Hack #14: Tackling Prior Authorization Issues This installment of practice management hacks takes on the crucial topic of prior authorization. Although it’s been a task for healthcare providers for more than 20 years, it’s still one of the most vexing areas of reimbursement failure. This installment of management hacks deals with utilization management, prior review, … Read more

Mastering the Revenue Cycle Maze The revenue cycle used to be a cycle, not a maze. Today, it’s a critical aspect of every practice that needs insightful and careful management. Collecting the amount you’re owed, and doing so in a reasonable amount of time is imperative for the survival of your medical practice. If the … Read more

As the medical industry continues to get more and more competitive, it is essential to streamline and optimize every step of a medical practice from the front desk to the billing room. The scheduling cycle is an often overlooked step in the revenue cycle, making it a prime area for an overhaul. YellowSchedule is a … Read more

More primary care physicians are turning toward direct patient care (DPC) practice models. A DPC practice is not the same as concierge medicine, nor is it necessarily a cash-only practice. However, DPC practices can be simpler to operate—relatively speaking— than fee-for-service healthcare. By some estimates, 75% or more of patient care can take place in … Read more

Almost anyone can look like a good fit for a practice—at least on paper—when a position is open and patients are waiting. However, resumes can be customized into piles of keywords for any position, and resume screening software programs (also called “applicant tracking systems”) are notorious for screening out almost everyone, including good candidates. This … Read more

In a previous post, on crisis management, we looked at natural disaster like earthquakes, blizzards, and hurricanes. In this post, we’ll delve into human-generated disasters. First, some good news: Since the 1990s, the number of people killed in US workplace violence incidents has fallen significantly. This suggests that training, awareness, and new evacuation and police … Read more

Although medical practices can’t plan for every eventuality, there are things they can do to weather a crisis. The first priority: take a page from the Boy Scouts and be prepared. This is the first of two posts that look at planning for disasters; this one tackles acts of nature like floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, … Read more

William Maruca of HIPAA, HITECH & HIT  knows what it means for both patients and health care providers to keep records safe. In this interview, Maruca discusses patient confidentiality, keeping records safe and private, and trends in the medical billing industry. In what ways do electronic health records present a risk to patient confidentiality? Electronic … Read more

Sometimes it helps to get a fresh perspective – especially when tackling the challenges of managing medical practices that are experiencing major transitions. Cue someone like Laurie Morgan, senior consultant and partner at Capko & Morgan, who didn’t start her career in health care. Prior to joining Capko & Morgan (then Capko & Company) in … Read more

Electronic health records (EHR) have been a topic of discussion in the medical world ever since the HIPAA laws made EHRs mandatory. Initially, both medical practices and patients were leery of the new electronic records system because they simply did not trust that information being out on the Internet. But ever since secure cloud-based EHR … Read more