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The healthcare industry is one that has gone through all kinds of changes over the past decade thanks to innovation and technology. Now it seems the revolution taking place in the industry is being driven by those in the fintech, or financial technology industry. More and more fintech start-ups have their sights set on the healthcare industry with big plans on how they can make their mark.

Giving Patients Easier Ways to Pay

One of the biggest complaints from both patients and those on the administrative side of the healthcare industry is just how confusing and difficult the billing and paying system is. Change is not only welcome, it is needed at this point. Fintech start-ups are now looking at ways they can work to facilitate payments such as offering online billing and bill payments.

There is also the other side to bill payments and that has more to do with offering assistance when it comes to financial planning for patients. We all know that medical care isn’t cheap, and not everyone has insurance coverage. Fintech companies are now looking at products they can offer that help patients to better plan and budget their finances so that they can indeed pay for the medical services. [Read more…]

Maximizing Revenue from Workers’ Compensation in Pennsylvania

By Sean P. Audley

Hospital administrators are always challenged to find ways to generate revenue from their hospital. Nearly every function in your facility can generate revenue, yet many are leaving money on the table, particularly when you’re dealing with workers’ compensation. Whether you outsource your workers’ compensation accounts to a vendor or handle them in house, it’s highly likely you are missing out on significant revenue from these accounts.

The payment of work-related medical bills is controlled by the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act and regulations are enacted under its authority. While most claims are not complicated to resolve, some pose roadblocks to payment. These outlier claims are often high dollar accounts and are often contested by employers. They can take months to resolve, tying up valuable staff time. Not understanding the intricacies of the law regulating these claims can result in missed deadlines or lost opportunities for payment.

As a result, your facility may be writing off accounts or settling for a reimbursement amount that is less than what you are entitled to receive. One way you can be more proactive in trying to maximize the revenue from these accounts is to partner with an experienced attorney well versed in workers’ compensation. This will not only increase your recoveries on these cases, but allow your staff to devote their time to less complicated claims, thereby increasing revenue on those as well. [Read more…]

By Andy Weissberg

In the increasingly competitive, transparent and value-based healthcare economy, hospitals and health systems in Western PA and throughout the nation are facing increasing financial pressure from healthcare purchasers and payers to improve patient care outcomes. At the center of value-based purchasing and reimbursement, performance against numerous measures of quality and patient safety performance also heighten hospital concerns for reputation and market share. 

Although patient safety and quality have traditionally been regarded as disparate domains of performance measurement in traditional fee-for-service (FFS) models, they are increasingly interconnected in performance-driven, value-based purchasing, payments and reimbursement from both public and private payers, underpinning the business case to improve the quality and safety of health care.

The top and bottom line: only high-performing hospitals that deliver higher quality, safer and more efficient care with measurable and improved clinical outcomes will thrive and financially survive, improving a health system’s reputation and ability to increase market share and encourage patients to use in-network services. [Read more…]

By Nick Hernandez

It is once again the time of year when medical practices should be working to finalize their operating budget for the next calendar year.  Unfortunately, too few practices actually take the time to create a meaningful budget, instead seeing the endeavor as a complex, time-consuming process that likely will not be used.  Creating and following a budget involves self-discipline and sacrifice, but will help you develop wise spending habits to better manage your practice’s finances now and into the future.

If you’re continually seeing failure at budgeting, the best place to look is usually at the fundamentals.  It only takes a fundamental misstep or two to transform a well-planned and well-formed budget into a complete disaster.  Budgets should be realistic, flexible, and consistent with practice goals and objectives. 

