In the final installment of the 52 Things Healthcare Learned in 2012 series, Power Your Practice would like to wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous New Year.
Our theme for January revolves around improving your practice management on the cloud, so stay tuned for the many new and exciting articles we have lined up.
Don’t Bungle my Payments
While convenient, bundling your billing codes can cut down on your receivables. By bundling codes together, some payers are only handing out fees for the one code they feel is appropriate for the service provided.
HIPAA and Meaningful Use Security Risk Analyses Are Similar
There actually isn’t much of a difference between the HIPAA and Meaningful Use security risk analyses, outside of differences in frequency. The requirement for security analyses under the EHR incentive program calls for yearly assessments, as opposed to biannually for HIPAA.
What kind of EHR is best for you?
Well-constructed multi-specialty EHRs can accommodate dozens of specialties via flexible functionality and integrated plugins while providing a more robust and reliable workflow and boasting a stronger market presence.
Pull the Switch: From EOBs to ERAs
Paper explanation of benefits cost physicians $18,600 in administrative costs per year. Thankfully, the American Medical Association estimates that switching to electronic remittance advice, the electronic equivalent of EOBs, can save almost $9,500 annually.
RCMs: Looks Matter
A good Revenue Cycle Management system must be designed for users to maximize their time and effort under the stress of a busy medical office. Good aesthetics must be taken into account because they make the user feel more relaxed and productive. An RCM system that’s beautiful, usable, and efficient can successfully impact your patients.
Patient Liaison
Allowing patients’ billing issues to go unresolved is a surefire way to lessen (or even ruin) their overall perception of your practice. Appoint someone to act as a patient advocate or “billing liaison” to keep your patients from experiencing frustration.
It’s Not Too Late for Meaningful Use
Yes, providers have already begun receiving incentive payments for complying with Meaningful Use Stage 1. But you have until 2015 to comply with all three stages of Meaningful Use. So it’s not too late to begin attesting!
Doctors at the Door
Medicare provides a higher reimbursement for home visits than it does for in-office encounters. If your practice is hurting financially and you typically see a wealth of Medicare patients on a given day, consider setting aside one day per week to solely offer house calls.
Healthy Employees Could Mean a Healthy Practice
Healthy employees, on top of being genuinely happier people, are more productive as well. Pro-health measures include developing a wellness program, demonstrating support for supervisors, and offering flexible schedules.
Health Tech: Part of Patient Life?
It’s important to encourage patients to engage in their health by using the vast amount of technological tools available. Patients can now use social networking, in-home monitors, and even mobile apps to improve their health.
Serve Your Community
Adapting to meet the underserved needs of certain patient populations can not only attract people to your practice but also make them more satisfied with their experiences under your care. Providing your patients accommodations such as multilingual services, after-hours appointments and childcare can drastically improve the patient experience.
Simple Mistakes Complicate Billing
If your practice claims denial rate is higher than the 4% MGMA benchmark, taking some simple steps may fix the problem. For instance, the number one reason for medical billing claims getting denied is simply failing to verify insurance, an easily corrigible error.
That’s it for our 52 Most Important Health IT Facts of 2012. If you’re looking for some additional information as the new year rolls around.
We’re excited about all of the great content on deck. We’ll be keeping things fresh with some new formats, but we’ll still be focused on providing you with information that helps you build and maintain an empowering practice.
See you, next year folks!
Do you know what you need when setting up a new medical practice?
