Last year all practices covered by HIPAA were required to upgrade from Version 4010 to Version 5010 standards for electronic health care claims and other transactions. The Version 5010 upgrade paved the way for ICD-10 and offers valuable insights: • Early planning and preparation will smooth your transition to ICD-10. Practices that planned for the Version 5010 upgrade were well prepared and transitioned smoothly. For ICD-10, your office can start planning by developing a checklist of activities that will need to be completed and a timeline for accomplishing these tasks. • Communication and…

Every week we receive several questions from our colleagues in the Medical Practice industry. Many times the questions are similar in nature. We realized many of you may also want to know the answers and waiting until they become a full article seems silly. So we've added a new service. When we get a good question in that applies to many people, you'll get our answer to the QUESTION OF THE DAY! If you have a question for us, e-mail us at [email protected] Question of the Day: How do you measure ROI in Medical Practice marketing? 1. Unique Tracking on Advertisements…

Every week we receive several questions from our colleagues in the Medical Practice industry. Many times the questions are similar in nature. We realized many of you may also want to know the answers and waiting until they become a full article seems silly. So we've added a new service. When we get a good question in that applies to many people, you'll get our answer to the QUESTION OF THE DAY! If you have a question for us, e-mail us at [email protected] Question of the Day: How do you manage a patient who comes in with a laundry list of things they want addressed on…

B.F. from Texas has this question: We have quite a few patients in our community that treat us as their PCP, which is great, but they forget we are an Medical Practice as well. Sometimes the waits can be longer, refill requests take longer and unfortunately (especially during this flu season) results of labs, etc... can take a little longer for us to contact if labs are normal. How do you make patients understand this so they do not feel neglected or like we don’t care about them? There is often a blurred line between PCP and Medical Practice. I think this is because we are using old…

There's nothing like the good old home field advantage when you're looking for publicity for your company. Local TV stations and talk radio shows, hometown newspapers and magazines, and locally oriented blogs and news websites are all looking for the same thing: local content. If you can offer them useful information or a great human interest story - particularly, if you can link it to something currently in the news - you just might become the next media darling. There's nothing to be nervous about. Once you land the interview, it can be as simple as a telephone conversation with a radio…

ICD-10 codes will replace ICD-9 codes for all health care services provided on or after October 1, 2014. To make sure you are ready to use the new code set, you will want to review how and where you currently use ICD-9 codes. Wherever you see ICD-9 today, you will need to transition to ICD-10. Developing Your ICD-9 List … Ask your clinical and administrative staff to develop a list of places where they encounter ICD-9 codes in their work. This exercise will acquaint your practice with how the switch to ICD-10 will affect your daily work. Reviewing Your List … Once you have a master list of…

By: Tina Bell You’ve paid a lot of money for your website, your beautiful brochures, and your advertising campaign. You’ve told everyone you know about your Medical Practice or occupational medicine business. You’ve listed off a slew of services you offer, that in your eyes make you better than anywhere else in town to seek medical treatment. Yet the response you’d anticipated to all your efforts has been dismal. If you reexamine what you’re saying, you may realize you’re making a big mistake. In general, people select to purchase a service or product not…

A good brochure may capture someone’s attention and inform them about the services you provide at your Medical Practice, but a great brochure does something more. A great, well-written, brochure persuades the person reading it. Unfortunately, most medical practice brochures never go from good to great. They never provide a true reason to the reader on why they should utilize a service. Where Does Your Brochure Rate? Pick-up your brochure right now and look at it closely. Then ask yourself these questions: 1. Who is the brochure written for and what should they do after looking at the…

By: Pat Musgrove Shopping for medical equipment is like shopping for a car. Depending on your budget, it can take a few days or a few months. If you just want a certain brand, and you know you want to buy new, it can be quick. If, however, you are looking to save money and get the best piece of equipment for your investment, you have to be willing to put in the time to really shop. Tip 1: Start with Large Suppliers The easiest place to start is with larger suppliers, whom you regularly order other medical supplies from. Your salesperson will eagerly be ready to give you a quote. Just know in…

By: Kevin Cook IT Administrator, HealthCARE Express When you first decided to open your Medical Practice business, I bet the question, “Which phone system do I need?” didn’t even make the top 10 list of things to worry about. I know it’s a boring topic. Let’s face it, everybody has a telephone, every business has lots of them, so really, phone systems aren’t difficult. Or are they? Choosing the right phone system and deciphering through all the options can be overwhelming if you don’t have a technology background. Yet the decisions you make regarding…