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November 2011 - Vol 11, Issue 11 |
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New White Papers Available! | |
Coker Group is pleased to annouce the release of its latest White Papers: Provider Based Billing Yields Increased Physician Pay and Repeal of the SGR Calls for the Establishment of a Balanced Payment Model.
To receive complimentary copies of these reports, please click here. |
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Free eBook: Selecting the Right EHR System for Your Physician Practice | |
Coker Group's Jeffery Daigrepont was a contributor to this free eBook offered by FiercePractice Management.
Table of Contents:
- The Medicare & Medicaid Incentive Program: What Physician Practices Need to Know
- 7 Ways EHRs Earn Their Keep
- Guide to Key EHR Components for First-Time Buyers
- 10 Critical Questions to Ask Vendors When Comparing EHR Systems
- Watch Out for Compliance Issues With Your EHR System
- Lessons Learned from EHR Implementation
Download your
free copy today!*
*Requires free registration |
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Coffee with Coker Materials |
Have you missed a recent Coffee with Coker, but want the materials? For a copy of Coffee with Coker presentations, please click here to contact us. |
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Giving Physicians a Chance to Improve Healthcare
By: Mark Reiboldt |
For a number of years federal laws and legislation related to anti-kickback restrictions, often referred to as "Stark Laws", have impeded the ability for physicians to own acute-care hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare facilities. Primarily, Stark Laws were to limit physician in referring patients to an entity to attain financial gain. Examples of self-referrals encompass equity ownerships in facilities referred to and creditor or incentive-based compensation arrangements based on referrals.
Changes are occurring, however. Recently the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a "final rule with comment period" relating to regulations around physician-owned hospitals. The changes were relatively minor, making slight modifications to the "process through which physician-owned hospitals can apply for an exception to prohibited expansion of a facility's capacity," according to Becker's Hospital Review.
In essence this means that a physician-owned hospital must provide notice to and receive approval from CMS for any expansions that can increase the facility's capacity. This was received as an uneventful change, in that the current healthcare reform law included the same language for this process.
These changes also included reducing the requirements around how many years in advance that physician-owned facilities must satisfy their eligibility criteria. Originally, healthcare reform laws...click here for the full article. |
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How to Avoid the Top 3 EHR Contracting Pitfalls
By: Jeffery Daigrepont |
It seems inevitable that every practice will eventually be on an electronic health record (EHR) system. Making the right vendor decision and avoiding pitfalls is critical to having a successful experience. Below are the hard lessons learned by those who have been there, done that, and paid the price. These are true stories of clients that engaged Coker Group after their purchases. For confidentiality, names of vendors or practices are not disclosed.
Hard lesson #1: Surprise costs for software upgrades
A small practice in Ohio bought a new system, and everything seemed to be going well. Eight months after the purchase, however, the vendor sent the practice an unexpected invoice for $5,000. Stunned, the practice... click here to read the full article. Originally published for FiercePracticeManagement.
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Coker Publishes Latest Book! | |
 Contemplating selling or closing your medical practice? Would you like to know the value of your practice in order to assess your market position? Valuing, Selling, and Closing the Medical Practice helps you appraise the value of your practice while broadening your knowledge of the most appropriate models and methods to use in the dissolution of your business.
This comprehensive resource from the American Medical Association (AMA) explores how to enhance the value of the practice in preparation for sale, and addresses the processes and phases of disengagement. It also provides insight into questions and challenges faced by practices today, as well as how recent trends have influenced physician decision-making.
- Part 1: Provides both procedural and tactical functions of a practice sale and focuses on disengagement, physician diversification, and practice buy-in and buy-out.
- Part 2: Focuses on practice closings and considerations relative to closures such as operations, employees, patient notification requirements, real estate, and facilities, as well as technology and information systems.
- Part 3: Addresses the valuation of the medical practice, such as managing the appraiser-client relationship, appraisal regulations, preparing for maximum value, and fair market opinions in physician-hospital compensation relationships.
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Coffee with Coker - a FREE monthly webinar! | |
 Join Us in December!
Date: Friday, December 16, 2011
Time: 11:30 a.m. EST
The Technical Side of the ICD-10 Conversion -
The Untold Story:
ICD-10's impact will be farther reaching than just new coding guidelines and staff training. It will significantly impact virtually every aspect of technology in use by most medical practices beyond the practice management system. This dynamic presentation will reveal the impact ICD-10 will have on IT systems and expose what most vendors are not talking about concerning their compliance. To make a smooth transition, clear communication between the organization and vendor will be crucial. This session will highlight pitfalls to avoid by revealing details that vendors may choose to conceal such as pricing, testing, and third-party add-ons.
Knowledge Nuggets:
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Understand the technical impact that the 2013 implementation of ICD-10 codes will have on the technology in use by most medical practices, including EHRs, PACS systems, and coding software -
Review list of items that vendors will not tell you about the ICD-10 upgrade -
Discuss importance of an impact assessment - Learn how to plan ahead and engage your vendor in a meaningful discussion to ensure a successful transition
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About Coker Group
Coker Group, a leader in healthcare consulting, helps physicians, hospitals, and other providers find answers and solve problems in management and business operations. Our consulting team members are proficient, trustworthy professionals with experience and strengths in various areas. Coker's staff includes seasoned individuals in finance, administration, management, operations, compliance, and information systems. Coker integrity is unquestionable.
The CokerConnection© 2011 is an electronic newsletter published monthly by Coker Group, copyedited by Kay Stanley and compiled for the internet by Trish Hutcherson. The articles and viewpoints presented in the CokerConnection© are for informational purposes only and not intended to constitute legal or financial advice. If legal, financial, or other professional advice is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. |
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