Healthcare professionals spend a substantial amount of time on paperwork and other administrative tasks. The average doctor in the US spends 16.6% of his or her time on non-patient-related paperwork. This equates to nearly 9 hours each week that could be spent with patients instead. Heavy reliance on paper products are estimated to cost the… Continue Reading

Every time, a doctor, dentist, nurse, or another healthcare professional sees a patient, they provide a service that must be billed for. The service provider will inform a medical coder of what service was provided to the patient. Once the coder receives this information, they will code the service using industry guidelines. Next, a medical… Continue Reading

Outsourcing medical insurance billing can save your medical practice time and money while allowing you to focus on what matters most: quality patient care. With so many medical insurance billing companies on the market, you may be unsure of how to find the right one for your organization. By asking the following five questions, you… Continue Reading

The International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification or ICD-10-CM is a system used by healthcare providers to classify and code all symptoms, diagnoses, and procedures in the United States. Just like the healthcare industry is always changing, so are ICD-10 codes. ICD-10 codes have been updated for the fiscal year 2018, which runs… Continue Reading

Even though more than half of today’s patients prefer to receive medical bills electronically, 77 percent of healthcare organizations still use paper based billing methods for their patients. While recent research has proven that electronic patient billing acceptance is low, incorporating electronic billing in healthcare facilities can lead to faster, more complete payments. Approximately 52%… Continue Reading

Many healthcare practices do not realize that their patient satisfaction, collections, and staff morale all depends on how they communicate with their patients. Amy Floria, the CFO of Goshen Health in Goshen, Indiana explained that the sooner healthcare organizations communicate with their patients, the more they will benefit. Floria found that 35 percent of U.S.… Continue Reading

Due to increasing competition, online retailers, and new technology, the future of optometry is constantly questioned. While some optometrists are optimistic about the field and enjoy the challenges they are facing and will continue to face in the future of optometry, others are worried and unsure of what to do. Let’s take a closer look… Continue Reading

As a medical professional in a private practice, your days are spent seeing patients, dictating notes, and handling administrative tasks, just to name a few. The amount of hats you have to wear on a daily basis can’t even fit in your closet. For many, this means that the time you spend at the office… Continue Reading

If you feel that in this day and age as soon as you buy a new television, launch a new website, or upgrade your cell phone your brand new technology is already outdated, you are probably right. It is no secret that technology changes quickly. As a medical professional who relies on technology to perform… Continue Reading

If you’re hoping 2018 brings less headaches and more revenue to your medical practice, you should consider outsourcing your medical billing and coding. Let’s take a closer look at how outsourcing your medical billing and coding can improve the productivity of your practice and make 2018 your most successful year to date. Cost Savings Let’s… Continue Reading

This Holiday Season, give yourself the gift of a satisfying career. If you’d like a flexible career that will give you the opportunity to make a positive difference in the field of healthcare, you should consider becoming a medical biller and coder. By taking medical billing and coding classes to earn a certification, you can… Continue Reading

The Merit-Based Incentive Payment System or MIPS is designed to provide health care providers who have 100 or more Medicare Part B patients or more than $30,000 in Medicare allowables and are a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, or certified registered nurse anesthetist with a performance-based payment adjustment to their Medicare payment… Continue Reading

Fall is officially here and with it cooler temperatures and the threat of flu season. If you are a medical practice that has been contemplating outsourcing medical billing, fall is the perfect time to year to do so. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good Idea to outsource medical billing year round, however fall… Continue Reading

Problems Facing Optometric Billing Optometrists throughout the United States have noted that they are experiencing issues with optometric billing. Fortunately, they have also reported some good news. Fifty six percent of them stated that they enjoyed an increase in eye exams, which is proof that more patients are visiting optometrists for their annual eye exams.… Continue Reading

As a medical practice, billing errors happen. Although mistakes with billing errors can be common, at times they can also be purposeful. For example, a medical practice may decide to overbill in order to collect higher reimbursements from insurance companies. In order to avoid the repercussions that come with medical billing fraud, it is important… Continue Reading

As a medical practice, there is nothing more frustrating than receiving denials on insurance claims. In order for your practice to grow and thrive it must remain profitable, which means you rely on insurance reimbursements to pay your expenses and your staff. If denials keep occurring, your staff has to spend more time fighting denials… Continue Reading

2015 brought big changes for optometrists with regards to PQRS (the Physician’s Quality Reporting System). (See our 2015 blog here.) The number of measures jumped from three to nine, and ICD-10 also served to make reporting even more exacting. 2016 looks much the same in terms of measures and penalties, but there have been changes… Continue Reading

