Industry-leading analysis combines with cloud-based tech to offer daily intelligence briefs … CHICAGO, March 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ – Cision announced today that it acquired Bulletin Intelligence, which has written the daily White House News Summary for the Executive Office of the President since 2001, and which also provides custom, expert-curated executive briefings to the CEOs and C-suites of many of the nation’s largest businesses. The acquisition closely follows Cision’s announcement to go public via a business combination with Capitol Acquisition Corp. III (NASDAQ…

So, what is all this MACRA stuff everyone keeps talking about? Are you planning to ignore it and maybe it will go away? Think maybe it doesn’t apply to you? Unfortunately, it looks like MACRA is here to stay, and there are bonus incentives you should know how to maximize. What is MACRA? MACRA, also known as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act is the law that will end the sustainable growth rate formula that threatened to cut Medicare reimbursement every year. A portion of this law combines the Meaningful Use (MU), Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), and the…

Many practitioners lose revenue because they are unsure how to code for an E/M visit and when uncertain of what code to use, you avoid risk by practicing downcoding. Here are some helpful tips to learn how to document your own HPI and avoid unnecessary downcoding. The Chief Complaint (CC) and the HPI (History of Present Illness) can have a HUGE impact on the E/M level selection for a new patient. For example, the highest level for a new patient with a brief HPI is a 99202. There are two types of HPI documentation: brief and extended. An extended HPI requires at least 4 distinct HPI elements…

Here are some helpful coding tips to guide you through flu season. What’s the flu type? • J09 (Influenza due to identified novel influenza A virus) – this category covers the more exotic flu types, such as avian flu, swine flu or other flu viruses of animal origin. It is very unlikely that you will be able to assign a code from this category due to a lack of testing capability for these specific flu types. • J10 (Influenza due to other identified influenza virus) – this category is where most of your patients will fall. This is the average patient who tests positive for the…

There are three ways to spend your spare (non-working) time. You can do something that: 1. Improves you somehow 2. Leaves you more or less the same 3. Damages or diminishes you in some way Look at almost any activity and you will see what I’m talking about. On your commute to work, for example, you have a fair amount of “free” time. You can spend that time getting aggravated about traffic, laughing at idiotic conversations on talk radio, or listening to an audiotape on some subject you care about—maybe a course on how to speak a foreign language. Getting apoplectic…

As a physician who is also a business owner, I have learned (sometimes the hard way) about “keeping an eye on the ball.” Through almost 8 years as an Medical Practice owner, there have been many successes….and misfires. Along the way, through various courses such as the Success Summit and the MPS Board, I have learned much about day-to-day operations and becoming a better owner. One of the lessons relates to watching certain metrics and defining important factors to watch on a regular basis. Key Performance Indicators are an important part of monitoring any business. KPIs…

Hello everyone! I wanted all Medical Practice Success blog readers to reflect on an article I read recently by the AMA. The article, “What Ails the Medical Profession--and Ways to Heal It,” written by AMA President Steven J. Stack, MD, is a pitch for physicians to enroll in “online modules” as a “medicinal cure for physician burnout.” http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/ama-wire/post/ails-medical-profession-ways-heal Although the author and AMA president receives a lot of heat for his recommendation of online modules to treat the problem, his analysis of the…

Medical practices are service businesses whose long-term viability depends on patient loyalty and word-of-mouth. That’s why, for instance, Medical Practice entrepreneurs spend tens of thousands of dollars in selecting the right locations, equipping them with the latest technology, and then devising creative marketing campaigns to bring new patients through the door. But while these investments all contribute to medical practice success, they’re still minor compared to the one that makes the greatest impression on patients—the front-line staff. The “front-line&rdquo…

Are You Growing? As your business grows, so does the importance of contracting and credentialing. Imagine you are ready to expand to a second location or add a new line of business. You have devoted hours to developing the best business plan, secured the location, recruited providers, ordered equipment, and are ready to launch! But, are you ready to get paid for your services? Will You Be Paid? Are your providers credentialed in the appropriate plans for the new location? Are your contracts with payors reflecting the new location or line of business? Are you compliant with local, state and…

HealthCARE Express invests $30,000+/year on the salary of a community educator in each market. HealthCARE Express firmly believes that the best way to grow our patient volume and our occupational medicine client base is through positive word of mouth and educating the community about what we do. It is why we hire a community educator for each new market, instead of having one centralized person handling media buy for all markets and not being actively involved in our communities. Because over the years we have found that when we have a community educator out working hard every day in the…