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INSURANCE MONEY WON’T PAY YOUR BILLS ANYMORE, DOC!

16 Jun

I was told today by a doctor that he refrains from pushing too hard to collect from a patient who owes him money, because of all the money he makes on the patient from insurance companies.  He is willing to write off patient balances, to keep making insurance money from the patient visits, and doesn’t want to offend the patient into leaving the practice by insisting he pay his bill.

This is the general attitude many doctors had 25-30 years ago.  It may have had some validity back them but times have changed!  Insurance money alone will not keep your doors open and your lights on any more doc.  You are putting your practice in jeopardy by not seeing what is happening around you!

High deductible health plans are the norm these days, and co-insurance is rising all the time.  Despite what the government tells us, there are more and more patients who do not have insurance, or have adequate insurance.  Self pay is now the highest payer in the medical world behind Medicare and Medicaid, and it is catching up fast.  According to recent statistics, patient balances now represent over 35% of a doctors income and soon, if major changes aren’t made, will be over 50%.

You can’t wish it away, or ignore it away.  You MUST find a way to motivate patients to pay you, and pay you faster than before.

Medicine, whether you like or not, or understand it or not, is a business.  You are trading a service for money, and the patient knows it.  They also know when you are leaving them alone about their bill so that you can continue to collect insurance money. Not only do they know, but guess who they tell?  EVERYBODY!!!  And guess what happens?  You get all the patients who don’t want to pay their bills.  Great!  Until, that is, until you watch your patient A/R go through the roof.  By the time you see this happen, you are already in trouble.

Don’t waste time.  There are automated tools to help your practice both maintain your good relationships with your patients, AND get them to pay you their portion of the bill sooner.  Call me today at 888-780-1333 and I will tell you about them.  Isn’t it worth 20-30 minutes of your time to keep the lights on in your practice over the long haul?

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IS INSURANCE FOLLOW-UP EATING YOUR STAFF TIME?  

22 May

Insurance companies have a vested interest in paying your practice as slowly as possible. They will delay, deny, and “on-hold” you to death just to keep your money a few days longer and earn interest on that money.

Living “on-hold” with insurance companies seems to be a way of life for some of your office staff, as clerks search for the claims about which you call them. Sitting and waiting while they look up claims is costing you big time, not just in employee salaries, but also in lost productive time.

What if there was a highly effective, inexpensive way to motivate insurance companies to contact you regarding those claims? What if you didn’t have to waste the time of your employees “on-hold?” What if you could get an answer or your money more quickly?

Transworld Systems has a unique Insurance Resolution service that you can use to make these things a reality. For a low flat fee per claim, you can have us contact the insurance companies for you. When the insurance companies are contacted by a third party such as Transworld Systems, they will treat it with much higher priority than they will when they are contacted by your practice or a hospital. When receiving a third party inquiry, they are required by their by-laws to escalate the inquiry to a supervisor, and then have the supervisor contact your practice to resolve the claim.

It’s quick, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy. And best of all, you can have your “on-hold” person spend their time on something less frustrating and more profitable for your practice.

It is just one of a whole suite of services that Transworld Systems can provide for your practice to help you get paid faster by both patients and insurance companies. Contact me for a free 30 minute, on-line, demonstration of their services and a no-obligation analysis of your Accounts Receivable.

Email me today at david.wiener@transworldsystems.com or call me directly at 888-780-1333.

Is It Time To Dismount?

5 May

My father was a wise man. He used to tell me, “If you find out that your horse has died, it is a good idea to dismount.”

I’ve found, in my experience, that many medical and dental practices are riding a dead horse, and it is definitely time to dismount.

How many things in your practice are being done the same way they were 20 years ago? 10 years? 5 years? If you are like most practices, your answer will be “nothing!” But, if you think about it, the one thing that is being done the same way it has been for a long time is the way you collect money from patients and insurance companies that owe you money.

Sending a monthly statement, and calling (when you get the time to do so) does not work any more to motivate your slow pay and delinquent patients to pay your bill. Calling, waiting on hold, and nagging insurance companies doesn’t get you paid on time either. And do you have any idea how much having employees on hold that long will cost you in a month?

Over the years, we have determined that there are four distinct types of patient payers. Each one requires a different approach to motivate them to pay you, and it is a mistake to treat all of them the same. It is hard, if not impossible, for you to determine which is which quickly and inexpensively in-house.

We have also found a much more economical and effective way to motivate the insurance companies who are dragging their feet, making excuses, and ignoring your calls to get you paid faster.

Transworld Systems can help you update and automate your A/R processes for both insurance and patients. The cost will normally be less than what you are paying now to do what you do in-house, and the results will be MUCH better than riding a “dead horse.”

