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Articles from Andersen Keen | Selfgrowth.com
- The Prominence of Health Records in Clinical and Medical Billing Efficiency - by Submitted on Feb 27, 2013 from Andersen KeenHealth practitioners often find themselves dealing with a variety of records – from records pertaining to practice license and credentialing documents to financial and compliance records. But none of them are as significant as ‘health care records’ (often known as ‘patient records’) simply ...
Views: 688 - Streamlining your thoracic and cardiovascular surgery medical billing practices with integrated PMS - by Submitted on Feb 26, 2013 from Andersen KeenPractice in Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery means expensive facilities that often need to be upgraded to clinical innovations. Despite such expensive cost outlays, continued shortage of physicians may still have allowed them to see more patients, thereby garnering revenues well over capital ...
Views: 644 - How Rising Usage of Thoracic Ultra-Sonography Would Prompt Physicians to Opt for External Medical Billing - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2013 from Andersen KeenHow Rising Usage of Thoracic Ultra-Sonography Would Prompt Physicians to Opt for External Medical Billing The safety and precision factors associated with Thoracic ultrasonography have made it a more indispensable and preferred imaging modality to the traditional radiology imaging procedures ...
Views: 805 - Will Outsourced Medical Billing Ease the Burden on Fewer Doctors Due to Healthcare Law? - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2013 from Andersen KeenThe doctor-patient ratio has woefully been disproportionate across the 50 states in the U.S., and researchers believe that it may continue to be far from ideal and even worsen in the coming years: Researchers have estimated that even in the absence of the health care reform law, the shortage of ...
Views: 641 - The Significance of Responding to Cardiology Billing and Coding Dynamics - by Submitted on Feb 05, 2013 from Andersen KeenCardiology is one those specialties that generally perform high-cost diagnostic and curative services, and getting reimbursed for such significant services means conclusive and convincing cardiology medical billing – adhering to cardiology codes, compliance standards and coding rules. ...
Views: 771 - Ascertaining Cardiologists’ Medical Billing Needs Even as They Migrate From Private Practices to Hospitals - by Submitted on Feb 04, 2013 from Andersen KeenAscertaining Cardiologists’ Medical Billing Needs Even as They Migrate From Private Practices to Hospitals Till recently, cardiologists who were happy with their private practices have suddenly started exploring avenues to align themselves with hospitals. The change has been so dramatic that ...
Views: 658 - Eliminating Skilled Nursing Facilities’ (snfs) Medical Billing Complication - by Submitted on Feb 14, 2013 from Andersen KeenMedical billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities has undergone metamorphic changes ever since the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 came into effect 1998. One of the significant requirements under the new legislation is that Skilled Nursing Facilities are not permitted to unbundle services that are ...
Views: 745 - Reforming Nursing Facilities Medical Billing Amidst Dwindling Reimbursements - by Submitted on Feb 26, 2013 from Andersen KeenNursing facilities across the U.S. have somehow endured a series of Medicare/Medicaid cuts thus far, but the latest move by CMS to reduce reimbursement for so-called Medicare “bad debt” – Medicare co-payments not made by beneficiaries or state Medicaid programs – may bring them on the threshold ...
Views: 628 - The Value of Outsourcing Cardiology Specialty Billing Amidst Changes to Medicare Reimbursement Rates - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2013 from Andersen KeenAny revision in Medicare reimbursement rates will have a direct impact on physicians’ medical billing, and cardiologists are not immune to the effects of frequent changes in Medicare reimbursement rates, announced by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from time to time. ...
Views: 596 - Complications in Clinical Documentation Leading to Inaccurate Billing Codes - by Submitted on Jan 24, 2013 from Andersen KeenClinical documentation is a need that threads through the entire lifecycle of an inpatient treatment episode. The clinical documentation specialist checks the documents of a patient before or within 24 to 28 hours of admission to assess various aspects of the patient’s condition, reviews ...
Views: 610 - Tackling Reimbursement Challenges posed by Inpatient Coding with Professional Medical Billing and Coding! - by Submitted on Feb 11, 2013 from Andersen KeenThe fact that inpatient medical coding deals with patients after they are discharged from health centers makes it widely different and much more complicated than outpatient billing and coding. Inpatient billing and coding has to account for the entire set of eventualities stemming from a ...
