Category Archives: Practice Management

2014 Holds Big Changes for the CMS-HCC Model

The purpose of the CMS-HCC model is to improve the accuracy in predicting the costliness of Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollees’ healthcare costs and to properly fund MA plans for those expenses. It isn’t a perfect model but it surpasses the … Read Full Post

Tagged annual wellness visits, center for medicare and medicaid services, chronic kidney disease, cms-hcc model, ffs medicare, government accountability office, health risk appraisals, hierarchical condition categories, medicare advantage enrolles risk scores, medicare advantage plans, medicare payment advisory commission, medicare risk adjustment, mra, national institutes of health, national kidney foundation, risk adjustment in medicare advantage, risk scores, the patient protection and affordable care act |

Employee Relations: Lay the foundation for a good business!

A good work environment is the foundation of a solid and effective employee-relations program. Employee relations focuses on communication as it relates to satisfactory productivity, motivation, morale and the prevention and resolution of problems that arise or affect work situations. … Read Full Post

Tagged employee morale, employee relations, employee-relations environment, health care organizations, home health agencies, human resources, improving company morale, job performance, job responsibilities, leadership, performance evaluations, practice management |

Professional Association involvement: It’s not just for “newbies”

Students and early careerists often ask about the most important contributor to career success. The answer never lends itself to just one factor, but usually to a list of the top three, which includes professional organization involvement. In addition, this … Read Full Post

Tagged ache, american college of healthcare executives, career development, current trends in healthcare, educational advantages, health information management and systems society, healthcare financial management association, hfma, himss, home health agencies, medical group management association, mgma, networking, organization involvement, practice management, professional associations, professional organization involvement, professional organizations, social networks |

What We’re Reading – Boost Reimbursement through Improved Documentation: 5 Tips

Physicians and coders/billers need to be on the same page when it comes to getting claims processed and reimbursed correctly. The key to this – and you’re probably sick of hearing it – is documentation. Especially with ICD-10 coming around … Read Full Post

Tagged current procedural terminology, documentation, e&m, e&m level, ehr, electronic health record, evaluation and management, highest level of specificity, improving documentation, medical necessity, physician documentation, reimbursement |

What We’re Reading – How Practice Managers Can Alleviate Physician Stress

Stress has become a common factor in every household and business and we all need someone or something to lighten our loads so the weight of the world isn’t resting on our shoulders. This article focuses on physicians and how … Read Full Post

Tagged medical offices, medical practice, physician practices, physicians, practice management, practice managers, provider offices, stress management, stress relieving ideas |

ICD-10 Implementation is not just Doom and Gloom

Doomsday predictions certainly abound – Heaven’s Gate, Y2K, the Mayan apocalypse – and they all came and went with a fizzle. ICD-10 has its own group of “end of the healthcare world as we know it” zealots who predict catastrophe … Read Full Post

Tagged basics of icd-10 coding, center for medicare and medicaid services, coding and billing, coversion to ICD-10, documentation, documentation guidelines, home health agencies, icd-10 assessment process, icd-10 conversion, icd-10 implementation, physician offices, poor documentation, practice management, practicing icd-10, transition to ICD-10 |

HR Issues for the Small Business: Disciplinary policies (Part 3)

Let’s face it, disciplining employees can be distasteful and this discomfort leads managers to follow the “let’s ignore the problem and see if it goes away” course of action. Not a good idea! Every business should have a standardized written … Read Full Post

Tagged disciplinary action, disciplinary policies, documentation, EEOC, entrepreneurs, home health agencies, hr issues, hr issues in small businesses, hr policies, human resources, medical practice, medical practice issues, orientation, practice management, small practice hr issues |

What We’re Reading – Three Additional Income Opportunities for Physicians

Today’s economy and low reimbursement rates are forcing physicians to put on their “entrepreneur hats” since they cannot solely rely on shrinking insurance payments. This article provides some good suggestions for revenue generation that will help your bottom line and … Read Full Post

Tagged clinical research studies, entrepreneurs, in house laboratories, in-house labs, income opportunities, income opportunities for physicians, independent medical examinations for legal cases, pharmaceutical company, speaking engagements, speaking engagements for pharmaceutical companies |

HR Issues for the Small Business: Payroll issues (Part 2)

Last Monday, we reviewed hiring issues that can wreak havoc in small companies. In this second blog of our three-part series, we will look at the two areas in payroll administration that, if not handled correctly, can lead to serious … Read Full Post

Tagged employee classification, exempt employee, fair labor standards act, home health agencies, hr issues, human resource issues, internal revenue service, non-exempt employee, payroll administration, payroll issues, payroll taxes, small businesses, small practice, trust fund recovery penalty |

What We’re Reading: Four Easy Ways to Boost Patient Time of Service Collections

In this age of insurance plans with high cost-sharing (e.g., deductibles, co-insurance) requirements, a solid collections policy is critical for every medical practice. When practices are lax about checking patient eligibility for services and ensuring a complete picture of what … Read Full Post

Tagged boost patient time, health plan, healthcare financing options, insurance coverage, insurance plans, medical practice, patient eligibility, payment plans, service collections |