Interesting Social Media Facts

• Facebook alone has more than 300 million active users and HALF of those users log in on any given day.
• 20% of US adults use Twitter or some similar “status update service” (Pew Research Center).
• 77% of active Internet users read blogs.
• More than 4 in 5 bloggers post product or brand reviews and blog about products they love or hate.
• 27 billion people—11% of all internet users—consumed podcasts in 2009.
• By 2013, podcast consumption is predicted to exceed 37 billion users, which is projected to be about 17% of all Internet users.
• The top 5 article sites attract 20 million viewers per month.
• The top 10 social bookmarking sites attract more than 80 million visitors each month.

New Beginnings Chiropractic Philosophy Weekends: New Beginnings - April 8,9,10, 2011

New Beginnings Chiropractic Philosophy Weekends: New Beginnings - April 8,9,10, 2011: "Speaker Schedule: Click Registration: * CLICK Location: Ocean Place Resort & Spa One Ocean Boulevard Long Branch, NJ 07740 732-571-40..."

Chiropractic Billing Precision - Software and Office Management Systems: Chiropractic Office - Billing Precision Building a...

Chiropractic Billing Precision - Software and Office Management Systems: Chiropractic Office - Billing Precision Building a...: "A lot of doctors ask questions like why is growing a practice so hard? Why is taking care of patients so hard? And there are three things y..."

Chiropractic Software Revolution: Part 1 - The Network Effect

We've all heard of the "social network" by now. I was thinking about chiropractic practice management software and chiropractic billing software the other day, sad but true, and how web-based software could be used to build, not a social network, but a chiropractic "profitability network". Then it hit me. I came right back to chiropractic philosophy.

Shared Immunity
One of the central philosophies of chiropractic is that illness is a function of the resistance level of the body's immune system, not the strength or amount of the "germ". Medicine still subscribes to the "germ theory". If you come in contact with a germ you get sick. Chiropractors know that the symptoms, though uncomfortable, are a necessary part of the immune response and ultimately lead to a stronger immune system. Well, could you imagine if we could share one immune system. If you were to get "sick" my immune system would be updated with all of the antibodies that had to be developed to fight your infection. Best part, I would have NONE of the suffering. That would be great! We would all suffer much less as a group. Even cancer rates would be decreased since some immune systems are better than others at fighting cancer. The down side would be someone has to suffer when a new mutation of a virus or bacteria comes along. So what, if anything, does this have to do with chiropractic practice management software or chiropractic billing software? Stay with me I'm getting there.

Chiropractic Software
In recent years there has been a shift for software that you buy and store on your computer (client-server) and internet based/ web-based software (SaaS). More and more people are realizing the benefits of the web-based type software. We've seen how web-based software like Facebook has changed the way we communicate. When it comes to chiropractic the web-based software has certain unique advantages that make its value so high that I wonder why anyone would buy a client server software again. To help you understand this from the chiropractic practice management and billing software point of view let's use an example as a reference point for future discussions.
Reference Point - The Insurance Billing Problem
Insurance companies can make as much as 50% of their profit on the "float". That is interest and dividends earned on money that is sitting in their bank account because of payment delay tactics when really it should be in the doctors collective bank account. They take that money and re-invest it in insurance audits and make another 13:1 return on investment. So fist they delay paying you and then they take it back. Their methods of delay are many but here are a few; complicated coding, ambiguous documentation requirements, line item denials, underpayments, etc. The point here is they make the rules and we have to keep up. If and when we get them on the phone we are talking to a resource who is overseas and being paid $1 per hour. How can we collectively level the playing field? That takes me back to the shared immune system.

Old Software (Client-server) Vs New Software (Web-based) First we need to realize that for the greater good, sometimes, someone has to get sick. How does that apply to software? It just so happens that when you are using a web-based software for chiropractic insurance billing you are sharing your information with the other doctors using the software. It is not like the other docs see your insurance claims but the data is shared. Patient Demographics are safe and HIPAA compliance is safe. For example, if/when Medicare changes the diagnosis order requirements in one state. Suddenly they want a 739 code in position one. Since, in theory, all doctors would be on this web-based system in that state their data would be looked at as a whole. A spike in medicare denials would show.