Here are three keys to consider that will point you on the right track toward success as you build your budget:

1. Know why you are budgeting.  If you’re developing a budget just because someone says it’s a good idea, it probably won’t help very much.  Similarly, if you’re just following the steps in a practice finance workbook because it suggests this is a great way to move towards financial success, budgeting won’t help much at all.  The reason for budgeting is to help you spend less than you earn.  It shows you where your spending weaknesses are and provides the structure for you to get stronger in those areas.  If you’re in the dark about how much your practice spends and where you spend it, changing habits will be difficult.  And even if you’re financially comfortable, a budget can help you identify unnecessary expenditures and deduce ways to redirect funds towards your priorities. [Read more…]

By Scott Hanson

Ouch! Poor Tax Planning Hurts 

I’ve been an investment advisor for over 25 years and have worked with thousands of people. Over that period, I’ve been witness to some truly terrible (and avoidable) tax outcomes involving otherwise savvy and conscientious investors.

With that in mind, not a week goes by that one of my advisors doesn’t meet with a newly-retired person or couple who, much to their dismay, discovers that they’ve been badly overpaying their taxes. I’m not referring to the type of overpayments that come back to you in the form of an IRS refund. I’m talking about needlessly or accidentally overpaying the government tens of thousands of dollars that you’ll never see again.

The problem is that tax laws in retirement are frustratingly complex. Navigating the rules and regulations is no simple task, and the wrong decisions or advice can be the difference between a manageable tax bill and a staggering IOU to Uncle Sam.

Strategize Taxes Like You Strategize Investments

If you’re looking to retire in the next few years, you’ve likely spent a fair amount of your working life thinking about your investments and how they can best serve you in the future.

But if you’re like most folks who are on the verge of retirement, then you probably haven’t given nearly the same amount of attention or energy to your tax strategy as you have to your investment portfolio. Yet between a smart investment strategy and a smart tax strategy, the latter can actually be worth more to you in the long run. Simply, without a plan in place, needless tax errors or oversights could reduce your retirement savings by 10 or even 20 percent. [Read more…]

Six Questions to Ask Now (Before Tax Day Creeps Any Closer)

Yes, February is here and tax filing deadlines are getting uncomfortably close. But there’s still time to make some savvy tax decisions that will pay off for you and your business. Tax attorney Barbara Weltman identifies several questions you should be asking yourself (and your CPA, of course) right about now.

As a small business owner, you like to focus on selling your products and services. Of course you do: It’s what you’re good at and what you enjoy. But if you don’t spend at least a little time thinking about your taxes—probably NOT your favorite subject—you’re wasting your hard-earned money. That’s right: Tax and business attorney Barbara Weltman says putting in the time, thought, and effort to optimize your tax position can yield a surprisingly hefty payoff.

 “The tax law provides considerable flexibility to enable small business owners to choose the options best suited to their tax situation,” says Weltman, who is the spokesperson for J.K. Lasser’s Small Business Taxes 2017 (Wiley, October 2016, ISBN: 978-1-119-24905-4, $22.95). “Yet far too many of them dread and avoid the subject and fail to do their homework—and in the end, their tax bill is much larger than it needs to be.”

The book Weltman represents gives readers the information they need to make tax-smart decisions throughout the year. The 2017 edition features guidance on new tax updates relevant to small business owners, including: decreased standard mileage rate for business driving, expanded coverage of small business safe harbors under the “repair regulations,” information reporting rules for health coverage, new penalty amounts for late filing and penalty relief rules, and guidance on how to work with a tax professional and deal with the IRS.

Here are six questions Weltman recommends you ask yourself before filing taxes: [Read more…]

By Barry Courson

Paying for nursing home care is a burden that most Americans bear, whether directly or indirectly. Even if you never need nursing home care yourself, you are already paying for the nursing home care of others by paying income taxes that, in part, finance Medicaid and veterans’ benefits.

In addition, you are probably paying Social Security or self-employment taxes that help pay the cost of skilled nursing home care provided through Medicare. Although your own nursing home care may someday be financed by one of these government programs, you may find yourself struggling to pay the high cost on your own if you are not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid or if you need custodial rather than skilled nursing care. In general, there are three ways you can finance nursing home care: pay for it from your own savings (self-insure), buy long-term care (LTC) insurance, or use government benefits. [Read more…]