Practice Improvement/Revenue Growth Opportunities
Change can be overwhelming. Overworked, overtired, and stretched to the limit? Don’t have time or energy to dissect the details? Some pack it in, retire early. Others give up their independence and join a large health care system. If you are interested in continuing your practice, regardless of the size of your business, MDcpas can guide you to success with our accounting/business expertise and health IT/practice transformation expert physician consultants.
Traditional Revenue Opportunities
Growth can be the key to success for many businesses: more clients (patients) and more employees (providers/staff) to service them. Increased capacity translates into increased revenue. Focus on medicine – we can guide you to run an efficient business so you can focus on your patients.
Patient Base:
- Don’t have the time to see more patients? Not interested in more work? Let us show you how to create efficiencies in your practice so you can either get home earlier or add a couple of patients per day and increase revenue.
- The Affordable Care Act will be providing insurance options for large numbers of uninsured and underinsured who will need a primary-care provider.
- Many “healthy” baby boomers who have done their best to avoid routine healthcare over the years are going to seek primary-care services as their health declines.
Expansion Options:
- With our professional practice management support, your business can thrive in the new, evolving healthcare environment.
- Many smaller practices are nervous about change. It may be time to team up, collaborate, add more physicians to share resources and grow your practice. We can show you how to do that successfully.
- Consider adding PAs or NPs – Let us review the pros and cons from a business model. Many practices have proven that you get more than a return on your investment if you structure extenders appropriately.
- Primary care is a hot commodity in 21st-century medicine. Government and commercial payers are finally recognizing that PCPs are critical to the future of medicine. Substantial funding is flowing into primary care to support EMR implementation, practice transformation to improve efficiency and funding to recognize and support quality. Practice as usual is not sensible, and fee for service is running on fumes. You need to adapt to the evolving playing field, take advantage of opportunities to improve your practice/business and reap the financial reward.
Funding Initiatives
- Some require careful planning, time and financial investment, but others do not. You should be taking advantage of established funding opportunities, many of which are very straightforward and require little investment of time or money.
Meaningful Use
The funding for Medicare applicants is fading, but those who qualify for Medicaid funds have several more years to participate. This is a substantial undertaking but will position your practice for the future.
Details of the program:
This is real money. For a snapshot of funding states received in 2011 and 2012, view this reference:
Medicare Primary Care Incentive Payments (PCIP) – A bonus on top of fee-for-service.
Medicare Annual Wellness Exams (AWV)
These exams are separate and in addition to the routine E&M visits. Learn the details, arrange your workflow to be able to address the necessary components of these exams and with a few extra minutes of care and documentation, you can double the reimbursement for visits.
Medicare Advantage plans may permit combining the AWV with Physical Exams – Check with your regional payer to take advantage of these revenue opportunities.
Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS)
The bonuses are decreasing, but penalties will be imposed if you are not participating in the future. With several reporting methods available and the requirement for only several measures, you should be participating in this quality initiative.
- http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/PQRS/
- http://www.acponline.org/running_practice/payment_coding/pqrs/
Transitional Care Coding
See your patients following an inpatient stay and you can now bill for all the work you do ensuring safe transition and coordinating care.
New Revenue Opportunities
Shared Savings, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) – CMS and commercial insurers
- http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/sharedsavingsprogram/index.html?redirect=/SharedSavingsProgram/
- http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Comprehensive-Primary-Care-Initiative/New-York.html
- http://www.commonwealthfund.org/~/media/Files/Publications/Fund%20Report/2012/Aug/1624_Bailit_shared_savings_payment_arrangements_six_case_studies.pdf
Position Yourself for the Future
Regardless of which initiatives you pursue now, you need to improve your situation so you are able to participate in future revenue models.
Make the transition to electronic records or expand your use of your EMR
Review your data for quality improvement and external quality reporting
Develop a Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH)
- http://www.acponline.org/running_practice/delivery_and_payment_models/pcmh/
- http://www.ncqa.org/Programs/Recognition/PatientCenteredMedicalHomePCMH.aspx
Build a clinical team to support you, your practice and your patients
- http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1737233
- http://www.nationalahec.org/pdfs/VSRT-Team-Based-Care-Principles-Values.pdf
Connect with your state’s Health Information Exchange (HIE) to share data and coordinate care.
We are here to help define your current and future practice needs to ensure your success. For a complimentary consultation on how to increase the financial success of your internal medicine practice, please provide the "Quick Contact" information on the sidebar, and we will contact you to schedule a free consultation. We serve the communities of Manhattan, New Hyde Park, Manhasset, Hauppauge, Syosset, New York, Garden City, Great Neck and nearby areas.