1. With the older type of software, client-server, each chiropractic office in that state would have to investigate the problem independently. This wastes lots of man hours and results would vary from practice to practice. The time it would take would vary from practice to practice. In most cases it will be months before the office realizes a cash flow problem tied to medicare claims and come up with some type of office procedure to make sure it does not happen again. The process is likely a manual one and therefore prone to human error. It is unreliable. The software company does not have access to thousands of claims and probably does not care anyway. They are not going to help develop protection against this billing error. You already paid for the system so why would they redevelop software? In this case you fight against huge insurance companies with powerful technology and unlimited resources as small individual practices. Your immune system is numbered and out matched.
2. With the new web-based software one resource can do the investigation from one location. Fees for web based systems are usually on a monthly basis rather than a one time fee. The software company need to keep its clients happy so they need to constantly update the system. Since there are thousands of claims aggregated from across the state a spike in Medicare denials shows up on the radar instantly. The new 739 rule is discovered with just one person doing the investigation, an expert, not a part time biller. A counter rules is built into the technology (the antibody) alerting the doctor to make the change before submitting the claim. Even if he/she accidentally submits incorrectly the system recognizes it and pushes the claim back to the office for correction before submission. Instantly all doctors using the system are immune to this particular problem. As time goes by hundreds of tactical attacks from the insurance company are deployed. They are all caught and dealt with in a similar manner. Rules and work flow are built into the system to help the doctors using it fight back. In this case we fight the insurance companies as a unified front using technology to create economies of scale and beating the insurance companies at their own game.

Summary
In the technology world the term for the group of doctors using a web based system like the one described above is the "network". We've all heard of the "social network" by now. Well this an example of a "billing network". What is described above is the "Network Effect". It is revolutionizing the way we communicate socially and the way technology is developed, especially chiropractic practice management software and chiropractic billing software. In this case it is changing the way chiropractic billing services are doing business as well. The above example focuses on the billing network and specifically using it to defend against insurance company tactics. The truth is the attack on your office profitability is a multi-front war. Documentation, compliance, patient flow, no show management, care plan management, are also areas where it benefits you to be on a network. Without one system controlling and coordinating all of these systems for your practice and at the same time evolving in real time based on user input, you stand to fight alone. Web based system not only function like an immune system but in the bigger picture as the CNS for chiropractic office profitability. In future articles I will discuss each front of the war individually and in more detail.

Billing Precision, LLC, is a leading-edge chiropractic office profitability management solution. Its all-in-one Internet-based system includes accountable and transparent billing service, state-of-art touch-screen SOAP notes, advanced patient scheduling, and real-time monitoring for compliance and audit exposure. Billing Precision's unique value stems from its ability to level the playing field with payers and get chiropractors paid in full and on time by capitalizing on modern Internet technology and billing network effect.

More at http://billingprecision.com/Practice-Management-Software.php
http://chiropracticbillingprecision.blogspot.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brian_Capra

Medicare - Should you do Re-Exams within the first 2 weeks?

Today I was asked if it is true that you must do a re-exam on a patient within two weeks of them starting.  Here was my answer.

So 2 things. 

1. What codes, modifiers, re exam frequency, etc get me paid fastest and the most
2. What happens when they want a different code, modifier, etc.  How will effect my payment and how will I know.

The later, I feel, is the bigger question. If we look at this from the principle of "their main goal is to delay payment", we can see they set these rules up to be complicated, creating delay. More importantly so they can change the rules without you knowing and in turn, create more delays.  If you look at this through chiro colored glasses you quickly see that what me need is not the quick fix of the week, the magic pill/code/billing trick, we need a system that is self regulating.  We need a system that is like an immune system against insurance company antics. 

Now, insurance reimbursement, coding, billing, compliance, documentation are part or the billing topic.  The bigger topic is overall practice profitability.  Many other things cause practices to lose profit.  The typical way a doctor combats this is hire a biller, by a scheduling system, buy a note system, hire a compliance expert, etc and then use those systems independently without sharing their knowledge with other practices.  They treat each problem independently.  This is a very mechanistic approach to running a business. Today we have technology that allows us to apply a more vitalistic approach.  In reality what we need is one system with a central database so that what is learned in one practice can instantly be applied to all practices on the network.  When, not if, Medicare tweaks a rule we learn it, build in a validation that turns red as soon as the doctor makes the mistake, and prevents it from happening ever again, in any practice using the system.  We apply it to the central system so ALL providers have this instantly!  That same system measures patient compliance to care plans, no shows, products sold, visits with documentation, audit red flags, effectively controlling and coordinating all aspects of practice profitability.  Since the database is centralized all aspects are improved incrementally and the progressive improvements are shared across every provider instantly.

So again we need a immune system against insurance company methodology but also a CNS that controls an coordinates all aspects of practice profitability.  Why?  To save more lives. 

