In This Issue:

• Time-of-Service Collections: Seven Strategies for Success
• From Mad to Glad: Talking with Clinicians about Coding
• Complimentary Webinar:
  What You Can Do to Prepare for Medicare Payment Reductions
• Integrated Credit Card Processing Now Available to All Kareo Customers
• Best Practices:
  The Financial Mindset – Improving Operations and Profitability
• ICD-10 Training Camp:
  Education Is the Fundamental Building Block to ICD-10 Comprehension

Latest from Kareo

Time-of-Service Collections: Seven Strategies for Success

By Elizabeth W. Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC

Today, patients are responsible for much larger portions of their medical bills. If you’re relying solely on your business office to respond to this trend, you won’t be successful. Your patients are your worst payers. It’s an opportune time to execute these seven strategies used by medical practices that are successfully dealing with today’s reimbursement environment… Read More

From Mad to Glad: Talking with Clinicians about Coding

By Betsy Nicoletti, M.S., CPC

Too many coding meetings with physicians end badly: the physician is frustrated and annoyed, the coder worried and angry. The result is that too little information is exchanged. How can these meetings be productive and positive? Here are my best strategies… Read More

Complimentary Webinar:
What You Can Do to Prepare for Medicare Payment Reductions

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
1:00 PM EDT/10:00 AM PDT
Speaker: Betsy Nicoletti, M.S., CPC

Physician practices face certain Medicare cuts for not participating in CMS incentive programs and possible payment cuts if the "doc fix" for payment calculations isn't passed. What should practices do in the last half of 2011 to protect their finances? This webinar will describe key strategies including:
• Why you should participate in at least one of the CMS incentive programs
• How to evaluate incentive programs and determine which are best for your practice
• How to review schedule management techniques to optimize revenue
• How and why your practice should collect money for services already provided
• And much more

Register Now! 
 

Integrated Credit Card Processing Now Available to All Kareo Customers

Want to streamline your patient payments? Offer quick and easy credit card processing to your patients? Kareo's new Integrated Credit Card Processing service improves patient collections, reduces your days revenue outstanding and saves you time in collecting patient payments... Read More

Best Practices:
The Financial Mindset – Improving Operations and Profitability

By Judy Capko

Keeping staff productive, managing the day and caring for patients clearly takes center stage for most medical practices. This can make it difficult for physicians and managers to dedicate enough time to studying the financial side of running a business... Read More

ICD-10 Training Camp:
Education Is the Fundamental Building Block to ICD-10 Comprehension

By Nancy Maguire, ACS, PCS, FCS, HCS-D, CRT

Any teacher will tell you how important lesson plans are to describe the course of instruction for each individual lesson, each skill level involved. Well-developed lesson plans reflect the interests and needs of the students. They should incorporate best practices by specialty or specific coding needs. Some key things to remember when developing educational programs... Read More

Case Study Kate Basile: "I’m All in Favor of Going Paperless. Kareo Has Unique Features that Make Going Electronic Seamless and Efficient." “My husband decided to set up his own office during the last quarter of 2010. I was pretty much thrown into the role of serving as his office manager.” With her background in operations, Kate knew what to do to set up the new office. Handling the billing was another matter… Read More

Case Study Bob Nichols, Medical Billing Services & Solutions: “Kareo Offers Great Time- and Money-Saving Tools” When Bob Nichols sold his medical billing company in 2007, he thought the time was right to walk away from the industry. He was faced with needing to update his medical billing software platform, and political uncertainties clouded the future of the profession… Read More

Billing Tip of the Month

Tracking Copays to Be Waived in Kareo

Amy Burney, Practice Manager, Phillip's Pediatrics

Sometimes our doctor will tell us to waive a patient copay. In order to keep track of this, I take a couple of steps... Read More

Top News and Ideas from Industry

New AMA Health Insurer Report Card Finds Increasing Inaccuracy in Claims Payment

AMA, June 20, 2011

The overall rate of inaccurate claims payments increased since last year among leading commercial health insurers, according to American Medical Association’s (AMA) fourth annual National Health Insurer Report Card. Claims-processing errors by health insurance companies waste billions of dollars and frustrate patients and physicians… Read More

Some Insurers Doubt Medical Spending Will Bounce Back

Emily Berry, Amednews, July 4, 2011

Talking with analysts and investors during Goldman Sachs' investor conference June 7 and 8, health plan CEOs edged toward conceding that their members may be setting a "new normal" pace of spending… Read More

CBO Projects Physician Pay Cut for 2012

AAPC, July 1, 2011

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, under current law, payment rates for physician services provided to Medicare beneficiaries will be reduced by 29.4 percent in 2012. The large pay cut follows several years of legislative action to either maintain or increase physician payment rates… Read More

Shared Savings, Payments Will Be Reality for Either Political Agenda

Mary Mosquera, Government Health IT, July 5, 2011

Some form of shared savings and bundled payments will become a reality no matter if it looks like the current proposals of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) or a version that is developed for a Republican agenda because the current healthcare cost trends are unsustainable… Read More

HIPAA 5010 Backup Plan Chant Grows Louder

Tom Sullivan, Government Health IT, July 5, 2011

It’s no surprise that the state of the HIPAA 5010 transition is something of a mess. The potential for slowed or even stopped claims reimbursements is understood. And the inevitable ripple effects on health IT are not so clear. As the Jan. 1, 2012 compliance deadline approaches, should providers and the federal government devise contingency plans for HIPAA 5010... Read More

CMS Rule to Streamline Data for Insurance Eligibility, Claim Status Inquiries

Mary Mosquera, Government Health IT, June 30, 2011

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has released an interim final rule that describes the standard set of information for two electronic health transactions, one for inquiring about a patient’s insurance eligibility and the other on the status of a healthcare claim submitted to an insurer…Read More

ACO Regs Expected to Soften A Bit

Tom Sullivan, Government Health IT, June 29, 2011

Every week, it seems, a new group lashes out against the proposed accountable care organization (ACO) regulations – perhaps in hopes that CMS will ease up on the 65 measures for qualifying as an ACO... Read More

Small Practices: Adapting to Survive

Victoria Stagg Elliott, Amednews, June 27, 2011

With more physicians choosing to join or sell to hospitals and larger practices, many wonder if the traditional physician practice is dying… Read More

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