Articles for Providers

There are some definite pros and cons to solo practice. I spent the first 20 years in practice on my own. My dad joined the practice part-time, but I didn’t really consider taking on a full-time associate until after a conversation with my practice coach. We were...

Between flights, I often find myself perusing the books in Hudson News at airports across the country. For several weeks in a row, one book stood out among the rest; The ONE Thing, by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. The title itself is intriguing… “The ONE Thing: The...

Implementing a compliance plan in your office can feel overwhelming. I know providers who have purchased multiple compliance manuals from different consultants. These sat in the corner of their offices collecting dust waiting on their owners to rustle up enough energy...

With audits on the rise, more and more providers tell me they plan to go out-of-network with insurance companies to reduce their risk. If only it were that easy. The rules for billing, coding, and documentation are the same whether you are in-network or...

Despite every effort that we make to be compliant when it comes to billing, coding, documentation, and discounts in our practices, we are still human, and mistakes will happen. We know that audits are on the rise and that fines and penalties are enough to break a...

The biggest pain for some patients comes from the cost of care and not their…well, bodies. As deductibles and co-pays get higher, patients begin to weigh the cost of going to the doctor. In a recent article about the rising number of patients postponing care, I read...

As far back as 2004, a bulletin for providers published by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission stated that“…much of the regulatory framework arose haphazardly, with little consideration of how the pieces fit together.” The misalignment of state...

More and more providers are feeling the effects of high deductible health plans when it comes to reimbursement and patient collections. Although the Affordable Care Act has lowered uninsured rates in the U.S. from 15.7% in 2009 to 9.1% in 2015, the number of patients...

As your clinic grows, everything becomes more complex. More patients come in, more employees are hired, and processes that seemed to happen automatically in the beginning, don’t seem to be happening at all anymore. It doesn’t take long for things to fall off your...

With the recent wildfires in the Northwest U.S. and the destruction left by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, providers are left wondering how to maintain a compliant office while facing the wrath of mother nature. Every office should have a contingency plan in the...

I have been in practice for over thirty years and know the risk I take when I trust my team to follow the policies and procedures I have in place when it comes to collections, compliance, and patient follow-up. I learned the hard way, that when you don’t have a system...

We receive calls from providers across the country wanting to know if patients can opt out of using their insurance, and the answer is yes – in most cases. In 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services issued updates to HIPAA privacy regulations....