Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family Practice

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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice
Rising operational costs, changed payer policies,
decreasing reimbursement, and increased
compliances adversely affect the financial health
of the family practice. In addition, operational
inefficiencies and waste cut even deeper into
profits and income. The presence of a certain
amount of each factor is inherent in any family
practice. In this blog, we shared ways your
family practice might be losing money and
prevention tips that can help you maintain the
financial health of your practice. Efficient
Family Practice Billing Medical billing and
coding are the backbones of the revenue cycle of
your family practice. Following bad billing
practices might create unnecessary financial
losses. Bad billing is caused more often by the
incompetence of your in-house staff. For example,
front desk staff may fail to verify and document
patient demographics and insurance details. Due
to this, claims may be sent late or to the wrong
payer and patients may walk out without being
billed properly. You have Bad to familiarize
yourself with proper billing practices and need
to enforce them in your practice. Basic billing
activities like confirming insurance coverage,
processing new claims, and following up on
past-due
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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice
accounts has to be done as per quality standards.
At the end of the week, review reports of the
practices charges, collections, adjustments,
and accounts receivable for unexplained changes
or trends.  We shared ways to Maintain the
Financial Health of Your Family
Practice Accurate Coding The next most common
way to maintain the financial health of your
family practice is to code accurately. Most
family physicians fail to keep their coding
knowledge up-to-date, resulting in reduced
reimbursement and delayed or denied claims. Some
family physicians under-code, fearing the
penalties for over-coding and unbundling. Leaving
coding completely to the support staff could lead
to lots of errors since they dont know what
actually occurred in the exam room. Medical
coding guidelines and payer policies update
regularly, you need ongoing continuing education.
Periodically you can have a coding audit done by
an experienced consultant. Frequent coding audits
will suggest a more accurate diagnosis, and
procedure codes and will also check the
documentation as per industry standards. 
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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice
Updated Fee Schedules Many family physicians
think that fee schedules no longer matter in this
age of discounted medicine, but even in a
capitated environment, you cant calculate a
fee-for-service equivalent to evaluate a plans
PMPM reimbursement without an accurate,
up-to-date fee schedule. Some practices base
their fees on a whim or on Medicare
reimbursement. Others base their fees according
to the results of a survey of what nearby
physicians charge, which tends to result in
localized, informal fee freezes since the same
groups just keep comparing fees with each other
year after year. Fee schedules that are not based
on the resource-based relative value scale
(RBRVS) often result in fees that are set too
high or too low. And just one underpriced service
could cost your practice thousands of dollars
each year. Update your fees annually on your own
or with the help of a consultant.  Avoid
Excessive Overtime Wrong resource planning and
providing excessive overtime can cost family
practices thousands of dollars per year. Overtime
is a fact of life for most family practices, it
can and should be tightly controlled. At
time-and-a-half pay, every hour of overtime could
have been replaced by 1.5 hours of work at
regular pay by another
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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice
person or by an alternate schedule. Often, staff
will work overtime unnecessarily, such as when
reliable staff members all stay late while the
last patient is seen. Adjust staff schedules to
minimize overtime, such as with the use of split
shifts or 10-hour days. You can have only one
staff person stay to assist in exiting the last
patient. Always insist on pre-approving all
overtime and always stick to the staffing
budget. Outsourcing your medical billing and
coding activities to a medical billing company
could be a great way to maintain the financial
health of your family practice. MBC offers
experienced medical coders and billers who will
handle complete revenue cycle activities for your
practice. Periodic reporting will give you an
exact idea about the financial health of your
practice. With all billing worries removed, you
can focus on patient care. To know more
about family practice medical billing and coding
services, contact us at info_at_medicalbillersandcode
rs.com/888-357-3226
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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice

• FAQs
• What does it mean to maintain financial health
  for my family practice?
• Keeping your family practice financially healthy
  means managing your money well so your practice
  can run smoothly. It involves things like
  budgeting, saving, and making smart financial
  decisions.
• How can I budget effectively for my family
  practice?
• Start by keeping track of your practices income
  and expenses. Set aside money for regular bills
  like rent, utilities, and salaries. Also, plan
  for unexpected expenses by building an emergency
  fund.
• Why is it important to monitor cash flow in my
  family practice?
• Monitoring cash flow helps you know how much
  money is coming in and going out of your
  practice. It ensures you have enough funds to
  cover expenses and can help you spot any
  financial problems early on.

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Maintaining Financial Health of Your Family
Practice

• What are some ways to increase revenue for my
  family practice?
• You can increase revenue by offering additional
  services, attracting more patients through
  marketing efforts, and negotiating better
  reimbursement rates with insurance companies.
• How can I manage debt effectively for my family
  practice?
• Start by prioritizing high-interest debts and
  paying them off as quickly as possible. Consider
  consolidating debt or negotiating payment plans
  with creditors to make it more manageable.
• Should I consider hiring a financial advisor for
  my family practice?
• Hiring a financial advisor can be beneficial,
  especially if youre unsure about managing your
  practices finances. They can provide expert
  advice and help you create a solid financial plan
  for your practices future.