An office manager looking for ways to encourage a team atmosphere decided to ask staff to help market the Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) practice where they all work. The goal was to help staff see that everyone plays a key role in the four-physician, 22-staff practice. The office manager began by holding a meeting focused on the important role everyone plays in marketing the … [Read more...] about Involving staff in marketing generates good ideas and sense of teamwork
Increasing profits
Should your physicians blog?
Blogging, when successful, results in a certain notoriety, which, in the case of a physician blogger, calls attention to his or her medical practice. Such notoriety can help market the practice and result in new patients. But there are other reasons doctors blog—and, in fact, marketing the practice isn't one of the primary reasons physicians take to the keyboard. Dr. John … [Read more...] about Should your physicians blog?
Patient referrals: an untapped source of new revenue
Medical practices sometimes mistakenly believe that patient referrals don't matter. However, like customer referrals, patient referrals are an important—and often untapped—source of new business. There are multiple ways to make sure your practice is encouraging referrals. Here are several areas where you should focus. Family members and their friends Perhaps the most … [Read more...] about Patient referrals: an untapped source of new revenue
3 guidelines for building your medical practice’s budget
By Nick Hernandez bio It is once again time for medical practices to be working on their operating budget for the next calendar year. Unfortunately, too few practices actually take the time to create a meaningful budget, instead seeing the endeavor as complex and time-consuming, and usually resulting in something that won’t be used. Creating and following a budget involves … [Read more...] about 3 guidelines for building your medical practice’s budget
How to determine your MIPS participation status
Are you unsure of your participation status in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)? Clinicians can now use an interactive tool on the CMS Quality Payment Program website to determine if they should participate in the MIPS track of the Quality Payment Program in 2017. To determine your status, enter your national provider identifier (NPI) into the entry field on … [Read more...] about How to determine your MIPS participation status
The four elements of successful operational planning
By Nick Hernandez bio Physicians are well aware of the need for planning. Indeed, they devise clinical plans on a daily basis as they formulate the best way in which to care for a patient. However, when is the last time you spent time working on operational planning for your practice? Many physicians or practice administrators reading this will be thinking, "Who has the time … [Read more...] about The four elements of successful operational planning
Watch for your MIPS participation status letter
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reviewing claims and letting practices know which clinicians need to take part in MIPS, the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. MIPS is an important part of the new Quality Payment Program. In late April through May, practices will get a letter from the Medicare Administrative Contractor that processes Medicare Part B … [Read more...] about Watch for your MIPS participation status letter
3 legal protections to include in your patient debt collection agency services contract
Outsourcing can be an effective way to overcome patient collection challenges. But it can also backfire if the collection agency you contract with uses illegal, unethical or insensitive collection tactics. One of the keys to managing these risks is to include proper legal protections in your services contract. This article covers the three legal protections you should include … [Read more...] about 3 legal protections to include in your patient debt collection agency services contract
Machine learning and healthcare: Improving outcomes through predictive analytics
Machine learning is a part of everyday life for most Americans, from navigation apps to Amazon's omniscient purchase recommendations. But in healthcare, the use of machine learning has so far been limited to niche science projects in large and academic health systems—those able to afford the highly skilled data scientists and dedicated teams required to turn their data into … [Read more...] about Machine learning and healthcare: Improving outcomes through predictive analytics
Nearly $100 million awarded to help small practices succeed in the Quality Payment Program
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded approximately $20 million to 11 organizations for the first year of a five-year program to provide on-the-ground training and education about the Quality Payment Program for clinicians in individual or small group practices of 15 clinicians or fewer. CMS intends to invest up to an additional $80 million over the … [Read more...] about Nearly $100 million awarded to help small practices succeed in the Quality Payment Program