Views: 719 - Managing Variable Healthcare Data with the Help of a Medical Billing Service - by Submitted on Jan 17, 2013 from Andersen KeenAlthough healthcare data is presumably highly significant to clinical efficiency, its application is not limited to clinical circle alone – medical billing, operational efficiency, contribution to clinical research and macro healthcare policies are equally dependent on healthcare data. ...
Views: 582 - Does Expanding Outpatient Physicians Really Help Stabilize Your Hospital Revenues? - by Submitted on Jan 17, 2013 from Andersen KeenHospitals that hitherto have been troubled with in-patient operational losses may just have found a solution in outpatient mode. Contrary to stagnant inpatient volumes and revenues, outpatient volumes seem to have picked up in recent years. As a result operational revenues at hospitals seem to ...
Views: 594 - Transforming Your Data Centers into Secure, Instant, and HIPAA-Compliant - by Submitted on Jan 09, 2013 from Andersen KeenMedical data has significant utilities – as vital source of reference for subsequent follow-ups, collaborative clinical management across the clinical network, Medical Billing, information bank for clinical research, and macro health care policies. While most of the practitioners may have ...
Views: 585(1 vote) - Negotiating Justifiable Contract with Health Insurance Companies - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2013 from Andersen KeenCare providers operate in an environment characterized by multiple payors – Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of private health plans. The prevalence of such multi-payer is reason enough for differences in rates at which care providers are reimbursed despite the clinical procedures ...
Views: 865 - What makes Outsourced DME Billing Superior? - by Submitted on Jan 07, 2013 from Andersen KeenPhysicians who are part of DME services now face an important operational decision: whether to persist with in-house billing staff or entrust to external sources. The long-held belief that in-house billing staff would manage DME-related billing complexities seems to have failed them ...
Views: 965 - Challenges and Opportunities of Durable Medical Equipment Practice (DME) - by Submitted on Jan 08, 2013 from Andersen KeenThe necessity of Durable Medical Equipments (DMEs) had never been so high – in U.S. 30% to 54% of those over 65 years have some form of disability; around 75% to 90% of such disabled require some form of DME to keep them mobile or enabled. It is also estimated that around 1.5 million ...
Views: 1673 - Overcoming DME Billing Challenges with a Medical Billing Service - by Submitted on Jan 03, 2013 from Andersen KeenThere is a distinctive difference between billing for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) services and other clinical procedures – durable medical equipment services are ancillary to the primary clinical purpose, and their admissibility is subject to certain conditions. Physicians ...
Views: 984(1 vote) - Managing Holiday Season Resource-Crunch with the Help of a Medical Billing Company - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2013 from Andersen KeenHealthcare is perhaps one of those few professions which are exception to the general rule of eight hour-a-day duty – professionals are required to stretch beyond their usual duty hours, and may even have to be on a 24×7 vigil. As a result work-related fatigue has been more common, ...
Views: 694(1 vote) - Physicians to Manage Revenues amidst the Impending 26.5% Medicare Cut with a Medical Billing Service - by Submitted on Jan 02, 2013 from Andersen KeenEver since Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) began overshooting budgeted Medicare spend, physicians have been under the constant threat of Medicare cut. While Congress’ intervention has delayed the inevitable thus far, it may be a little tougher this time – Centre for Medicare ...
Views: 573(1 vote) - How can Physicians Balance Roles at Work to Increase Medical Billing Efficiency of Their Clinic? - by Submitted on Nov 05, 2012 from Andersen KeenOver the last few years the healthcare system in the United States has witnessed modifications in policies and regulations, in order to make healthcare facilities cost effective and accessible to people from all income groups. However, a substantial percentage of the population still ...
Views: 688 - How difficult can medical claim filing and payment posting be? - by Submitted on Sep 11, 2012 from Andersen KeenHospitals, healthcare organizations and dentists have long been occupied with the issue of medical filing. The process of medical claim filing is overtly complex, requiring paper work, filing and adjudication. Moreover, with the introduction of new reforms in the system every other day, which is ...
Views: 801 - Are you filing claims and have one in every three rejected! - by Submitted on Aug 08, 2012 from Andersen KeenFiling claims has become more complicated as health insurers tighten eligibility requirements, and the chances of claims being denied have increased substantially Hence when a claim is filed, there is a fair possibility it will be denied and most providers are struggling to balance their busy ...
Views: 947 - Challenges Faced by Physicians in 2012: An Overview - by Submitted on Jul 10, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe hurdles faced by physicians in 2012 are not just limited to core medical issues but are also spread across almost all the facets of the health care delivery system. The changing nature of medical practices, changes in Information Technology and in other departmental processes is ...