Contact David Wiener at 888-780-1333 or email me at david.wiener@transworldsystems.com

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Medical and Dental Practices: Is insurance follow-up eating up your staff time?

11 Feb

Insurance companies have a vested interest in paying your practice as slowly as possible. They will delay, deny, and “on-hold” you to death just to keep your money a few days longer and earn interest on that money.

 

Living “on-hold” with insurance companies seems to be a way of life for some of your office staff, as clerks search forever for claim information. Sitting and waiting while they look up claims is costing you big time, not just in employee salaries, but also in lost productive time.

 

What if there was a highly effective, inexpensive way to motivate insurance companies to contact you regarding those claims? What if you didn’t have to waste the time of your employees “on-hold?” What if you could get an answer or your money more quickly?

 

Transworld Systems, a sponsored program with the AMA, a Preferred Vendor with the MGMA, and the largest collector of medical debt in the US, has a unique Insurance Resolution service that you can use to make these things a reality. For a low flat fee per claim, you can have them contact the insurance companies for you. When the insurance companies are contacted by a third party such as Transworld Systems, they will treat the inquiry with much higher priority than they will when they are contacted by your practice or a hospital. When receiving a third party inquiry, they are required to escalate the inquiry to a supervisor, and then have the supervisor contact your practice to resolve the claim.

It’s quick, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy. And best of all, you can have your “on-hold” person spend their time on something less frustrating and more profitable for your practice.

It is just one of a whole suite of services that Transworld Systems can provide for your practice to help you get paid faster by both patients and insurance companies. Contact me for a free 30 minute demonstration of their services and a no-obligation analysis of your Accounts Receivable. Call me at 888-780-1333, or email me at davidhwiener@gmail.com.

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EHR users investing more in patient portals, mobile access | Medical Economics

14 Jun

Here’s a good article from Medical Economics.

I still think that practices are concerned about meaningful use.  I see many who are moving to new EMR software to ensure being ready for meaningful use.  What about you?  Have you seen them same thing?

If you are looking for a new EMR systems, contact me.  I can get you some pretty significant discounts on your new software.

EHR users investing more in patient portals, mobile access | Medical Economics.

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Shopping For An EMR System?

12 Feb

Many practices, eager to get into the EMR incentives early, are now finding that they need to change systems to keep up with meaningful use criteria.  Others, who were slow to adopt EMR, are now scrambling to choose the right system for their practice.  Here are some suggestions that might be helpful as you evaluate potential EMR/EHR systems for your practice:

EVALUATE THE EMR VENDOR

Be sure to check out referrals and references for this particular vendor.  What is their level of experience?  How many installs do they have?  What specialties do they specialize in and what specialties do they have little experience with?  What size practice do they typically install?  Do they have certified products for 2014?  Have they merged or acquired other vendors recently?  What other products do they offer?  Is the EMR/EHR product their main source of business, or is it just an add-on product to their main product line?

EVALUATE THE SYSTEM

How many installs and conversions has this system accomplished?  How many physicians and non-physician practitioners have used, and are currently using, this system.  Is this system integrated with a practice management system, or is it a standalone product that can be integrated with different PM software systems?  If this is a standalone product, what is the cost and the process to integrate the system with current PM systems?  Is there migration and integration assistance?  How long has the system been in active use?  Are there guarantees?

SEE THE PRODUCT IN ACTION

If at all possible, observe other practices that are using the system.  Be detailed.

If you are currently in the market for a new PM system and/or EMR/EHR system, I would like to be of help to you.  There is no cost for the consultation.  In most cases, I can make recommendations to you for systems that would specifically match your practice size, specialties and needs.  Through my contacts in the business, I can also arrange demos for you of systems that would be appropriate for your needs.

This consultation can be accomplished through a brief phone conversation.  I welcome the opportunity to help.  Respond to me through the form at the bottom of this blog, or give me a call at 888-780-1333.

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A Warning You Need to Read: Don’t Believe in Something For Nothing!

14 Jan

Many businesses have been told by their collection agency that they can provide free collections to them simply by adding the percentage fee onto the debtor’s balance as “the cost of collections”  In other words, promising prospective customers “something for nothing.”  With the high cost of collection agencies, this is a very tempting offer for a business who needs to collect their money and hesitates at paying an agency their typical 30-50% fee for collecting.

DON’T BELIEVE IT!!

