Transforming Your Data Centers into Secure, Instant, and HIPAA-Compliant

Medical data has significant utilities – as vital source of reference for subsequent follow-ups, collaborative clinical management across the clinical network, Medical Billing, information bank for clinical research, and macro health care policies. While most of the practitioners may have a system for storing, retrieving, and sharing the data across the health care eco-system, they are increasingly susceptible to natural disasters, system-related snag, and hacking from unscrupulous sources. And data lost – either to natural disasters, system-related snag, or hacking – can have wide repercussions:

• It may hamper your ability to coordinate your patients’ clinical administration
  
• It may hold you back from contributing to collaborative clinical management
• It may leave you without evidence while audit inspection, follow ups, or resubmission of your medical bills with Medicare or private health plans
• It may project you as non-contributory to clinical research, and above all
  
• It may depict you as non-participatory in macro health care policy missions

Because of these likely consequences, not only are physicians obligated to have their medical data stored but also have them secured from the threats mentioned earlier.

Most of the medical data these days are managed on EHR – which is a comprehensive platform for storing, retrieving, and sharing clinical and operational data. While an EHR can integrate clinical and operational functions with unbelievable ease, it is by no means guaranteed that it will stand the test of the threats highlighted earlier. As responsible care providers, it becomes your priority to have backup facilities for data stored in your EHR systems. One easy way to ensure data-readiness is to copy them from your EHR sources to portable USB drives that can be preserved securely elsewhere.

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An important thing to remember while converting or transferring medical data into portable USB drives is that care should be taken to encrypt the so transferred data. The significance of encryption is that it will save your stored medical data from being easily decoded by hackers. With HIPAA being severe on breach of patient privacy and safety clause, protecting data privacy has become more than a mere necessity. HIPAA’s security rule comprises required and recommended actions to ensure the security of protected patient health information. Moreover, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, supports HIPAA by imposing stiff penalties on healthcare organizations found guilty of data breaches. Among the penalties: fines up to $1.5 million and the burden of notifying the media (as well as patients) if the breach involves more than 500 records.

Along with this data-back plan and adherence to HIPAA’s privacy and safety norm, medical data should also be made available just in time – power outages should not an excuse as any data not available just in time may well be deemed as data denied. Therefore, physician facilities should have USP facilities to run data centers interrupted.

Managing medical data management as per HIPAA’s directive could be an extended burden to physicians, who are centrally focused on clinical care. This is where experts may have an interventional role in transforming care providers’ facilities into secure, instant, and HIPAA-compliant data centers. We, Medicalbillersandcoders.com, have been a responsible partner to care providers seeking data-related advice; practices of varied sizes and disciplines across the 50 states in the U.S. have stood to gain from our data backup plans & advice, and been able to respond to HIPAA’s safety and security norms positively. As medical data management continues to influence clinical and operational efficiency, our team of experts in data management is committed to transform your data centers into secure, instant, and HIPAA-compliant.

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

Negotiating Justifiable Contract with Health Insurance Companies

Care providers operate in an environment characterized by multiple payors – Medicare, Medicaid, and a host of private health plans. The prevalence of such multi-payer is reason enough for differences in rates at which care providers are reimbursed despite the clinical procedures more or less being the same. Adding to this heterogeneous payor-environment is the regional differences wherein a physician practicing in an urban state gets reimbursed more than its counterpart in a rural state.  Are we simply to believe that these are irreversible factors, and physicians are left with no avenues but to accept what is offered?

Certainly, multi-payor system and regional factors should never hold you from claiming what you really deserve. If you happen to be as good a care provider as your counterpart in a metropolis, you are entitled to be reimbursed on par with the best rates. This is where your negotiation skills come into the fore – convincing you’re your payors as to why they should reimburse you at the rates given in the fee schedule, equivalent to the CPT codes, and to the maximum extent possible.

The extent to which you can negotiate is often decided by your being in a particular network – HMO or PPO. If you are a HMO provider, your negotiation is limited to Medicare or Medicaid fee schedule.  Medicare, being public plan, reimburses you at a rate which is comparatively less than a physician gets by being a provider in PPO. At best you can insist on getting reimbursed on par with what the admissible CPTs deserve.  But, to insist on being paid at CPT-equated level, you will certainly need to back up with clinical and quality credentials – care excellence, EHR implementation, and compliant coding and billing practices.

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If you happen to PPO provider, being supported mostly by private carriers, can expect variable and maximum scope for negotiation – by being in the PPO network, you can expect to be paid at rates higher than in Medicare fee schedule.  But your payors are not going to be convinced unless you support you claim with valid reasons and proof. Amongst many ways through which you can negotiate better deals with your payors are:

• Keeping track of history of your claim submission and eventual realization:
This will provide with variance in your expectation and eventual pay out. When such variance are brought to the notice of your contracted payors, payors may be inclined to have a relook at the existing reimbursements, and may even amend with higher rates.

• Being aware of the rates offered by other plans:
This will help you compare your reimbursements with what your counterparts in the similar field are paid by other plans elsewhere. When these differential rates are brought to your payors notice, they may be inclined to revise to higher rates provided your quality of health care is as good as it is elsewhere.

