Sep 18, 2017 | Healthcare |
Thank you for joining us at the OMGMA fall conference last week. It was one of the best Healthcare conferences our team has attended, with powerful keynote speakers and sessions. We had a tremendous turn out for our own session, presented by Brian Newton, CPA and Jeremy Prickel, CPA. It was great to see so many of our clients and congratulations to the winner of our gift basket and our $100 Amazon gift card! We received excellent feedback from everyone on our upcoming webinar series. We hope you are able to join us at our upcoming healthcare webinar scheduled for this Friday September 22nd. To register: Healthcare Webinar: Top 7 Strategies for Successful Billing and Collections We look forward to seeing you at the next...
Jun 27, 2017 | Healthcare |
The July 1, 2017 deadline is quickly approaching to avoid the 2018 penalty imposed by the EHR Incentive Program. Well known medical practice speaker, consultant, and author Elizabeth Woodcock provides a great summary in her recent blog post, including current updates and a link to apply for hardship. If your practice was not successful in reporting Meaningful Use in 2016, don’t miss the opportunity to apply for hardship and avoid penalties. Nicole McOmber, CPA is a Healthcare CPA and the leader of the Jones & Roth Healthcare Team. She specializes in practice management, advisory services, and tax & accounting services for medical practices and clinics across Oregon & Southwest...
Dec 15, 2016 | Healthcare |
by Sophia Bennett Declining reimbursement rates are one of the top problems facing medical clinics today. Given that private and government insurance plans are facing challenges of their own, this trend is likely to continue for a long time. But there are things medical practices can do to combat the problem of shrinking reimbursements—and smaller profits overall. It’s important to really examine and understand your practice’s reimbursement contracts so you’re in a good position to negotiate with insurance companies. And there are other things medical practices can do to keep expenses low and the bottom line looking healthy. Jeremy Prickel and Nicole McOmber with Jones & Roth CPAs and Business Advisors, one of Oregon’s largest CPA firms, share several of the tips they give clients looking to save money while never compromising patient care. Be Proactive about Contract Negotiations When it comes to securing better reimbursement rates from insurance companies, there are several things medical practices can do to put themselves in a powerful position. McOmber points out that it’s important to be proactive about when it’s time to negotiate. That way, if you feel like you’re getting a bad deal, you can take the first available opportunity to approach the insurance company and ask for a better rate. To determine what that rate should be, and make the case for why you need it, pull all your existing contracts and “really comb through them to determine who your higher volume payers are,” McOmber says. “That will help your practice analyze your entire contract situation and determine where you need to dive deeper.” If an insurance company really isn’t...
Dec 7, 2016 | Healthcare, Webinar |
Webinar: “Benchmarking Your Key Performance Indicators” Presenters: Jeremy Prickel, CPA & Brian Newton, CPA View Webinar Many practice managers do not perform any kind of benchmarking and therefore never realize the true potential of their practice. With minimal improvements, a practice can see a significant increase in cash flow and a better bottom line. In this complimentary webinar, you’ll learn the 10 most important figures that every healthcare practice should be benchmarking on a regular basis. Benchmarking is the process of comparing your practice data to data from other, similar practices, and using the outcome to determine how your practice is performing. When you have benchmarking data, especially on a continuing basis, you are able to identify problems that need to be addressed, find appropriate solutions, and then monitor the success of the changes. About the Presenters: Jeremy Prickel, CPA is a partner and shareholder at Jones & Roth. His practice specializes in working with a wide variety of healthcare companies including medical and dental clinics. Jeremy is a member of the Medical Group Managers Association and the American College of Medical Practice Executives and is often called upon to be a featured speaker at medical conferences across the Northwest. Brian Newton, CPA is a partner and shareholder at Jones & Roth. He is a healthcare specialist working with both for-profit and nonprofit healthcare organizations. Brian holds expert knowledge working with Federally Qualified Health Centers across the Northwest and is often called upon to be a featured speaker at FQHC conferences across the...
Nov 29, 2016 | Healthcare |
On November 2, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Final Rule for 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. It will be important for all practices and specialties to review the CMS ruling to see how they will be affected in the coming year. Elizabeth Woodcock’s newsletter article is a good overview of some of the changes. Many of our clients will see positive and negative changes in the CMS release. The following are some of the changes outlined in the release and in Elizabeth Woodcock’s newsletter article: 2017 MPFS conversion factor (CF) increased to $35.89 (2016 CF $35.80) Ophthalmology and Urology see 2% reduction Behavioral health sees new benefits in payment policies and new codes Film-based imaging must use modifier –FX and will result in a 20% reduction in payment Certain surgeons preforming select, high-volume, high-cost surgeries will be required to report post-operative care Elliott Tracy, CPA is a Healthcare CPA and a member of the Jones & Roth Healthcare Team. He specializes in practice management, advisory services, and tax & accounting services for medical practices and clinics across Oregon & Southwest...
Nov 28, 2016 | Healthcare |
This year, the number of requests we received from clients and prospects asking for help with reimbursements, adjustments, and collections reached an all-time high. In 2015, some of our clients saw their most profitable years and felt their practice was headed in the right direction. ICD-10 did not cause the end of the world, practices were receiving incentives for complying with meaningful use, and many were receiving the incentives as a patient-centered medical home. So what has happened in 2016 that has changed the outlook of our healthcare clients? Medical Economics published an article in December 2015 called “Top 10 Challenges Facing Physicians in 2016”, which highlights many of the same issues our clients are talking about: Patients are choosing remote care versus going into the doctor’s office. Expenses to run a practice continue to rise. The threat of a data breach and compliance with HIPAA is causing a significant cost increase to practices. The US Department of Health and Human Services are pushing for a transition from volume to value-based outcomes. Physicians believe they are losing or delaying reimbursements by not using the right ICD-10 code and/or quality metric. I believe the primary reason for the increased demand for support on these issues is the final bullet point referenced—physicians are recognizing the increased complexity related to reimbursements and are not confident that everything is being done properly. Our guidance is this: It is important for every practice to continually review their revenue cycle and look for ways to optimize. Trying to predict or forecast for cash flow is so important in a medical practice and optimizing your revenue...
