August 2008
How Secure Is Your
Office Data?
Privacy concerns make data security a requirement for medical practices.
Protecting your patient and business information includes periodically
checking the security of your electronic and non-electronic records.
Safeguarding information stored on your office systems and handheld
electronic devices depends on utilizing their built-in protective features.
Read more...
Fixing
Scheduling Problems
Is your practice experiencing too many no-shows and backups? Do new patients
wait too long for appointments? If so, you may want to reconsider your
scheduling methods. Conventional scheduling in uniform segments, for
example, creates physician downtime whenever patients don't appear or are
late. Double-booking some periods during the day offers insurance against
downtime, but risks backups on days when few patients are no-shows.
Read more...
Somerset
PRO-Forum
The Somerset Health Care Team has developed a managerial model unique to the
industry. The model has four suites that record and compare performance
against industry benchmarks in the areas of financial profit/loss, revenue
cycle effectiveness and physician coding norms. The fourth suite is a fee
analyzer that supports a fee schedule based on payer reimbursement,
geography and increased revenue versus increased contractual allowance
realization. The revolutionary aspect of the Somerset model is the
managerial component of the model.
Learn
more about PRO-Forum by clicking the image on the right and plan to attend
one of our
upcoming webinars on September 25 or October 21.
Medical Briefs
Payers' RBRVS Use Grows - A recent AMA study of 127 public and
private payers found that 77% use Medicare's Resource-Based Relative Value
Scale (RBRVS) as input when determining physician pay. Usage was 74% in 2001
and 63% in 1998.
Sales Reps' Access to Physicians - A recent telephone survey of
180,000 physicians by SK&A Information Services, Inc., found that 19% of
office-based physicians do not meet with drug industry sales representatives
and another 22.7% require an appointment before meeting. Some physicians
(about 5%) restrict meetings with reps to certain weekdays or a certain time
of the day (3.2%).
Movement to Mid-Sized Practices - A national study last year by the
Center for Studying Health System Change found that the share of physicians
in solo or two-person practices fell by about eight percentage points from
40.7% to 32.5% between 1996-97 and 2004-05. Yet the share of physicians in
multi-specialty practices also dropped to 27.5% in 2004-05 from 30.9% in
1998-99.
2008 IMGMA Salary & Benefits Survey
Complete
We are pleased to announce that the 2008 Indiana Medical
Group Management Association Salary & Benefits Survey is complete. The
Somerset Health Care Team compiled the results and distributed reports to
the 76 Indiana physician group participants. For those not familiar with the
survey, below is a sample graph from this year's results.
The survey results report can be purchased by non-participants from IMGMA for a fee of $125. If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Kathy Rokita.
Accounting Has a Much Improved "Image" at Irvington
Radiologists, P.C.
At Irvington Radiologists, P.C.,
25 physicians interpret x-rays and mammograms at ten locations, including six
outpatient offices and facilities within four hospitals. Offering
state-of-the-art, minimally invasive, non-surgical procedures, they've also
developed one of the country's largest single center practices in the areas
of varicose and spider veins, back pain, women's health, vascular disease
and cancer treatments. They had been using Sage MAS 90 as their accounting
package when Pat Manning, Director of Finance, joined the organization. Pat
knew there was opportunity to automate many of their tasks and called on
Somerset CPAs to optimize their existing investment in MAS 90.
Read more...
Somerset Health Care Team News
Steve Dobias Recognized for Work in ASC Industry. Steve Dobias was recently listed as one of the 127 People to Know in the ASC Industry by Becker's ASC Review. This recognition stems from Steve's work in the development of single specialty and multi-specialty ambulatory surgery centers, medical office buildings and single specialty hospitals--including feasibility studies and negotiations. Please visit our web site or contact Steve for more information about Somerset's experience in the ASC/MOB arena.
IMGMA
Tech-Knowledgy Conference. On September 12, David Wolfe, Kathy Rokita,
Dale Eichelman and Mary Knerr of the Somerset Health Care Team will be
exhibiting at this
conference being held at the Renaissance Hotel in Carmel, IN. Please
stop by to learn about our
PRO-Forum Financial, Managerial and Decision Support Tools.
RBMA 2008 Fall Educational
Conference. The Somerset Health Care Team will be exhibiting at this
Radiology Business Management Association
event that is being held September 14 to 16 in San Antonio, TX. Jeff
Boomershine and David Wolfe hope to
see you there.
OAASC 2008 Annual Educational Conference. Cathy Weaver will be presenting at this conference for the Ohio Association of Ambulatory Surgery Centers. The conference is being held September 17 and 18 in Columbus, OH.
Association of Otolaryngology Administrators Annual Conference. Mike McCaslin will be presenting "Strategic Planning: A Way of Life" and "Physician Compensation Models" at this meeting being held September 17 to 20 in Chicago, IL.
American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology 50th Annual Meeting. This conference is being held in Boston, MA from September 21 to 25. If you are attending, please stop by to speak with Jeff Boomershine and David Wolfe at Booth 1129.
Financial Literacy for Women Seminar Series. Kathy Rokita will be co-presenting "Cash Flow and Budgeting for Women" on Wednesday, October 1 as part of Somerset's Financial Literacy for Women series. This will be held in Somerset's Conference Center in Indianapolis, IN. Please view our video about the series and visit our web site for additional information.
AAOS Conferences. Mike McCaslin will be presenting "Retirement Planning" at the conference being held in Tucson, AZ from October 10 to 12. He will be presenting "Ancillary Services: Whether and When" at the orthopaedic practice management conference in Washington, DC from October 17 to 19 and in Las Vegas, NV from October 21 to 23.
Annual MGMA Conference. Cathy Weaver will be speaking at the annual Medical Group Management Association conference in San Diego, CA. Her presentation will be on October 21, and the topic is "High Deductible Health Plans and Health Savings Accounts: How to Understand and Manage These Emerging Products That Have Patients and Providers Mutually-Mystified." During the conference, the Somerset Health Care Team will be hosting a reception on Monday, October 20 at a restaurant across from the San Diego Convention Center. If you would like to attend, please contact us.
15th Annual Improving
Profitability of ASCs Business and Legal Issues Conference. This
conference is being presented by ASC Communications, Inc., and Ambulatory
Surgery Foundation from October 23 to 25 in Chicago, IL. On the 24th, Steve
Dobias will co-present "Which Back-Office Services Can You Effectively
Outsource? What Works; What Doesn't Work? What Are the Costs and Benefits?"
Also on the 24th, Cathy Weaver will co-present "Current Strategies to Handle
Out-of-Network and High Deductible Patients." For more information about the
conference,
visit the Becker's ASC Review site.
Health Care Commentaries is provided by Somerset’s Health Care Team for our clients and other interested persons upon request. Since technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. For additional information on the issues discussed, please contact a member of our Health Care Team. This document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.
Somerset CPAs, P.C.
3925 River Crossing Parkway, Third Floor
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240
317.472.2200 • 800.469.7206 • FAX 317.208.1200
http://healthcare.somersetcpas.com
info@somersetcpas.com