Top 5 Practice Management Pearls

As a medical consultant and practice manager, I am often asked, “What are your top management pearls?”

Without further ado, here are my top 5:

1. Do insurance verification

Always collect insurance information over the phone from a patient. Always call and check benefits for standard procedures or DME that will be dispensed. Know a patient’s deductible/co-insurance and benefits. No exceptions.

2. Collect payment at the time of service

Don’t just collect copays. If a patient has a deductible or co-insurance, this must be paid at the time of service. If a patient comes in with a five-thousand-dollar deductible and has a nail avulsion performed or a cam walker dispensed, you must collect money for that item or procedure. Don’t let money walk out the door and hope the patient will pay it later. Do you go to the grocery store and tell them to bill you? Stop allowing your patients to do this! You cannot see patients for free.

3. Develop in-office protocols

Develop protocols for each procedure a physician does. Protocols must be complete with who what when and where.

• What information is being collected and documented?
• Who is performing the task?
• When are those tasks being performed and in what order?
• What supplies, paperwork, and consents are needed?
• When do patients return to the clinic (follow-up appointment)?

4. Continuously analyze your data

Do you know:

• What your A/R looks like?
• The amount of your expenses?
• How much money is in collections?
• What insurances continuously deny services?

Most doctors have no idea that insurance X is only paying $300 for that bunion surgery or that total patient accounts are over $200,000. You are running a business. You must spend time looking at and analyzing your data.

5. Work smarter, not harder

Are you using your time effectively? Are there additional revenue streams that you can implement? Are there additional revenue streams that you can implement? For example, if you provide wound care, are you dispensing wound care supplies? Did you know that an AMERX 30-Day Collagen Powder Wound Care Kit has a total reimbursement of $1,104? Not only can you earn more money for your services, but you will be practicing better patient care.

Get insurance information, get paid, have protocols, know your numbers, and work more effectively and you and your practice will become more successful.

In Conclusion

Get insurance information, get paid, have protocols, know your numbers, and work more effectively and you and your practice will become more successful.

For more information on any of these five pearls fill out the contact form below.