Are You In Cash Control?
By Martin Koeppe
Quality Billing Solutions Incorporated

When medical billing or collections fall behind, so does your cash flow.  Your best billers still take vacation, have sick kids at home, or need an extended lunch break…so who picks up the slack?  Other employees…maybe.  Is it just as good?  Probably  not.

Smart practices outsource what they know professionals must handle.  Legal issues go to your attorney.  Taxes go to your accountant.  You depend on their professionalism, training and expertise, and the security they provide. 

Professional Medical Billing Companies, by nature, create an efficiency measured by simple economies of scale.  This structure provides an expertly trained pool of billing professionals assigned to the practices they serve. 

So why take risks with your daily cash flow?  Wouldn’t you rather never pay a salary, vacation or overtime dollar again to ensure your cash flow, billing and collections are being done right?  Of course you would.  Professional Medical Billing Companies accomplish this task, the question is, are they dependable, connected to your specific practice needs, and increasing your collections, while reducing payment times and keeping up with the insurance industry changes?

Forget about  “spare bedroom billers” working from home…most can’t keep up with the stringent record keeping required by HIPAA, afford to add employees as your practice grows, or provide the reporting capabilities you need, offering EMR software, hardware and industry expertise.

What do you need most?  Consistent cash flow and more time for patient care.  How about higher profits for your practice, and golf or tennis once in a week…maybe twice?
Whatever your goals,  training new employees, trying to get your staff to operate the way you expect, and worrying about industry changes probably aren’t  at the top…how about peace of mind? 
Consider a provider seeing 30 patients per day, generating 150 claims per week.  
Generating and submitting 150 claims is time consuming enough…include verifying eligibility, investigating partially paid claims, the phone calls, researching insurance industry changes,  chasing patient files around, the phone calls, posting payments, the phone calls, oh, and did you get your cash analysis report?
Review this simple chart in a practice utilizing 1-In House Biller, for example, collecting $30,000 a month Reality is that it takes more than 1 billing person to collect $30k, but using the example below, the cash savings is undeniable, and the improved efficiency means your tee time(s) may be the same every week. 

 

Professional Medical Billing Companies should provide:

• Full time, overtime, anytime attention to billing, collections and cash flow
• Customized detailed cash management analysis reports
• Less headaches for you
• Daily electronic filing to primary, secondary and tertiary insurance
• Reduction in payroll from no out of pocket staff cost
• Increased, more predictable cash flow
• Improved office morale…less pressure
• Statement mailing completed daily, weekly or bi-weekly, depending on practice
• More time for golf and tennis

Think it costs too much?  We think not.  Are you in cash control?  You can be. 
And, speaking of golf, don’t forget to register for the first annual Physicians Open Golf Tournament Spring 2008 at Canyon Springs Golf Course.
Call Quality Billing Solutions for your private consultation at 210-384-8833

EMR Article # 6,501- Still On The Fence?
by Martin Koeppe

The fence may pretty comfortable…you’re exam rooms are full, billing and collections is decent (it can always improve), your on auto pilot…right?  Your staff is running around keeping things moving, but seeing a few more patients a day or a week can make a big difference financially…and maybe you want to expand your practice.

What do you stand to gain from implementing an EMR solution anyway?  It’s not like changing stethoscopes…it affects the entire work flow of your practice, and may be the smartest business decision you make.  But it shouldn’t cost you your summer vacation home.

One of the most important factors is simply this…will you give better patient care?
The simple answer …no, but an EMR can reduce a lot of stress and improve work flow.

It’s important that your entire staff is fully engaged in the adoption of an EMR system.  Your receptionist, medical records clerks, office manager, nurses and other staffers should help you in conducting a comprehensive evaluation of what they could be doing more efficiently.  Plus, they know friends that work in other offices that have already made the switch…and the last thing you want is more turnover.

Here’s a starting point:

• Spend time observing your practice flow…or get someone who can (like us).
• Identify each step required for the routine tasks in your office, from checking in a patient, prescription refilling, and managing patient test results, to long patient phone inquiries.
• Examine how much “paper interaction” that has to take place, including copies/scans/faxes.
• Look for any other time wasting activities or frustrations you currently deal with…

Now your more prepared to ask the right questions when EMR reps show up.

The best system should be the smoothest transition from paper to electronic…it should simulate what you do now…walking into a chart room, pulling the chart, and making the notes into the chart, then getting the info to billing and your assistants to file away, but electronically.

Check out the virtual reality approach that locally based HealthTec Software implements below:

If your moving forward in an EMR decision, don’t forget the hardware requirements…you don’t drop a rocket engine in a VW, and don’t put EMR software in slow, low memory computers…your consultant or supplier will help with recommendations.

CCHIT certification is something to consider, but the cost of “big brother”watching over your EMR package doesn’t indicate it’s usability, in fact, it hinders any customization efforts of high quality EMR solutions. Not to mention the cost of ownership…and another $5k a year for licensing? Choose carefully…

If your still not too thrilled, think about what Dr. Robert Lamberts, MD and speaker on behalf of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society has to say:

"Would you go to a bank that kept all their records on paper and said it was not going to go to a computerized system because it is too expensive?“

Dr. Lamberts lectures on how to adapt an EMR and sees the quality impact of his EMR every day. For example, the system encourages him to target a 130 mmHg systolic blood pressure in his patients, where before he was satisfied with a 150 reading. Moreover, he said, “it is long past time for doctors to go digital.”¹San Antonio based Quality Billing Solutions and HealthTecSoftware offers their EMR solution and supports their product locally with “ease of use”and very little ramp up time…generally your using the system in about an hour after install.

Call QBS at 384-8833 for a 10-20 minute demo of the system…it will far exceed your expectations with it’s intuitive, virtual reality approach.

Quality Billing Solutions (QBS) also offers FREE Billing and Collections Audits for your office…call today.

 

¹Source: American Medical News, online version: August 13, 2007. Dr. Robert Lamberts, MD, has received $1,000 speaking fees fromthe Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.