Category Archives: Practice Management

HEDIS: Is Yours a Five-Star Health Plan?

To most patients, quality is amorphous; we know it when we see it. To a healthcare administrator, however, quality has a whole other meaning. It’s measurable, measured and a measure of the congruence of several factors. In managed care, quality … Read Full Post

Tagged center for medicare and medicaid services, colorectal cancer screening, health plans, hedis, henry j kaiser family foundation, medical providers, medicare advantage plans, mra, risk adjustment |

Think Your Office is Too Small for Compliance Activities? Think Again.

There are countless reasons for CMS to request records to verify the accuracy and documentation of information submitted for payment; their approach is to ‘pay and pursue.’ Nevertheless, mistakes – no matter how innocent – can prompt prepayment review, which … Read Full Post

Tagged audit, center for medicare and medicaid services, cms, compliance activities, compliance program, corrective action plan, documentation, education, internal policies, proactive providers |

What We’re Reading – Crisis Management Plans for Medical Practices

Sadly, tragedies like the shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin and Texas are occurring with more frequency, and no organization is immune from the threat of violence. These situations also prompt the questions: how would your workplace handle a similar crisis? Do … Read Full Post

Tagged crisis management, crisis management plan, medical practice, safety for employees, safety for patients, workplace violence |

What We’re Reading – The Five Biggest Medical Practice Marketing Mistakes

There’s no doubt that these are trying economic times and marketing budgets often take a back seat to operating budgets. But some prudent tips from this great article can help you make or keep our business successful. By outlining some … Read Full Post

Tagged marketing budget, marketing mistakes, marketing your business, medical practice, medical practice managers, physician practice, successful business |

Minimize Claims Issues with One Simple Step

Most physician practices experience claims challenges, from denials and rejections to payment inaccuracies. As frustrating (and costly) as those issues are, they are almost avoidable with one simple step: verifying patient insurance eligibility. For patients covered by Medicare, it may … Read Full Post

Tagged claim issues, claims denied, insurance coverage, medicaid, medicare, patient eligibility, rejected claims, third party insurance, verifying patient insurance eligibility |

What We’re Reading – 5 Vital Signs for Your Practice's Health

The phrase ‘vital signs’ makes most people think of patients, but did you know that your medical practice also has vital signs? And just like in the human body, these business vital signs are just as crucial to your existence. … Read Full Post

Tagged collections, labor costs, medical practice, new patients, physician practice, top 5 cpt codes, top 5 referral sources, vital signs |

What We’re Reading: Five Key Benchmarks That Could Make or Break Your Practice – Part 2

In this last section of this article, the author asks: Is Your Practice Clinically Healthy? She urges practitioners to go beyond tracking solely financial metrics; the first benchmark of this section is tracking avoidable emergency room visits and hospital admissions. … Read Full Post

Tagged benchmarking, customer service, medical practices, patient outreach activities, tracking avoidable emergency room visits, tracking avoidable hospital admissions |

What We’re Reading: Five Key Benchmarks That Could Make or Break Your Practice – Part 1

This is the first article in a series that we read about ensuring a financially vibrant medical practice. In this installment, the author starts by suggesting a revenue analysis in several parts. First, is to assess the practice net collection … Read Full Post

Tagged cpt codes billed, ineffective billing practices, measuring productivity, medical practices, overhead costs, practice manager, revenue analysis |

Lawful and Unlawful Interview Questions- Avoid costly litigation

Many employers walk a fine line during the interview process, asking questions that could land them in court for discrimination. Unfortunately, many candidates feel compelled to answer these questions out of ignorance or fear of appearing “uncooperative,” the kiss of … Read Full Post

Tagged discrimination, EEOC, employment law, equal employment opportunity commission, federal eeo laws, home health agencies, interview process, lawful interview questions, practice management, pre-employment inquiries, state employment laws, unlawful interview questions |

What We’re Reading – NLRB on Social Media Policies

On May 30, 2012, The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) released a report with new guidelines for social media policies in the workplace. It is the NLRB’s position that numerous common clauses in social media policies violate the National Labor … Read Full Post

Tagged confidentiality provisions, guidelines for social media in the workplace, national labor relations act, national labor relations board, permitted language, social media in the workplace, topics and tone of online conversations |