Tips for Reducing Overhead and Increasing Revenue

Don't miss this article from PhysiciansTrust.net:

Working Smarter in Your Medical Practice: Tips for Reducing Overhead and Increasing Revenue (September 7, 2010)

EHR and Medical Billing Services help optimize your practice.

Today it’s more challenging than ever to run a profitable medical practice – reimbursements are decreasing while overhead is increasing, insurance companies are becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, and yet doctors are working harder than ever. With little that can be done to change the system, the best solution for medical practices is to adapt.

In leveraging current technology to automate as many time-consuming and repetitive tasks in the practice as possible, doctors can lighten the average 60% monthly overhead and enjoy increased revenue, reduced stress, and more free time. Solutions like EHR software and outsourced billing can help physicians reduce expenses from labor, transcription costs, paper, and supplies – as well as the time, money, and square footage of office space lost due to paper charts.

Click here to read more.

Protecting Your Revenue: Proven Approaches to Enhance Your Bottom Line

There's an upcoming free webinar that may interest you if you're looking for ways to boost your revenue. It's titled, "Protecting Your Revenue: Proven Approaches to Enhance Your Bottom Line."

Thursday, September 30
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT

Here's more information about this free webinar that is sponsored by Navicure:

Practice management challenges, such as declining reimbursement and reducing days in A/R, are impacting all medical practices' financial health. In order to address these challenges, ATD Resources adopted a strategy that has helped them realize revenue cycle improvements, including improving payment per case by 17% in less than one year.

Learn what this strategy entails and how it can help all healthcare organizations focus on revenue cycle improvements that will enhance reimbursement.

In an hour, you'll hear Bette Warn, Executive Director at ATD Resources, discuss:

* Practical, hands-on approaches that will allow you to improve your bottom line.
* Strategies for identifying opportunities for change and improvement, as well as effective tactics for implementation.
* Tips and techniques for exploring and selecting technology and tools that will most effectively help you achieve your medical group objectives.

You can register here. (if that link doesn't work, you can visit the Navicure website to get more information)

Credit Card Processing Tips for Doctors

This is a guest post by Stella Fayman from FeeFighters.

Credit Card Processing Tips for Doctors

Doctors have enough going on in their busy schedules without having to worry about getting ripped off by a credit card processor. That’s why many doctors sign up with the first credit card processing salesperson to swing by their office. However, this means that they are most likely paying more (sometimes significantly more!) than they should be. Luckily, doctors can stand to have major savings just by reexamining their credit card processing terms. Here’s what to look for:

1) Never allow cancellation fees- Make sure to read the fine print on the credit card processing contract--it may sometimes hide a cancellation fee of at least $250 to several thousand dollars. This fee is a way of guaranteeing loyalty to the processor, regardless of customer satisfaction. The good news is that getting rid of this fee should not be a problem: most salespeople have the authority to waive it. To avoid this issue, talk to the salesperson and make sure the fee is waived in writing either in the contract or as an amendment. As a startup, making sure to have the no cancellation fee clause is a great hedge in case anything goes wrong.

2) Only interchange plus pricing- The bulk of credit card processing fees go to Visa and Mastercard—these are called “interchange” and are set in stone. “Interchange-plus pricing” is the fairest form of pricing, and is comprised of interchange plus a constant processor markup (the fees processors charge for their services). With interchange plus pricing, there is never a question of how much the processor will charge per transaction since those costs are fixed. Having this structure ensures there are no tricky fees or hidden costs, unlike tiered pricing structures.

Health Information Technology (HIT) to Support Patient-Centered Office Practices

There's a certified CME activity on Sermo titled, "Health Information Technology (HIT) to Support Patient-Centered Office Practices." This activity is a part of a series called the New Business of Medicine Series.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After participating in this session learners will be able to:
    * Review practical application of the evolving national policy regarding health IT adoption
    * Formulate a rationale for the adoption of health information technology that is appropriate for their own practices
    * Avoid some of the pitfalls inherent in the adoption of health information technology
    * Make IT adoption decisions which support patient-centered care

This activity is supported by an educational grant from sanofi-aventis.  To access the entire series, sign up for Sermo and then click on the "Education" tab. Here are the titles for the other series that have already been released:

• The Cash Only Practice: Reinventing an Old Practice Model
• Concierge Medicine: The Benefits and Drawbacks of Personal Health Care
• Health Information Technology (HIT) to Support Patient-Centered Office Practices

About the  New Business of Medicine Series:

The New Business of Medicine Series is an entire curriculum of CME-certified education in the area practice management. Stemming from identified gaps in practice management and related educational needs, the modules focus on how to improve practice with the ultimate goal of improving the delivery of care to patients. Interactive multimedia formats such as in-depth interviews, case studies and debates will be employed to bring this content into focus. Originally developed content from a multidisciplinary team of expert faculty -- physician practitioners and researchers with expertise in such areas as practice management, bioethics, billing and compliance is combined with data from actual practice experience to produce this unique curriculum.

Physicians are burning out

Busy physicians are burning out because they are working very hard to see many patients and many are getting discouraged. Those who are working in a cash-only practice are probably experiencing less burnout. Those in concierge/boutique practices are also enjoying a healthier work/life balance. However, for the majority of physicians who are dealing with insurance companies and high volumes of patients, they are experiencing burnout and they're looking for a change.

Over the past six months, many physicians have approached me to learn more about non-clinical career opportunities because they want to leave clinical medicine. It's quite unfortunate to see so many physicians disheartened by the practice of medicine. We need good physicians to serve the public. We need capable and willing physicians who will accept Medicare and Medicaid.

What's going to happen in the setting of health care reform? We're going to have more patients out there who will demand medical care, but we'll have fewer physicians in the workforce.

Should all physicians be on salary?

This is the Sermo "poll du jour." Former governor of Vermont and DNC Chairman, Howard Dean closed the recent debate with Dr. Daniel Palestrant on CNBC by saying: “All physicians should be on salary.” If you are a physician, do you agree?

• What impact will making physicians salaried employees have on patient care?
• What action would you most likely take in the event that the Federal Government attempts to make all physicians salaried employees?
• Would you accept more federal involvement in your healthcare practice, on behalf of your patients care?
• Would this involvement improve overall efficiency in your practice? For you? For your patients?
• What if doctors are forced to negotiate payment rates with the US Secretary of Health and Human Services?

So far, we have over 700 responses on this Sermo poll. Let's see what gets published in a few weeks. If you missed the CNBC debate on TV, you can catch it here: CNBC debate between Gov Dean and Sermo

AltaPoint Version 9 Update

It looks like the folks over at AltaPoint have released an update for Version 9. AltaPoint provides EMR/Practice Management Software and they are based in Utah. I don't believe they are currently CCHIT certified, but I hope that changes in the near future.

If you're thinking about switching from paper charts to an electronic health record (EHR), then I would suggest checking on the CCHIT website. The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology certifies verious EHR/EMR solutions each year and if you're looking for a reliable ambulatory EHR that will last, then I recommend making the investment to get a CCHIT certified solution.