Practice management articles from Texas Family Physician
"Ready or not, Recovery Audit Contractors are coming" By Bradley K. Reiner
Practices large and small will be affected by a RAC audit sooner or later. Learn how the program works, how to minimize the risk of being audited, and what to do if you are.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 61 No. 4 | Fall 2010
"The documentation challenge—Do you pass the test?" By Bradley K. Reiner
Many physicians make mistakes when it comes to correctly documenting their services, which can lead to expensive and frustrating reviews. Following guidelines, writing clearly, and choosing the appropriate code are some of the most frequent documentation problems physicians have.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 61 No. 2 | Spring 2010
"Case study: Five questions for improving your practice" By Bradley K. Reiner
Problems affecting the office staff can prevent your practice from thriving. Improving your practice can start with analyzing these questions and asking your staff for ideas.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 61 No. 1 | Winter 2010
"How to get out of the office by 5:30 p.m. every day" By Melissa Gerdes, M.D.
Good time management and keeping a schedule are key to getting out of the office on time.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 61 No. 1 | Winter 2010
"Seven myths of practice management" By Bradley K. Reiner
Physicians’ ideas on documentation, RAC, and other business matters can be flawed. Knowing how to manage your practice correctly can save you money and frustration. Have you been tricked by these seven myths?
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 60 No. 4 | Fall 2009
"EMR: Friend or foe?" By Bradley K. Reiner
From organizing the office, assisting with coding and improving patient communication, EMRs can improve the efficiency of your practice in a variety of ways. Keeping the staff involved and taking your time to choose a model can make for a smooth transition to EMR.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 60 No. 3 | Summer 2009
"Opening up your schedule: How to switch your practice to open-access scheduling" By Gail Jones
Allowing patients to make same-day appointments can increase their satisfaction by decreasing wait times and making your schedule fit with theirs. Open-access scheduling can be implemented to varying degrees, each with their own pros and cons.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 60 No. 2 | Spring 2009
"RECOVERY AUDIT CONTRACTORS: Are you ready for the RAC?" By Bradley K. Reiner
Being prepared for a RAC review can make a difference in the outcome of the audit. Reviewing important documents, like claims and records, and setting up a RAC compliance plan will help your practice prevent auditing problems before they happen.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 60 No. 1 | Winter 2009
"E-prescribing decoded" By Bradley K. Reiner
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 59 No. 4 | Fall 2008
"Look before you leap with medical billing services" By Bradley K. Reiner
Medical billing services seem like a convenient option for physicians who don’t want to deal with the business side of their practice. However, these services can cause more harm than good unless constantly kept in check with frequent reviews, audits, and meetings.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 59 No. 3 | Summer 2008
"How to find and retain great medical office staff" By Bradley K. Reiner
Using a variety of resources can help you find a great staff and keep them on board. Checking local medical training schools for applicants, having good interview skills and showing staff appreciation for a job well done are all ways to improve hiring and retention.
posted in Texas Family Physician Online Vol. 59 No. 2 | Spring 2009
Get answers to your practice management questions through TAFP partnership
TAFP has partnered with a practice management consultant, Bradley Reiner, to provide staff and members an experienced resource on practice management issues such as billing and coding, and managed care contract negotiation. Click here to read more about offered services.
Contact Bradley Reiner by phone, (512) 858-1570, or e-mail, breiner@austin.rr.com.
Vaccine purchasing through Atlantic Health Partners
TAFP has formed a partnership with vaccine purchasing program Atlantic Health Partners to save family physicians money when purchasing vaccines and advocate on behalf of family medicine practices among manufacturers and payers. There is no cost for TAFP members to enroll in the program and enrollment is voluntary.
Benefits of joining Atlantic’s program include:
- Favorable pricing for Sanofi Pasteur and Merck vaccines;
- Improved purchasing terms for a wide assortment of pediatric, adolescent, adult and travel vaccines;
- No fee to participate and voluntary enrollment;
- Access to reimbursement support; and
- Access to resources on billing, coding, pricing and inventory management.
How much will you save?
If your practice already purchases vaccines directly from Sanofi Pasteur and Merck, you will save between 3 percent and 35 percent, based on the specific vaccine, with a typical overall savings of 5 percent to 15 percent by purchasing through Atlantic. You’ll generally save more on pediatric and adolescent vaccines and less on newer vaccines such as Gardasil. In addition, Atlantic members can make smaller orders to manage inventory and cash flow and still receive the same low program prices.
If your practice purchases vaccines from a medical supply distributor, the savings are often as much as 50 percent, with an overall average of 25 percent to 35 percent.
Atlantic will support TAFP continuing medical education by donating 10 percent of the revenue from all TAFP member sales to TAFP and providing an additional $1,000 unrestricted educational grant to the TAFP Foundation for every 125 TAFP members registered.
Contact Cindy Berenson or Jeff Winokur at (800) 741-2044 or info@atlantichealthpartners.com for more information and details about how your practice can participate in this program.
Read more about the perks of the partnership in a January 2008 news story. Also, look for Atlantic’s ad in your TEXAS FAMILY PHYSICIAN magazine.
Other vaccine pricing and contract resources
AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics have put together some new resources to help in the fight for higher payment for vaccinations.
“The Business Case for Pricing New Vaccines” is a document detailing what physician costs insurers should consider when determining what they will pay for vaccinations.
“Model Contract Language for Vaccines” shows you what your managed care contracts should contain for proper reimbursement of vaccinations.
These documents are posted in AAFP’s Private Sector Advocacy pages in the “Contracting” section under “Health Plans.”
Billing Disclosures for SB 1731 compliance
Physicians must post notices in their offices or provide written documents to patients upon request on their billing policies, estimated costs, and discounts they provide to uninsured and indigent patients, due to a law passed during the 80th Legislative Session that went into effect Sept. 1, 2007. Physicians must also delineate whether any interest will be applied to billed charges not paid by a third-party payer and what procedures exist for handling patient complaints of these charges.
Another new law that went into effect Sept. 1 requires physicians billing for pathology services to disclose billing and contact information to health plans or patients. Physicians must either provide a health plan or third-party payer the name and address of the person or laboratory that performed the anatomic pathology service, and the amount the billing physician paid for the service, or must provide a patient an itemized statement of the services and net charges paid.
TMA has posted two sample documents that should help you comply with the new law. Check out the sample Charity Care and Billing the Patient policy documents from TMA’s Medical Office Policy and Procedure publication. Also view news articles from TAFP and TMA.
Coding and Billing
>> AAFP list of coding resources
>> Cindy Hughes, CPC | AAFP's Coding Contact for members, e-mail or call her at (800) 274-2237 ext. 4176
>> Family Practice Management describes CPT code changes for 2008
Family Practice Management
Family Practice Management, a journal published by the American Academy of Family Physicians six times a year, is loaded with great practice management info. Read the current issue or search past issues.
Find a consultant
AAFP can help you locate legal help or a practice management consultant in your area through their online consultant locator, FP Assist.
>> FP Assist
e-resources
Explore the American Academy of Family Physicians’ PDA downloads, which include a summary of recommendations for clinical preventive services tool, a point-of-care asthma tool, and ICD-9 coding tools.