December 2007
Keeping Overhead Under Control
Whether practice revenue is rising, stable or declining, controlling
overhead will impact your bottom line. The following suggestions may help
you reduce the drag of overhead on practice profits.
Read more...
Make Your Website a Competitive
Advantage
If you use your practice’s website only to provide static information—basically an online version of a printed brochure—you’re missing a
practice development opportunity that can also affect profitability.
Research shows that patients value dynamic online technologies and want
access to them.
Read more...
CMS Final Rule Impact on Physician Fee
Schedule
On November 27, 2007, the CMS Final Rule related to the
physician fee schedule was released. You may view the Federal Register by
clicking this link. As of December 18, 2007, the Senate passed some
differing language (the House has not yet considered this language, so we
continue to wait and see whether the House will attempt any changes to the
Senate package). It replaces the scheduled 10.1% cut to the Medicare
physician reimbursement rate in 2008 with a 0.5% increase through June 30,
2008. Of continued concern is the Anti-Markup Rules for the TC and PC
components of purchased tests (to further address physician self-referral
concerns), which affect how and what you can bill for a diagnostic test. If
you bill using the CMS physician fee schedule or bill diagnostic tests for
your Medicare patients, these links will be of value to you.
Also, here is a link to the
Summary of Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (Final Senate
Bill 12-17). Please
contact Cathy Weaver or
Jeff Boomershine with
questions.
Physician Seeking Hospital Employment?
Red Flags to Consider
Physician employment by
hospitals is ever present in the market. The strategic reasons for physician
employment have shifted. In the mid-1990s, employment strategies were
focused on primary care. Hospital employment of primary care is still
prevalent; however, the focus has shifted to specialist employment.
Specialty employment is rooted in the need to protect hospital service lines
(i.e., orthopedics, obstetrics/gynecology, etc.). This is particularly
prevalent with small- to medium-size hospitals. However, in markets where
malpractice is high, large hospitals and multi-hospital systems are
employing specialists that have burdensome malpractice premiums. Again,
physician employment is being pursued to protect important acute care
service lines.
Read more...
SCHIP Veto
As promised, on December 12 the president vetoed a $35 billion package to
expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (HR 3963).
Bush, in a written statement, said the Children's Health Insurance Program
Reauthorization Act of 2007 would not provide health insurance first to all
poor children before extending coverage to families with higher incomes. The
current law covers families with incomes at twice the federal poverty level.
Bush's veto threat extends to the proposed 61-cent hike in tobacco taxes that would be used to fund the expanded program. The president's budget supported a five-year reauthorization of the SCHIP program and a 20-percent increase in funding for the health insurance program.
The SCHIP program covers families who earn too much to be eligible for Medicaid. Under current law, children in these families qualify for coverage if their income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level. For more information, visit the National Conference for State Legislatures web site.
Somerset Health Care Team News
Opening
Soon. Congratulations to
South Bend Orthopaedic
Associates. In addition to the second medical office building they
opened in August 2007, they are in the final stages of developing another
45,000 square foot building that will house facilities for Saint Joseph
Regional Medical Center, including an urgent care center, sleep center,
occupational health center, visiting nurse association/midwifery, physician
ancillaries and other mixed-use medical. Somerset has provided strategic
planning, entity formation, capital and financing sourcing, construction
oversight and liaison services. This building is scheduled for opening in
January 2008. Please contact
Steve Dobias if you would like to hear more about this exciting project.
Mike McCaslin was interviewed by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons for an article about protecting practices from occupational fraud titled "We was robbed!" You can visit their site to read the full article.
What Is the Right Accounting Software Solution for Your Practice? If you’re currently using Peachtree or QuickBooks but see a need for a more powerful solution to handle your expanding specialties and locations, then Sage MAS 90 Small Business might be right for you! This special version of MAS 90 provides conveniently bundled modules that make it easy and cost-effective to get started. On February 12, 2008, Lauren Duffy of Somerset's Information Solutions Team, will host a demonstration of the software in our offices. Visit the Seminars page of our website for more details and to register.
Coding and Billing Education. Somerset has joined in a strategic partnership with Newby Consulting, Inc. As a part of this partnership, we would like to pass along information on their coding and billing continuing education sessions slated for 2008. One is an intensive advanced CPT and ICD-9-CM coding course teaching the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) curriculum for coding certification, and the other is a one-day session on surviving coding and billing for Medicare services, which also covers new CPT codes for 2008. This program has been granted 6 CEUs by the AAPC. Newby Consulting always puts on programs that are timely, informative and fun.
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