August Issue of the Kareo Getting Paid Newsletter Details Maximizing Revenue in 2012, More

August 16th, 2012 by Kathy McCoy

The August issue of the Kareo Getting Paid newsletter, out this week, features great articles on subjects including how to maximize your revenue for the end of 2012, must-do compliance tasks for the small 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:

In This Issue / August 2012

Maximizing Your Practice Revenue and Profit in the Home Stretch (Part 1 of 2)

By Laurie Morgan

2012 is now more than half over. So, now is the time to set your practice up for the home stretch…

Complimentary Webinar: Finish Strong – Make 2012 Your Most Profitable Year!

Thursday, August 30, 2012
10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT
Speaker: Karen Zupko

During this fast-paced, dynamic presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Remove redundant steps from your revenue cycle
• Improve point of service collections
• Use modern payment technologies optimally
• Reduce no shows
• And more

Three Must-Do Compliance Tasks for Smaller Practices

By Betsy Nicoletti, M.S., CPC
For smaller groups, compliance duties are shared by several staff members, all of whom have multiple other responsibilities. How to find time? Here are three fast things you can do to protect your practice…
Read more

Physician Productivity Measures Should Include More Than Just RVUs

By Bhagwan Satiani, MD, MBA, FACS, FACHE
Besides RVUs or WRVUs, there are other ways to measure clinical productivity. Unfortunately, a number of physicians are either not aware of the details…
Read more

Medical Billing Tip of the Month

Using the Insurance Collection Summary Report to Increase Provider Cash Flow Effectively

By Henry Richards
EccoHealth LLC

Case Studies

“Kareo rocks!”
Dr. Jim Davidson
Lifeline Counseling Center

“Kareo will save you money and time, and they have great customer service. Switch now.”
Magdalena Schanck
Magda’s Billing Services

Top News & Ideas from Industry

Physicians Seeing Patient Visits Rebound in 2012
Emily Berry, Amednews, Aug. 6, 2012
Physician visit volume rose by 4.8% over the second quarter of 2012, according to a June 23 research report…
Go to Article

Lawmakers Warned of Demise of Solo Medical Practices
Jennifer Lubell, Amednews, July 30, 2012
Physicians and health analysts testified to lawmakers that growing evidence shows doctors are shutting down their small private practices…
Go to Article

CMS Poised to Release ICD-10 Deadline, Plan Identifier Rule
Joseph Goedert, Health Data Management, Aug. 9, 2012
A final rule delaying the ICD-10 compliance date soon could be issued. CMS has sent the rule for review to the Office of Management and Budget, one of the last steps before publication…
Go to Article

Cloud Computing Expected to Grow Rapidly in Health Care
Emily Berry, Amednews, July 23, 2012
Hospitals and physicians have different uses for the technology, but they are likely to embrace it to save money and share information, experts say…
Go to Article

Medicare Overpayments/Underpayments More Costly in 4th Qtr
AAPC News, July 26, 2012
Providers of health care services to Medicare Parts A and B beneficiaries will pay contractors more in interest for unrecouped overpayments and delinquent unrecouped underpayments in the fourth quarter of 2012…
Go to Article

Insurer Ordered to Stop Asking Physicians to Pay Back Old Claims
Emily Berry, Amednews, July 26, 2012
A California insurance regulator has barred a WellPoint-owned health plan from trying to collect alleged overpayments from physicians based on claims that are more than a year old…
Go to Article

Claims Payment Rule Aims to Cut Red Tape, Save $9B
Bernie Monegain, Healthcare IT News, Aug. 7, 2012
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a new rule she says will cut red tape for doctors, hospitals and health plans, estimating the rule will save up to $9 billion over the next 10 years…
Go to Article

CMS Offers Tips on Assembling an ICD-10 Project Team
Carl Natale , ICD-10Watch.com, Aug. 3, 2012
CMS sent an email this week with tips on assembling a project team responsible for overseeing ICD-10 planning and implementation…
Go to Article

Top 21 Codes for Denied Claims
Molly Gamble, Becker’s ASC Review, July 31, 2012
Here are the top 21 claim adjustment codes, followed by reason codes, reflecting why a claim wasn’t paid or was paid differently than billed. These codes pertain to claims for all specialties…
Go to Article

Suspect Embezzlement? Here’s What to Do
Victoria Stagg Elliott, Amednews, Aug. 13, 2012
Embezzlement is a recurring problem at medical practices. If you think money is sliding out the door with an employee, whom do you call and what do you do?
Go to Article

We hope you enjoy this issue of the newsletter. Be sure to subscribe now to the Kareo Getting Paid newsletter in order to insure you receive future issues.

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Like Kareo, Win a Kindle Drawing This Friday – Win One for Your Vacation!

July 10th, 2012 by Kathy McCoy

One of the things I love most about my Kindle is being able to take dozens of books on a trip with me without having to pay extra for a heavy bag.

If that appeals to you, you’re in luck – because our next Like Kareo, Win a Kindle drawing is this Friday, July 13. Don’t forget to “like” Kareo medical billing software on our Facebook page to be sure you’re entered in the contest. We’ve made a lot of winners happy, and we’d like to have you join that group.