Views: 990 - Physicians Shortage – Is there a perfect storm brewing in the healthcare industry? - by Submitted on Aug 07, 2012 from Andersen KeenThere has been a rapid growth in the healthcare industry, more than any other industry, mostly in response to rapid growth in the elderly population. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the healthcare industry will create 3.2 million new wage and salary jobs between 2008 and 2018. ...
Views: 662 - When was the last time your clinic checked the fees schedule? Streamlining your Medical Billing - by Submitted on Jul 25, 2012 from Andersen KeenOptimizing Fee Schedules for Physicians: An Overview The fee schedule for any physician practice is an important pecuniary factor that affects not just your revenue but also the way in which healthcare is delivered to the patients. Many practices fail to update their fee schedules on a ...
Views: 568 - How medical billing services contribute to retaining patients at your facilities - by Submitted on Jun 21, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe intense competition in the healthcare industry is triggering unprecedented benefits to the patient fraternity. While the quality of medical care has improved by leaps and bounds, patients now, have choices and alternatives just in case they feel deterioration in the perceived level of ...
Views: 812 - Medical Billing Services: A Safe Passage for Denial and Delay Management - by Submitted on Jun 20, 2012 from Andersen KeenPayer denials and delays is a cause of worry for every doctor in the US. A denied or a delayed claim leads to loss of revenue for the physician. To top it all the physicians are now looking at an uncertain future working in the Medicare program due to introduction of reimbursement cuts. In the ...
Views: 775 - The growing emphasis on Medicare-specific medical billing services - by Submitted on Jun 13, 2012 from Andersen KeenMedicare, which continues to remain as the nation’s largest public health insurance scheme covering nearly half the United States’ population in its health insurance ambit, has gone through considerable reforms over the years. In fact, the evolution of Medicare can be defined ...
Views: 766 - MBC’s job board for increased job prospects! - by Submitted on Jun 08, 2012 from Andersen KeenMBC has recently launched a job board to lessen the complexity of bringing physicians and coders together, eventually working as an easy-to-use interface between them through the facility on job listing. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Medical billers and coders are ...
Views: 674 - Practicing Medicine in Multiple States: Inherent medical billing challenges - by Submitted on Jun 05, 2012 from Andersen KeenContrary to single-location practices that were the norms during olden days, the recent trend has been the exploring of practice opportunities in multiple locations. It is not strange for a medical practice/clinic/hospital to expand its operations beyond the original location once it has built ...
Views: 718 - Driving patient engagement through healthcare-based social media - by Submitted on Jun 04, 2012 from Andersen KeenFrom seemingly innocuous platforms for personal interaction amongst registered community members, social media (comprising Face Book, Twitter, and other interactive sites) has emerged as a powerful channel for marketing. In fact, its business-utility has grown to so much that it has evolved to ...
Views: 756 - Exodus to hospital-based employment and its effect on healthcare industry - by Submitted on Jun 01, 2012 from Andersen KeenWhile the recent healthcare reforms ushered in by the Federal Government promises to elevate clinical and operational efficiency across the nation’s healthcare continuum, it is also going to induce physicians into a more accountable and responsible quality clinical regime. The imminent ...
Views: 769 - The Changing Face of Primary Care: An Overview - by Submitted on May 31, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs) in the United States has been a well publicized and well documented issue. However, the solutions to the various issues faced by primary care in the country have been obscure even after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. The ...
Views: 639 - Is Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursements fairer than Private Insurers: a Brief Comparison - by Submitted on May 30, 2012 from Andersen KeenVarious providers despite being paid lesser by government than by commercial insurers believe that Medicare and Medicaid reimburse more fairly than commercial payers. Findings from a recent survey depicted that 93% of respondents feel that Medicare is fair always or frequently while 62% felt the ...
Views: 870 - The Financial Importance of Timely Medical Claim Submission - by Submitted on May 29, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe importance of timely claims submission is not lost on physicians or their staff and is an integral part of the revenue cycle management (RCM). The dynamic nature of the health industry and the reforms has further exacerbated the already volatile situation when it comes to claim submission, ...
Views: 791 - Predicting the scope of medical billing consultants after 2014 and beyond - by Submitted on Dec 31, 1969 from Andersen KeenAlthough it has been quite a while since the Federal Government announced a series of far-reaching healthcare reforms, we are yet to experience their full impact across the healthcare continuum. And, with the Senate bill deferring a major chunk of the reforms further, it is expected that we may ...
