Western Pennsylvania Healthcare News

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Working Together With Health Care Organizations to Align Compensation with Business Objectives and People Costs

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By Elliot N. Dinkin, President/CEO
Cowden Associates, Inc.

Overview:

Recent economic volatility has taught us several painful lessons regarding the management of costs.  One very important component of this equation involves, if not the most vital of our assets, our people.  As our economy rebounds, it becomes even more important to manage our people with a comprehensive approach to Total Compensation (base pay, incentive opportunities, health benefits and retirement programs).  When faced with difficult decisions, all too often health care organizations focus on one particular facet versus a total analysis.  Although this may result in some short-term benefits, it may ultimately impact Total Compensation in a negative manner.

Health care organizations must respond to many challenges while managing Total Compensation programs including:

  • Escalating benefits and health care costs
  • Financial management constraints
  • Distinct benefit needs (executives, physicians, nurses)
  • Attraction, retention and engagement of all employees
  • Maintaining a competitive total compensation and benefits program

This article focuses on a strategic approach to address people costs by considering each facet of Total Compensation versus making decisions focused only on one area.  Health care organizations are now obligated to consider changes in their compensation programs based on several recent trends including:

  • Reduced staff
  • Commitment to hire non-smokers
  • Recent medical students are choosing primary care fields versus specialty fields
  • Transition of physicians from private practice to full or part-time employment

[Read more…]

How to Correctly Follow the CMS Mandate – Publishing Charges for Customers

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By Brad Olin

As hospitals begin to adjust to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) new price transparency mandate, many providers are still concerned about how their patients may perceive their online posted standard charges. 

As everyone is probably aware of by now, as of January 1, 2019, CMS has required all hospitals to post their standard charges online in a machine-readable format. 

Although this mandate was instilled to help create a more patient-centric experience, many providers have focused more on meeting the bare mandate (only posting the list of charges online) rather than going the extra mile by providing a tool for patients to determine their true out-of-pocket costs. 

The key is to present this information simply and clearly to ensure that patients understand the significance of the charge list. Sure, some patients may still have questions about the significance of those standard charges, which is why it’s crucial that patients know who to contact without too much digging around the website. 

In fact, according to a 2018 webinar survey, 57% of the buyer’s journey occurs online before engaging in sales. Pair that with the fact that the average online attention span of customers is only 8 seconds long and now you have a compelling reason to develop an online estimate tool that is engaging, user-friendly, and most importantly, accurate. 

Before a hospital can develop a plan for presenting their standard charges, hospitals need to ensure that they are providing all of the necessary information to the patient. 

In an effort to provide continuous support to the healthcare providers by delivering a patient-centric experience, CMS recently released a FAQ list comprised of items that were added to the CDM list. In this FAQ list, CMS provided further detail on the items that need to be included, such as drugs and biologicals, for each diagnosis-related group (DRG), regardless if a hospital is currently involved in their own state-wide price transparency mandate. If a hospital does not provide all of this information online to the public, they will not be in compliance with the law and are subject to face future penalties.  

[Read more…]

3 Ways Your Hospital is Leaving Money on the Table

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seanaudleyphoto (2)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…]

Collecting Bad Debt: Working with a Debt Collection Agency

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By Daniel Casciato

As a patient’s account ages, the chances of collecting on it decrease dramatically. It’s expensive to carry accounts that you will not be able to collect using the methods at your disposal.

“It’s often a better use of your office’s time and resources to concentrate on other aspects of your business,” says Michelle Dunn, Plymouth, NH-based author of Starting a Collection Agency, How to Make Money Collecting Money.  “A professional collection service can assist you in collecting accounts that remain delinquent.”

Debt collectors have a vast knowledge of collection techniques, technology and compliance issues. Using a professional collection service will save time and likely yield better results.

“Collection agencies should be used as a partnership between the medical practice and the agency,” says Tom Corson-Knowles, president and CEO of American Asset Solutions, LLC, based in Granger, IN. “It should also be viewed as a long-term relationship because if you have delinquent accounts today, you’ll likely have them in the future as well.”

It’s a good rule of thumb to not hire an outside agency to collect until at least six months of nonpayment. If you send the account to an agency just 30 days after nonpayment, your patients may be put off.

[Read more…]

How to Double or Triple the Size of Your Urgent Care Practice

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By Luis de la Prida

You probably got into medicine because you wanted to make a difference in the world.  You recognized that urgent care fills a gap in the healthcare market.  You get to interact with a diverse range of patients, fulfilling your own vision of how healthcare should be done.

Now that you’ve been up and running for a while, the administrative burden is keeping you from what you love: practicing medicine.  It’s time to decide whether to hold and maintain or grow. How do you take your practice to the next level?

Growth takes risk and thinking strategically. If you find yourself at the point of wanting to grow, but not quite sure how to do it, then you’ll want to read further.

Current Landscape for Urgent Care Practices

Before figuring out how to create a growth plan or implementing an acquisition strategy, it is important to know the lay of the land.  Knowing who’s buying and why is an important step toward effective negotiating.  Knowing why practices are selling can position you to make an attractive offer that beats out your larger competitors. [Read more…]