Improve Medical Practice Reputation Selecting the right medical billing company to provide you with dependable medical billing services can greatly improve medical practice reputation and the way your patient’s view your practice. Medical facilities that decide to outsource medical billing services must find a company that delivers the most efficient and reliable service possible. After all,… Continue Reading

Determining whether or not to outsource medical billing services can be tough for many medical facilities. However, it’s an important decision to make as it can impact the efficiency of a practice. Here at Applied Medical Systems, we specialize in medical billing services and have helped countless healthcare providers save money, reduce errors, ensure compliance,… Continue Reading

  Your private medical practice has probably considered outsourcing medical billing at some point in time. Covering medical billing in-house can take up your valuable time dealing with insurance companies and attempting to comply with HIPAA requirements. These time-constraints can also affect your practice’s profits. Smaller practices in particular are bogged down with increasingly complicated… Continue Reading

Optometry billing is different than billing for most medical practices. Eye care can either be covered by normal insurance plans or specialized vision plans. As all optometrists know, in the United States it is illegal to bill both the patient’s medical payor and vision payor for the same service. The provider usually selects the insurance… Continue Reading

Third-party payers have been increasingly wedging in between the patient and doctor relationship for the past 10-15 years. Overhead costs and fewer reimbursements from payers are making it more and more difficult for providers to cover expenses. Payer influence can lead to a lack of proper revenue cycle management, among other issues. As payers gather… Continue Reading

Over the past couple of years optometry billing mistakes and blatant fraud have become more and more common. Last year an Oklahoma optometrist was being sued by the state after his business wrongfully received over $1 million because of fraudulent billing. This year an optometrist from Kentucky has settled to pay the federal government $800,000… Continue Reading

ICD-10 is just around the corner. In October of this year, things are going to get hectic! The ICD-10 transition will result in an increase of about 55,000 codes – a huge challenge for any medical practice. EMRs and new quality metrics from the Federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are adding to what… Continue Reading

Imagine the headache of keeping track of patient medical records. It used to be all paper, then it moved to computer files and paper, now electronic health records (EHR) have made it possible for everything to be digital. Now it is even possible for doctors to gain access to EHR information directly on their wrists.… Continue Reading

There are many things that can get in the way of running an efficient and helpful medical practice, most of which have very little to do with practicing medicine. As a physician, you want to treat your patients, do your part to make sure the practice runs smoothly, and to be able to trust that… Continue Reading

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the medical records and health information technician job category is expected to increase 22 percent by 2022. Medical billers and coders fall into this category and their numbers are expected to increase as well. The question is, “Why are these medical biller and coder jobs expected to… Continue Reading

Press Release: Michelle Durner receives the J. Dennis Mock Award   Applied Medical Systems is proud to announce our very own president, Michelle L. Durner, CHBME, received the J. Dennis Mock Award at the Healthcare Billing and Management Association (HBMA) Fall Annual Conference this past September in Las Vegas, NV. Healthcare Management Distinction The J. Dennis… Continue Reading

The Changing Landscape of Medical Practice Management Healthcare practices rely on Practice Management Systems (PMS) to keep practices organized, revenue cycles operating smoothly and medical records up-to-date and available. Practices use EHR or other practice management systems provided by outside vendors to keep administrative practice tasks taken care of. It has been hard for practices… Continue Reading

There is no denying that electronic health records (EHR) have taken over. It has created a convenience for patients and cured a lot of management headaches for physicians. Now the nation seems to be trending towards an even more fluid way to manage health records for hospitals and practices. EHR networks are starting to be… Continue Reading

What is a Value Add Service? A value add service, by definition, is when you take a homogenous product or service and enhance it with more features or benefits. A simple example of this would be providing a car-buyer with a 10-year warranty. These extra benefits differentiate companies, brands, products, and services in the eyes… Continue Reading

You chose medicine as a career because you wanted to help people and of course, earn a living. In medical school you learned all that you needed to know to be able to diagnose your patient’s health problems and formulate a treatment plan that would heal them. When you graduated you were certain that you… Continue Reading

As a medical practice, in addition to providing stellar medical care comes the need to use your resources wisely. Among the many resources required are time, money and plenty of staff. Because these resources are not unlimited, sometimes using outsourced medical coding services help to cut down on the need for these resources. This will… Continue Reading

