you can use the information to improve your denial rates and your revenue… Read More
By Kathy McCoy
Kareo’s new Resource Center offers free tools for improving profitability in your medical practice. Materials in the Resource Center are authored by recognized industry experts… Read More
By Betsy Nicoletti, M.S., CPC
Remember in high school when your teacher assigned “compare and contrast” essays? This article will compare and contrast two recently added modifiers, Modifier 33 and Modifier PT… Read More
By Laurie Morgan, Capko & Company
Did you know that by most estimates, more than 80% of medical practices will at some point suffer losses from embezzlement? Whether you are a practice manager or physician owner, you have a role to play and an interest in protecting your practice’s financial health from internal theft… Read More
By Ron Sterling
Once you have made your EHR selection, you need to ask some key questions to assure your vendor plans to meet your needs and what your practice will need to do… Read More
By Kathy McCoy
A proposed rule from HHS pushes the compliance deadline for conversion to ICD-10 back by one year to Oct. 1, 2014. HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced… Read More
Case Study
Jill Foote, Lifestyle Resumption
Jill Foote, Billing Specialist at a chiropractic practice, knew something was wrong. The charges being generated by her clinicians weren’t all making it back to the practice coffers as reimbursement… Read More
Case Study
Vanessa Higgins, The Billing Department, LLC
After owning her own billing company for 14 years, Vanessa Higgins concluded two years ago that she needed new medical billing software. “I knew if I was going to continue to grow my company, I needed software my clients could access… Read More
Billing Tip of the Month
Scott Benjamin, ECCOHealth
We receive ERAs from the carrier with the payment method code “Check” and need to track this type of ERA to confirm the check has been sent to the provider’s correct address and to be sure the check was cashed by the provider… Read More
Top News and Ideas from Industry
Charles Fiegl, Amednews, April 9, 2012
Some physicians are reporting that the Medicare payments they’ve received for their services in 2012 are being reduced for a failure to prescribe enough electronically in 2011, even though the doctors filed waiver requests seeking special hardship exemptions… Read More
Katie Thomas, New York Times, April 4, 2012
Patients cut back on prescription drugs and doctor visits last year, a sign that many Americans are still struggling to pay for health care, according to a study released Wednesday by a health industry research group… Read More
Emily Berry, Amednews, April 2, 2012
Facing the last few years before major health reform elements kick in, most employers say they are paring back benefits and pushing more costs to employees. Continued pressure on benefits could hurt physician practices if patient volumes continue to slow, as they have since 2007… Read More
AAPC News, March 29, 2012
An error related to the submission of measure 235 “Hypertension: Plan of Care” for the 2012 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) is causing Medicare Part B claims containing the codes associated with the claims/registry measure to be rejected or denied… Read More
Victoria Stagg Elliott, Amednews, April 9, 2012
Should cardiologists, oncologists, endocrinologists and other specialists providing care for long-term chronic conditions have patient-centered medical homes? Those working on the patient-centered medical home concept say specialty practices need to consider several issues before moving forward… Read More
AAPC News, March 29, 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Transmittal 1058, Change Request (CR) 7767 confirms a zero percent update for payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) through year’s end. Also included in the MCTRJCA are extensions to… Read More
AAPC News, March 29, 2012
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s (MedPAC’s) report to Congress regarding Medicare’s fee-for-service payment system is clear: Replace the sustainable growth rate (SGR) with specified updates not including an expenditure-control formula… Read More
Carl Natale, IDC-10 Watch, March 28, 2012
One of the reasons why ICD-10 implementation will be a major change for hospitals and medical practices is documentation. Clinicians will need to improve documentation so diagnoses and procedures can be coded to the highest level of specificity… Read More
AAPC News, March 28th, 2012
Ensuring security of electronic personal health information (PHI) is tough. A more stringent HIPAA Security Rule and news of PHI breaches raises anxiety in billing offices. In a recent interview in Healthcare IT News, Mahmood Sher-Jan, vice president at ID Experts, shares these tips… Read More
Deli Parham, CPC, AAPC News, March 28, 2012
Missed appointments—no-shows and last minute cancellations—plague every practice. Some practices charge to recoup revenue for missed appointments while using the threat to motivate patients to keep appointments. Others don’t. Here are some tips… Read More
George G. Ellis Jr., MD, FACP, Medical Economics, March 10, 2012
In my practice, we have instituted a seven-step process that has improved my productivity by approximately 25%. The use of an electronic health record (EHR) system has been an invaluable asset in my ability to improve productivity and profitability… Read More
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