Improving Medical Billing Processes

While most practices are making minor, innocent mistakes with Medicare billing such as transposing a number from time to time, significant abuse and fraud issues could land you and your practice in hot water with the government -- even if you aren't aware of the problems. There is a wave of new technology available that allows regulatory agencies to pinpoint problem areas more quickly and with greater accuracy. The Affordable Care Act designated several hundred million dollars to ramp up anti-fraud efforts including sophisticated data analytics, the employment of additional law enforcement personnel, and an intense scrutiny of claims before they are paid. Fraud sentencing is becoming stricter, including civil and monetary violation penalties for practices that don't return overpayments, for instance. With all of the challenges around medical billing, how can you avoid activities that could be flagged as Medicare fraud and abuse within your practice? 

Due to uncertainty in healthcare reimbursements, higher costs  and greater regulation, primary care physician practices are always seeking ways to increase revenue. Adding patients to a practice can be a successful tactic, but diversifying often leads to greater success. 

Adding ancillary services, such as laboratory or aesthetic services, nutritional supplements or another type of retail service, works for a variety of reasons.

With new technology coming into the forefront of medical practice marketing, offices have more opportunity than ever to capitalize on automated, streamlined processes to improve ROI. Here are just a few of the top medical practice marketing ideas that will keep you going for the next five years.

Bottlenecks in the payment process slow transactions in the medical industry on all sides. People who are in need of medical attention are less likely to seek out a qualified professional. This is especially prevalent in the industry of chiropractic. However, scams around the industry also place a stigma on the offices of chiropractic who do good business. It is in everyone's best interests to understand the chiropractic billing challenges and scams that currently move throughout the chiropractic segment of the medical industry.

Expanding your medical practice can be a challenging and expensive way to grow revenue, but there are some growth models that have tested positively over time. One of those ancillary services that may help boost your revenue is through offering dispensing services into your practice. However, is this more of a distraction from key offerings than a bottom-line driver? While the answer may be different for your business, many providers are finding that In-house pharmacy is a great way to boost ongoing revenue and customer retention.