Optometry Coding Differences Optometrists have their hands full when it comes to billing because of the complex nature of procedure optometry coding. Not only are there a large number of codes available, there are two different types of codes to choose from before getting into the specifics. Evaluation and Management codes, otherwise known as E/M… Continue Reading

Optometry has its own set of specifics that must be adhered to when it comes to charting and billing. If you risk hiring a billing service not specifically experienced with billing for optometry, your revenue cycle could be at risk. If dealing with delayed payments, denied claims and hours of resulting headaches, outsourcing your physician… Continue Reading

What will tomorrow hold? In the healthcare industry, this answer could continually change. As we graduate from ICD-9 to ICD-10 so much seems uncertain. Everyone is walking on pins and needles trying to figure out which end is up as well as trying to determine how to give patients the level of care that they… Continue Reading

Physicians are constantly looking for a reasonably priced way to reduce the cost of their taxing but critical administrative work. So it has become quite common to employ a medical billing company to handle the cumbersome revenue cycle. So, how can a physician billing service company help to maximize revenue? Outsourcing to a physician billing… Continue Reading

It’s more difficult than ever to operate a lucrative medical practice – reimbursements are decreasing while overhead is increasing, insurance companies are becoming progressively difficult to deal with, and yet doctors are working harder than ever. With little that can be done to change this, the best resolution for medical practices is to acclimate. In… Continue Reading

You know how to perform some of the most difficult procedures in your specialty with precision and outstanding results, but do you know which federal and state employment laws apply to your organization? You complete CME credits to ensure you’re knowledgeable about changes in medicine. However, do you know the headcount thresholds that make you… Continue Reading

What is the OIG? The Office of the Inspector General, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, was established in 1976 in order to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within Medicare, Medicaid, and other government services. This includes the evaluation of proper physician billing as to avoid overspending. Why is this important?… Continue Reading

With or without a practice manager, keeping your practice in tip top shape is a challenging and time consuming job.  The list of tasks is extensive and the resources it takes to accomplish them is just as massive.  Financing the team in house to stay on top of that list is not always economical, which… Continue Reading

What is the OIG? The Office of the Inspector General, a part of the Department of Health and Human Services, was established in 1976 in order to combat waste, fraud, and abuse within Medicare, Medicaid, and other government services. Why is this important? Theft and waste of government money hurts- it hurts the beneficiaries who… Continue Reading

Making your medical practice as efficient and cost effective as possible is a constant concern. Finding ways to lower overhead costs, while maintaining a desired level of professionalism and patient care is no easy task. A simple solution to this consistent battle is to outsource your practice’s medical billing and coding needs. The top three… Continue Reading

There are obvious costs associated with the loss of an employee – recruitment, training and salary. Normal calculations put the average cost at 150% of the employee’s annual compensation figure. That’s a big number! However, every time an employee leaves, there are numerous “hidden costs” that many never consider and, while not as obvious, still… Continue Reading

Practicing Small Potatoes By Rachel M. Mitchell, CPC-H The word is out that small practices typically think that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will never audit them. Our consultants have even heard “I am small potatoes, they will never look at me”. This kind of thinking is exactly what caused two physicians… Continue Reading

Minimizing The Risk Of An Audit By Rachel M. Mitchell, CPC-H Avoiding an audit is not difficult when you consider the number of audits there are in relation to the number of physicians and practitioners submitting claims. According to various medical publications the number of audits will increase in the near future. However, the good… Continue Reading

Conquering the Confusion of Coding Wound Repairs By Rachel M. Mitchell, CPC-H Coding wound repairs often becomes cumbersome when trying to establish the difference between simple versus intermediate and complex repairs. These minor procedures are listed in the Current Procedural Terminology book by both anatomical site and wound length. Simple repair is defined as superficial… Continue Reading

Have there been months when the collectible amounts within your practice have been low? Months when your reimbursement for services rendered cannot keep pace with your expenses? If so, then you are not alone. In a system dominated by HMO’s and PPO’s it often requires a great deal of effort and expertise to collect what… Continue Reading

Billing Wake-Up Call  By Rachel M. Mitchell, CPC-H What will it take to convince physicians and practice administrators that efficient medical billing requires a staff with experience? Throughout my years of being a professional coding and billing consultant/manager, it has been my experience that the billing departments in medical practices are viewed as inessential. Even… Continue Reading

Brand Aid By Bob Violino   Even Starbucks started small. A strong brand identity is essential for success, no matter what size your business. Was it Shakespeare who asked, “What’s in a name?” The Bard never had the opportunity to jog in Nike running shoes, ride a Harley through the streets of Stratford or kick… Continue Reading