Views: 887 - How are States retaining physicians in times of shortage? - by Submitted on May 18, 2012 from Andersen KeenEnforcement of HIPAA 5010 transactions on March 15, 2012, was delayed for the second time for another 3 months by the government, with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) pushing the date further to June 30, 2012, in order to ...
Views: 603 - How are States retaining physicians in times of shortage? - by Submitted on May 17, 2012 from Andersen KeenPhysician shortages is a growing concern and is pushing various states to keep doctors trained in medical schools and residency programs from crossing state lines to practice medicine. According to new statistics from the Assn. of American Medical Colleges- nationwide, there were 258.7 active ...
Views: 737 - Electronic Health Records spurring hiring of staff besides adding to costs at physicians practice - by Submitted on May 16, 2012 from Andersen KeenElectronic Health Records (EHRs) are complex systems and a dedicated team of professionals are required for handling and maintaining these systems for smooth operation of such records. The drawbacks of paper based records, the projected advantages of EHRs, and the incentives offered along with ...
Views: 720 - Simplify EHR Systems by Restructuring Your Medical Billing - by Submitted on May 15, 2012 from Andersen KeenEHR systems have changed over the last decade and the health reforms have given new meaning to such systems by making rules regarding ‘Meaningful Use” (MU) of such systems. Older versions of EHRs were simple digitized versions replacing paper based records and did not have the ...
Views: 861 - Effects on Physicians reimbursements: Insurance Denials and uncertainty of health reforms - by Submitted on May 14, 2012 from Andersen KeenInsurance denials are one of the major factors that affect a physician’s revenue even though health reforms do address some issues faced by patients and physicians in dealing with insurance companies, the denial rate of claims has not significantly altered due to such reforms. These ...
Views: 732 - US Healthcare adapting to Reforms: Hospitals to Ease Physician Shortages - by Submitted on May 12, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe health reforms have affected every aspect of the health care delivery system in the United States and smaller and solo practices in the country are finding it difficult to cope with the changes on almost every level of health care delivery. The changes in health IT sector, policies in ...
Views: 715 - What does the latest ICD-10 delay mean to your medical practices? - by Submitted on May 11, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe persistent appeal for pushing back the ICD-10 compliance date has finally paid off for physicians; the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has made it official that physicians would have time till October1, 2014 (revised from the current deadline of October1, 2013) to comply ...
Views: 1011 - Practice Owners face challenges with EHR adoption: Possible Solutions - by Submitted on May 10, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) presents numerous challenges for physicians and many practices are finding it difficult to successfully adopt EHRs. The data released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention about EHR adoption rates in the country bears witness ...
Views: 790 - How crucial are certain adjustments while posting payments? - by Submitted on May 09, 2012 from Andersen KeenWhile it is true that payment posting is merely an exercise of recording the actual claim realized against patient account concerned, in reality its scope extends beyond that. Far from just being an accounting exercise, payment posting has evolved into an indispensable tool for analyzing ...
Views: 827 - How aging reports aid in realizing Account Receivables - by Submitted on May 08, 2012 from Andersen KeenNotwithstanding the importance of flawless coding in maximizing healthcare insurance reimbursements from insurance carriers, it is the Account Receivable (A/R) Management that proves decisive in either making or breaking your chances of mitigating denial or delay of your medical bill claims. ...
Views: 1242 - Towards honest Medicare billing practices - by Submitted on May 07, 2012 from Andersen KeenIn an industry characterized by the highest level of professional integrity and honesty, it is strange yet true that health insurance related fraud and abuse have reached alarming heights. While the incidence of fraud and abuse are equally spread across the health insurance continuum, it’s ...
Views: 686 - The Role of radiology in Hospital Revenue - by Submitted on May 04, 2012 from Andersen KeenRadiologists are playing an ever increasing role in hospitals and these deeper involvements are due to numerous factors. The outcomes of such an ever increasing involvement of radiologists in hospitals can bring about positive outcomes not just in the core aspects of medicine and for patients ...
Views: 1709 - The Impact of Front Desk Executives on Physician Revenue and Billing - by Submitted on May 03, 2012 from Andersen KeenThe front office desk executive in a physician’s practice has numerous functions to carry out such as understanding the patients’ information related to demographics and finance which is needed for effective billing, the responsibility of communicating the financial policy, and ...
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