• Being aware of geographic advantage:
If you happen to practice in an area that distinctively know for medical care quality, you try to force this into your advantage; payors are generally convinced of relatively higher level of quality care in urban and metropolis.

• By threatening to walk out temporarily:
If your payor is not open to the idea of negotiating, you may consider coming out of the contract. And when you start billing 100% to your patients, patients in turn may switch sides to payors that offer maximum coverage. This may force your original payor reconsider his original stance.

All these seemingly possible tactics would have to be carefully implemented. Care providers, who are primarily focused on clinical job, may be found wanting tactically. This is where medical billers would be sorely required. Medicalbillersandcoders.com – with a thorough understanding of multi-payer reimbursement environment – continues to mediate justifiable contract with health insurance companies across the 50 states in the U.S. Irrespective of your being HMO or PPO, our expert team of insurance contract negotiation is essentially driven by the motto: “maximizing your reimbursements”.

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

What makes Outsourced DME Billing Superior?

Physicians who are part of DME services now face an important operational decision: whether to persist with in-house billing staff or entrust to external sources. The long-held belief that in-house billing staff would manage DME-related billing complexities seems to have failed them recently – most of the in-house-staff-managed DME billing are reported to have high incidence denial, delay, or under realization of DME bills from Medicare, Medicaid, and private DME health plans.  And, now that physicians strongly feel the reason to replace in-house DME billing, should they be embracing outsourced DME billing straight away? Yes, but not before they have debated pros and cons of DME billing outsourcing.

Arguments in favor of DME Billing Outsourcing

Primary argument in favor of outsourcing DME billing is that it will bring a fresh perspective to hitherto stereotype practices – outsourced DME billing providers, with their specialization, could iron out deficiencies, and improve realization. The in-house staff, on their part, will be able to concentrate on clinical priorities, and prepare reliable data for DME billing and coding.

Second, care providers need not worry about capital investment associated with training people and installing system for DME billing; an outsourced service comes with a ready-combination of trained people and systems. Moreover, with a large clientele, it will be easy for your prospective service provider to pass on the economies of scale.

Third, outsourced DME billing providers are supposed to have good terms with payers and agencies. Their being well-acquainted with Medicaid, Medicare, and private health plans should help care providers in knowing, negotiating, and responding better to dynamics of DME billing. Likewise, DME billing providers can save you from accepting health plans that are either operationally non-profitable or non-supportive of DME services.

Last but not the least, DME billing providers can be relied upon to keep A/R days within the permissible limit – with supposedly superior expertise in ICD and HCPCS coding, there should be little need for Decreased denials and/or front end rejections: as a result of expertise in ICD-9 and HCPCS coding, for re-filing, rebilling or appeal.

Arguments against DME Billing Outsourcing

Primary argument against outsourcing DME billing is that it involves lot of deliberation while selecting a prospective service provider from so many operating in the market – the chosen provider may or may not turn out to be a suitable one; sometimes, it may turn out to be inferior to your in-house DME billing.

Second, outsourced DME billing may initially need to be synchronized with your operational environment. And, when DME billing needs to be customized to your requirement, there will be likelihood of DME billing cost being escalated.

Last, mobility may sometimes be an issue – your outsourced DME billing provider may not be logistically near your clinical facility. Therefore, there could be considerable time gap between what you need and what you eventually get from your DME biller.

Because pros outnumber cons, physicians should consider it operationally viable and profitable to entrust their DME billing to outside service provider. With operational burden taken out of their minds, they can focus on clinical priorities, which essentially decide their competitiveness. Medicalbillersandcoders.com has veritable success as leading DME billing service provider; a great majority of care providers across 50 states in the U.S. have benefited from our specialized, economical, and collaborative DME billing services. And, as the demand for outsourced DME billing services is likely to increase in coming days, we hope to leverage on our nationwide DME billing specialists in bringing you operationally profitable billing solutions.

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

Challenges and Opportunities of Durable Medical Equipment Practice (DME)

The necessity of Durable Medical Equipments (DMEs) had never been so high – in U.S. 30% to 54% of those over 65 years have some form of disability; around 75% to 90% of such disabled require some form of DME to keep them mobile or enabled. It is also estimated that around 1.5 million people are currently in need of wheelchairs and braces. And, when you add the population that is likely to be in need of other forms of durable medical equipment – prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) – it will be some opportunity to people involved in Durable Medical Equipment services: physicians, pharmacies, and manufacturers/suppliers. But, because DME services are physician-recommended, we are more interested in how physicians themselves can recommend, source, and administer DMEs.

While physicians can benefit immensely from an integrated DME management, there are challenges on way – being equipped with a Medicare enrolled and recognized pharmacy, sourcing supplies from bidders authorized by CMS, and showing up as participating supplier, who accept Medicare approved fees on DMEs.

Physicians who are willing to have pharmacies attached with Medicare Part B approval need to have a full-pledged Medicare Part B recognized DME supplies. The importance of having Medicare approved DMEs at your pharmacy is that it enables patients to have access to DMEs that are fully covered and reimbursed from Medicare Part B.