First of all, the match doesn’t work anyway.  If the fee is 50% and the agency or the client adds the 50% back into the bill before it is collected, the client will only receive 50% of the new balance, which is not the full amount (only 75% of the original bill)

More importantly than that, the agency is tempting you to violate Federal Laws against usury.  The agency is setting themselves, AND POTENTIALLY YOU, up for a law suit and stiff fines and penalties.  Even if you put a statement to that effect into your financial policy, you may not charge these percentages to recoup your collection fees.

Please take a moment to read this article, copied from the ACA International (American Collector’s Association) website about a recent court case against such an unscrupulous agency.

Court Rules Against Collecting Percentage-Based Fees

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that charging consumers a percentage
of their account balance as a collection fee is a violation of the FDCPA unless
the consumer explicitly agreed to pay a percentage-based fee.

In a Jan. 2, 2014, ruling, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a collection
agency may not collect a fee based on a percentage of the account balance if the
original contract between the consumer and creditor did not specify the consumer
would be responsible for a percentage-based fee.

In the case, Bradley v. Franklin Collection Service Inc., the consumer plaintiff had
signed a patient agreement when receiving medical treatment that stated, “In the
event of nonpayment… I agree to pay all costs of collection, including a reasonable
attorney’s fee…” The creditor subsequently added a 33-1/3 percent fee (reflecting
the contractually agreed upon fee between the creditor and the collection agency)
before forwarding the account to the collection agency.

The court ruled that the plaintiff, “agreed to pay the actual costs of collection; his
contractual agreement with [creditor] did not require him to pay a collection agency’s
percentage-based fee where that fee did not correlate to the costs of collection.”
The court found that the percentage-based fee, assessed before the collection
agency’s attempt to collect, was not related to the agency’s actual cost of collection,
thus breaching the agreement between the consumer and the creditor. Therefore,
the court held that the collection agency violated the FDCPA by collecting the 33-1/3
percent fee when the consumer only agreed to pay the actual costs of collection.

© 2014 ACA International

In other cases, medical practices, along with the agency, were charged under racketeering laws for the very same offense.  The fines and penalties that they were required to pay were astronomical.

Please, let me show you a way to avoid the percentages charged by these collection agencies, without running afoul of the law, and while collecting more money than they do in the process.

Respond to me through the form below and I will rush you the information on how to avoid these kinds of unscrupulous methods and still collect more of your hard earned money.

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Diagnosing Practice Fraud – Astinel Security & Forensics

25 Nov

This is an exceptional article written by a friend and recognized expert in dental practice fraud prevention and investigation.

I have, unfortunately, been called in to consult with medical and dental practices who have been embezzled by staff.  It is much more difficult to react after the fact than it is to use “preventative medicine” and prevent these horrible things from happening.

Zane, and his company, Astinel Security & Forensics, would be my recommendation to you and your practice to prevent practice fraud.

Diagnosing Practice Fraud – Astinel Security & Forensics.

Please feel free to contact me using the form below if I can be of any assistance to your practice.

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Medical Collections Success Guaranteed!

21 Nov

Whether you have a large medical practice or are a single practioner, cash flow is negatively affected by slow-paying patients and unresolved insurance claims.  With Transworld Systems Accelerator, your accounts are worked earlier and this allows your payments to be received faster increasing your cash flow!

Early intervention is the key to successful collections!! Review the infographic below and see what kind of return on your investment you could make when submitting just 100 accounts to Transworld Systems!

RUR-Medical graphic

 

Is it worth a 20 minute conversation to see how you can get a 6241.81% return on your investment, while decreasing staff time, frustrations and expense at the same time.  Contact me through the contact link below, or call me at 888-780-1333 for more information or a no-obligation demo of our services.

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Great news for users of Epic, Mysis Tiger, Mac Practice, and Medisoft PM Software

21 Nov

Not only does Transworld Systems offer the most unique and cost effective solutions for managing a medical practices patient accounts, they now offer an interface with most major medical practice management software packages.  New to the list is:

Epic
Mysis Tiger
Mac Practice and
Medisoft/Lytec

Users of these, and many other software packages/systems can now seamlessly interface with Transworld’s unique 4-stage approach to patient A/R management.  This revolutionary, automated, technology based solutions provides medical practices with the ability to:

1.  Cut internal expenses and staff time spent chasing slow pay and delinquent patient accounts
2.  Speed up cash flow and increase bottom line profits for the practice
3.  Ensure compliance with ever increasing and changing Federal, State and local regulations.
4.  Elminate, or significantly decrease, the need for expensive collection agency fees.

For a brief, no=obligation, demo of these services, to receive a list of all of Transworld’s technology interfaces, or to receive my report, “It’s Only Going To Get Worse: Surviving the Tough New Reallity for Physicians”  please contact me using the form at the bottom of this page, or call me directly at 888-780-1333.

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