To answer your question about re-exams, yes, I have heard where this has caused problems in some, not all, cases.  My concern is not the once off little games Medicare might play.  It is understanding the environment we are in.  The game that is being played.   When they understand the principles they can see the solution as well as see the bigger picture more clearly.  If they do not I think they will always chase the quick fix, ironically.

One last important point to add.   If you understood this you realize that the only way to learn what the insurance company has done is by seeing it in data.  A huge spike in Medicare denials might tip us off that something is up.  The there would need to be research into the problem and then technology development.  Then and only then everyone benefits.  So it is true that someone needs to jump on the grenade for the greater good.  There is no way to predict who it will be.  The only question is if you are choosing to fight alone and keep what you learn to yourself or share what you learned with everyone else and visa versa.

Chiropractic Office - Billing Precision Building a Successful Practice - Dr. Troy Dreiling

A lot of doctors ask questions like why is growing a practice so hard? Why is taking care of patients so hard? And there are three things you really got to focus on. Number one, we got to focus on treating the patients. Number two, we got to focus on growing the practice well, how you do that; marketing and different things like that to grow the practice. And then lastly is getting paid and being in compliance.

We love treating patients. As doctors we just love to treat patients; that’s why we got into chiropractic what we got into this profession to take care of patients. We don’t care if it’s hard. We love to serve the patients but there are some skills we’ve got to work on and focus on and develop so we can continue doing what we love. So growing your practice is a learned skill, you just don’t come out of school open the doors and patients flood to you. You’ve got to develop how to grow and how to focus on implementing and growing your practice.

Getting paid, that’s a challenge in today’s economy and market, getting paid for your services. Some of the patients don’t want to pay; they don’t want to pay your full fee your full service. Insurance companies don’t want to pay. Well speaking of that, insurance companies they make money on the float meaning, you’ve taken care of the patient, you’ve provided services and if you’re billing insurance they get paid or they make money on floating the money that they owe you and, you know, the game is interesting. It’s stacked towards the dealer, meaning the insurance company, they do different things to help them hold on to their money so that they don’t have to release it to you, after you’ve provided the service, you’ve worked hard, you’ve taken care of the patient, the patient is satisfied, but yet they’re floating the money they owe you.

That’s why if you want to succeed you want to save more lives you want to help more sick people get well in your office, we have to have the documentation system, that’s no nonsense, that’s fast, it’s compliance, secondly we have to have a scheduling system that can keep patients on track, that can help you see what people are missing. And then lastly is we want to level the playing field and at the end of the day know and rest assured that that billing is going to be taken care of and that check’s coming in the mail sooner than later, not on the float, not on the time that they send you paperwork to try to, you know, slow down the claim but you know you’re on top of your game.

-  Dr. Troy Dreiling

Chiropractic Patient Compliance - Loyalty Management - Dr. Troy Dreiling

Let’s talk about managing your practice and growing your practice and looking at patient loyalty. That’s key. If you have loyal patients, that’s going to help you keep a stable practice, keep a solid practice. It’s going to help you grow, going to help you provide better for your family, have a great living.

Three things. Number one, appointments. You got to have patients, and they got to have appointments whether it’s twice a week, three times a week, daily. You’ve got to keep on track with those. If they’re missing, billing precision will let us know they’re missing. We follow up 15 minutes later with a phone call. We can put a note in there. We can reschedule them for the next day so we can keep on track with the patient’s commitment to your visit frequency.

So, a patient no-show is not just a missed visit. It’s a loss of compliance with the patient. It’s a loss of patient loyalty, and it’s a downturn. And so, the key with billing precision is managing those no-shows. The system does it very easily, very simply to keep us on track. You’ve seen a high volume of patients. You have a 120 schedule and a 30 missed. I mean that’s 25% of your practice that disappeared that day.

Secondly is if they are missing, we can track that. We can follow, and then, we can look at patient loyalty and see where they’re going. You can also set up patient call reminder so you’re reminding patients automatically of their visits. So, you can continue to build that success with practice. You went to school for 8 to 10 years to become a doctor. You need some tools to help you become more successful.

And lastly, this has happened many times. Patients were coming in, they’ve got an unpaid balance, nobody asked them, they didn’t say anything. Billing Precision, the computer I swiped in, it will have the front desk, “Hey, you’ve got an outstanding balance. So, it does it automatically for you. Just with a click of a button, if the credit card is set up in there, you can bill it. Right there, go. You charge to credit card. So, you’re collecting these unpaid balances on a regular basis.

So, putting the appointments in, keeping on track and no-shows, and collecting any unpaid balances. Those are the keys to having a more successful, more profitable practice.

www.BillingPrecision.com