Work smarter, not harder, to offset expenses

Practice Pointers. By Rita M. Schwager, AMNews contributor. Dec. 16, 2002.

PRACTICE POINTERS

Answers to questions about the business side of your practice

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Question With anticipated cuts in Medicare reimbursements, rising liability and health care premiums, and increases in my practice overhead, I am beginning to get concerned. Between maintaining my home, school tuition for my children and a comfortable lifestyle, I don't save much beyond what is put into my company retirement plan. I have tried to keep my office expenses under control, so I don't believe I can cut my expenses significantly enough to counter the anticipated drop in revenue and rising insurance costs. How are other practices handling this situation?

Answer Whether you are in a high-income situation or make a modest living, most folks today are worried about these same issues. We are all concerned about our sluggish economy, losses on investments, and rising costs to run our homes and businesses.

Now is the time to plan for changes you expect in Medicare reimbursements and in rising overhead. Part of your plan should be to "get back to the basics," while another part should be to "think out of the box."

On the "basics" side of the plan, you should always look to your revenue cycle. In your office, the revenue cycle starts with the appointment scheduling and ends with final collection of all money owed to you for the services rendered.

Between those two events are making sure the patient shows up for the appointment, making sure the patient/procedure is covered by insurance, collecting the co-pay, moving the patient in and out of the exam room, meeting with the patient and making a diagnosis, treating the patient, performing necessary lab tests, completing the encounter form correctly, following up with necessary referrals, scheduling patient follow-ups, billing for services, collecting from the insurance company and collecting from the patient. Inefficiencies in any of these steps are lost money. [...]