DMEs cannot be freely traded at your pharmacy; you need to apply for authorization from CMS. First, you need to apply by filling up Form CMS-855S for all likely suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS). Applications are verified by National Supplier Clearinghouse (NSC) before being certified for compliance with DMEPOS Supplier Standards, as set forth in 42 CFR 424.57

Physicians in DME services are expected to be responsible – being responsible means agreeing to accept Medicare-approved amount as full payment. Physicians that accept this clause will stand to collect only 20% of the approved amount after the patient has paid the part B deductible. Though not mandatory, being partner in sharing monetary responsibility may have disguised benefits, such as goodwill and patient-initiated referrals.

While suppliers recognized by CMS are generally dependable, there have also been cases of sub-standard supplies. Accepting any supplies without thorough inspection may prove to be clinically inapt or underperforming. Therefore, physicians from time to time need to verify suppliers’ credentials and report cards as and when they are published by CMS.

Notwithstanding these possible challenges ahead, physicians in DME services should have ample scope for revenue generation. Consider the scenario when Medicare will be extended to every U.S. citizen – with a majority of current Medicare beneficiaries yet to utilize DME benefits, DME practice itself will be a major attraction amongst practitioners. And, with strategic partnership with medical billing providers, physicians can expect to overcome these incumbent challenges, and become more than being just survivors.

Medicalbillersandcoders.com has always responded positively to every clinical and operational challenge. Whether it is billing and coding, EHR implementation, or ICD-10 transition, we have been the first to assume responsibility. Medical practices of varied sizes and disciplines across the 50 states in the U.S. would readily endorse us as most dynamic and comprehensive source for overcoming clinical and operational challenges. And, at a time when DME practitioners find themselves in between opportunities and challenges, we are hopeful of helping them overcome challenges and realize opportunities.

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.

Overcoming DME Billing Challenges with a Medical Billing Service

There is a distinctive difference between billing for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) services and other clinical procedures – durable medical equipment services are ancillary to the primary clinical purpose, and their admissibility is subject to certain conditions.  Physicians since long have found these conditions tricky and challenging to understand, and often either been denied or underpaid for DME services, which may either have been

• Deemed medical unnecessary,
• Uncertified by Medicare/Medicaid/private health insurers,
• Beyond the permissible reimbursement level
• Lack of solid grounding in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), which governs level II codes designated for DME equipment and supplies

While physicians have the right to recommend DMEs as part of a clinical treatment, they will have to back their recommendation with sufficient proof of them being medical necessary. Proving medical necessary alone will not suffice; it is equally important to know whether or not patient’s health insurance coverage supports DME services. With Medicare, Medicaid, and even certain private insurance schemes cautious about supporting exorbitant DMEs, physicians would do well to be verify whether or not patients’ health plans support DMEs.

Reimbursements are subject to the condition that physicians or patients source the admissible DMEs from payer-recognized vendors or manufacturers. While this condition may endorse payers’ commitment toward quality DMEs that last long and are competitively priced, physicians will certainly be put through the process of identifying Medicare/Medicaid/private insurer recognized vendors or manufacturers.  What is more interesting is that Medicare has designated certain pharmacies that can only supply admissible DMEs. Therefore, physicians’ task of identifying and sourcing DMEs has certainly become more complex than ever.

DMEs have grown to be clinically superior and functionally perfect these days. While appreciation in quality has facilitated clinical efficiency and patient well-being, price has been a major issue. Payers have not been all that receptive to the idea of supporting DMEs that are not operationally viable. Medicare/Medicaid too has its own reservations against highly-priced DMEs, and has put a ceiling on DMEs reimbursements.  Physicians, therefore, need to be aware of these restrictions while encountering patients that require DMEs well beyond their insurance eligibility.

Lack of solid grounding in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), which governs level II codes designated for DME equipment and supplies, has largely been responsible for physicians’ below par realization of DME bills. In fact, if we revisit payer reports, wrong codes, absence of modifiers and insufficient narration seem to have contributed to drastic fall in reimbursement of DME bills. With care providers transiting to a more streamlined coding practice in ICD-10, DME-relevant codes will further get emphasized.

But for physicians, who are already reeling under a series of health care reforms, DME-related challenges may prove to be simply unbearable.  In-house staff, who are generally tied with clinical duties, may not be able to stretch beyond their general billing capability. The situation prompts an external medical billing intervention that can offer DME billing as part its comprehensive medical billing services.

Medicalbillersandcoders.com has verifiable success in DME billing services for practices across the 50 states in the U.S. The experience of negotiating DME claims with state-specific Medicaid policies, Medicare, and a host of private health plans is itself proof of our competence. With a team of DME billing experts at your service, challenges associated with ascertaining DME necessity, Medicare/Medicaid/private health insurers’ approval, permissible reimbursement level, and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) might just be the thing of the past!

Medical Billers and coders (MBC) is one of the leading Medical Billing Companies in USA & help doctors to shortlist Medical Billing Companies, Medical Billing Services according to their preferences of specialty, city, software and services performed.