We’ll draw a new winner each month, so you have plenty of chances to win!

We plan to make this Friday the 13^th a luck day for at least one person. We hope it’s you!

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It’s June—Do You Know Where Your Practice Profitability Is?

June 11th, 2012 by Kathy McCoy

Unbelievably, it is mid-June and very shortly, half of 2012 will be over. Which raises the question: With half of the year soon gone, are you halfway to your practice profitability goals?

It’s much too easy to get busy with the day-to-day and fail to measure your practice’s progress during the year. And I’m a big believer in the old saying, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.”

In a past post on our blog, Key Performance Indicators for Medical Billing by expert Elizabeth Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC, co-author of the medical billing bible “The Physician Billing Process: 12 Potholes to Avoid in the Road to Getting Paid,” Elizabeth summarized the key performance indicators (KPIs) that practices should be using:

Days in receivables outstanding (DRO). Without a doubt the best overall indicator of billing performance, DRO must be measured consistently in order to be meaningful. Your DRO should be in the range of 40 to 45 days, although there are several factors that may cause it to fall outside of this target.
Receivables outstanding over 120 days. Obviously, you’d prefer to see that 100 percent of your receivables are under 120 days, but that’s unrealistic. Shoot for less than 12 percent being over 120 days.
Net collection rate. A 100 percent net collection rate would be ideal, but the range to look for is 96 to 98 percent.
Cash. The last, but certainly not least, key performance indicator is measuring collections on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

For quick reference, Elizabeth also provided a chart of the KPIs and the appropriate ranges:

Take some time this week to look at your KPIs and make sure you’re on track to reach your revenue and profitability targets for this year. You have time now to do something about any shortfalls—an advantage you won’t have if you wait until September or wait to be surprised at the end of the year.

Of course, knowing what measures you should track is a moot point if you can’t get the reports you need from your practice management software. Make sure your software allows you to pull the reports you need, and ideally, allows you to export data into MS Excel so that you can slice and dice it as you need.

We’re happy to tell you that Kareo offers a comprehensive assortment of reports for your practice that you can use to manage your profitability:

Key indicators reports to review your key practice metrics.
Accounts receivable reports to monitor the revenue you are owed.
Encounters and Charges reports to monitor your billings.
Payments and Adjustments reports to review your collections.
Denial management reports to identify data entry errors and missed revenue opportunity.
Patient and Scheduling reports to monitor the flow of patients through the practice.
And more

Even better, Kareo offers the convenience of scheduled delivery of email reports. You can schedule the automatic delivery of provider performance reports by email on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The email reports provide key performance indicators such as patients, charges, payments, A/R balance and more. You can configure the reports to be delivered to multiple email addresses including the physician, the office manager, or others. And not only is this convenient, but it’s a great way to insure that you are looking at your KPIs on a regular basis.

Our users also love the convenience of being able to drill down in any report simply by clicking on the item—just click through and get all the detail you need. That’s a real timesaver.

So, as I said above: It’s June—do you know where your practice profitability is?

Resources:

Key Performance Indicators for Medical Billing blog post

Webinar: Key Performance Indicators in Medical Billing

Video Update on Key Performance Indicators: How to Keep Your Medical Billing on Track

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Infographic: Are You Gambling with Your Patient Collections?

May 31st, 2012 by Kathy McCoy

Think it doesn’t matter when you try to collect from your patients? Think again—statistics show that you have less than a 40% chance of collecting from patients if you wait until after treatment. Compare that with the fact that if you go to a roulette wheel in Las Vegas and just bet on red, you have a 47% chance of winning!

That’s not the only thing that’s changed about patient collections; see our infographic below to see how you fare with collecting copays, deductibles and the source of most bad debt.

For information on improving your odds with patient collections, review these resources:

And for more methods to improve your bottom line, be sure to register for our complimentary webinar, Stop Denials in Their Tracks: Get Paid the First Time by Health Care Insurers, on June 19 – register now.

Read More | 13 Comments | Filed in General, Training

Medicare Now Accepts Physician Enrollment Applications 60 Days in Advance

May 25th, 2012 by Kathy McCoy

Practices now have a longer time frame to submit their physician enrollment applications to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Until recently providers were only permitted to send their application to their Medicare contractor 30 days in advance of the “effective date” which is the later of:

1) The date a physician filed an application that is ultimately approved by Medicare; or

2) The date a physician began furnishing services at a new practice location.

Under new guidelines CMS has extended this date to 60 days, with some exceptions. The change was effective May 14. Read a recent “Medicare Learning Network Matters” article outlining this change.

For more information on enrollment, visit the Kareo Help Center.

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Like Kareo, Win a Kindle Drawing This Friday – Win One for Your Vacation!

It’s June—Do You Know Where Your Practice Profitability Is?

Infographic: Are You Gambling with Your Patient Collections?

Medicare Now Accepts Physician Enrollment Applications 60 Days in Advance

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