Healthcare
Showing 353–368 of 454 results
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Practice Notes – 8 ways to manage the complex world of CMS billing rules
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 409
Abstract: Doing business with the CMS puts physician practices in close touch with an extraordinary level of administrative complexity — convoluted rules and regulations; spreadsheets marked by arcane labels and multiple revisions; additions, addendums and supplements issued throughout the year; and hundreds of CPT codes involved in the billing process. But this article lists eight simple, practical ways to minimize the frustration that’s part of dealing with the CMS.
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Outsourcing can help improve your bottom line and results
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 678
Abstract: Outsourcing can be a benefit to many practices, but it’s important to think through the decision before sending work offsite. This article explains that one should begin by doing a cost-benefit analysis, and lists three factors to consider in determining feasibility. But, if the answer is “yes,” outsourcing can improve operations, reduce costs, and eliminate responsibilities and hassles for physicians and administrators.
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Ready for an extreme medical office makeover?
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 744
Abstract: An office that presents an unappealing, uncomfortable environment for both patients and employees can contribute to reduced productivity. So an office that hasn’t been updated in a while might need an extreme medical office makeover. This article notes that there are two broad areas of concern in the design of a practice facility — appearance and functionality— and describes how they can aid healing and improve quality of care.
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Reform-driven patient demand – The ripple effects of PPACA are vast
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 1013
Abstract: Apart from the variety of regulatory and reporting requirements imposed on physicians by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), the increased insurance coverage it grants will likely produce a surge in the number of people seeking medical care. This article describes what to expect and lists a number of ways that practices can prepare themselves. A sidebar explains why practices should look at whether their present mix of people, patients, payors, services and facilities is commensurate with what the practice wants to be and wants to achieve in the future.
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Health GPOs continue to change, attract federal scrutiny
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 276
Abstract: Nearly every hospital uses a group purchasing organization (GPO) for at least some of its purchasing needs. In the 1980s and 1990s, the industry consolidated into seven large GPOs to provide national group purchasing services. Now it looks like the industry is changing again as interest in regional and local GPOs grows. This brief article discusses hospitals’ increasingly assertive relationships with GPOs, and federal scrutiny among concerns about whether GPOs produce genuine purchasing savings for their members.
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Greening the hospital: It’s no longer optional
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 782
Abstract: Many hospitals don’t have a complete understanding of the impact their facilities have on the environment, including the presence of toxins, the dollars spent on harmful products and processes, the health effects on patients and employees, the energy efficiency of hospital activities, and the volumes of waste that they disgorge. This article looks at some of the situations that may be present in a hospital and how to address them. These involve a hospital’s supply chains, waste disposal system, facility design and operations, and food service. A sidebar lists three online sources that can help hospitals improve their “environmental health.”
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Is there an ACO in your future? – Understanding the hospital’s role in accountable care organizations
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 1074
Abstract: Health care reform will significantly expand patient access, yet major problems remain with the U.S. health care system. Overall costs are unsustainable, and several health-outcome measures lag behind other industrialized countries. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) includes provisions to address these issues through aggressive promotion of accountable care organizations (ACOs). This article explains what an ACO does, and discusses three PPACA programs that directly affect ACOs. It also suggests how to form an ACO and offers special tips for hospitals. A sidebar looks at legal impediments to forming an ACO.
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Strategies for responding to adverse events
Fall 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 865
Abstract: If a death or serious disability results from a preventable medical error, the potential legal and financial consequences are huge. This article examines the recent history of attempts to identify and prevent “adverse events,” and lists five recommended responses to them. It also discusses the findings of an Office of Inspector General (OIG) study of this issue.
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Practice notes – Incentive payments for “meaningful use” of EHR
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 509
Abstract: CMS is eager for physician practices to deploy electronic health record (EHR) technology as soon as possible. It has proposed two incentive-driven programs — one through Medicare and the other through Medicaid — to encourage “meaningful use” of EHR systems. Physicians are required to participate in one of the programs, and most are expected to choose the Medicare program. This article looks at the “meaningful use” provisions, and the stages in which they’re to be carried out.
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What’s their secret? – Why some practices thrive and others don’t
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 850
Abstract: Top-performing physician practices don’t achieve their success by accident. Outstanding results are the product of regularly measuring financial and other practice performance and taking action to continually improve. Important areas to focus on include charges and collections; patient flow; referral sources; fee schedules; salaries and benefits; and gross collection percentages per payor.
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7 steps to smarter, timelier collections
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 678
Abstract: In times when cash flow may not keep pace with patient flow, it’s important to ensure that one’s practice collects for every procedure and every patient. This article offers seven suggestions, including assigning billing employees to certain insurers; keeping an eye on accounts receivable aging; creating an office manual; and providing performance incentives.
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Medicare fraud and abuse allegations: Minimizing the damage
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Rx for Practice Management / Practice Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 802
Abstract: The complexity and constantly changing nature of the Medicare regulations on prohibited practice behavior makes violations almost inevitable. But the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) offers some safeguards. They include an audit of operating policies and procedures; implementing a training program to familiarize staff with regulations; providing staff with easy methods for reporting potential problems or violations; and uncovering violations before an outsider does. A sidebar to this article discusses how to voluntarily disclose such self-discovered violations.
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How will health care reform affect your hospital? Here are just a few examples
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 296
Abstract: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 will create reforms that indirectly influence every provider and payor entity in the health care system. This short article looks at three of the many ways that hospitals will be affected.
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New standards make qualifying for tax-exempt status harder
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 728
Abstract: True or not, over the last several years, a perception has developed that not-for-profit hospitals and health systems provide no more charity care than their for-profit counterparts. Such thinking has led to increased scrutiny of tax-exempt health care entities and whether they deserve that status. And the recently enacted health care reform along with an Illinois Supreme Court decision in March may make it harder to qualify for tax-exempt status.
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The board’s role in ensuring quality of care
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 943
Abstract: Many factors have converged recently that place quality of care and patient safety at the top of the agenda for hospital governing boards. For example, the health care industry is dealing with the patient safety movement, pay-for-performance plans and stricter government regulations. But what should a board’s role be? The Institute for Healthcare Improvement has created more detailed recommendations for the minimum quality-related activities of governing boards of health care organizations. A sidebar to this article discusses fiduciary duty and quality of care.
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It’s a new day – A look at hospital-physician alignment strategies
Summer 2010
Newsletter: Healthcare Management Advisor
Price: $225.00, Subscriber Price: $157.50
Word count: 1030
Abstract: The forces pushing hospitals and physicians to work together more closely are almost overwhelming. Decreasing reimbursements, increasing costs and growing administrative headaches are leading more physicians to actively seek affiliation with hospitals — from casual physician concerns with hospital strategy and operations to full commingling of interests and activities. There are a number of prominent strategies available, including three joint venture models. These offer tremendous benefits, but many business and legal questions need first be considered.