MedEsthetics – November/December 2014 by Karen Zupko Because employees of medical practices and medspas have easy access to patient information, employers must conscientiously verify information provided by applicants. One way to decrease the risk of hiring staff members who may jeopardize patient or practice safety is to perform reference and background checks. Some of the...
Category: Art-KZA Classics
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Build Better Patient Relationships, Faster, Using the FORD Method
Aesthetic Society News – Fall 2014 by Karen Zupko, President “How long will I have to stop running after surgery?” It’s a simple question that many patients ask. You can choose to give the patient a simple answer, for example, six weeks, and move on to the next topic on your laundry list of risk...
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Tighten Cash Handling & Audit Controls: 9 Best Practices That Reduce Embezzlement Risk
Aesthetic Society News – Summer 2014 by Karen Zupko, President A few years ago, we worked with an aesthetic practice whose patients frequently paid in cash. To document the amount collected, the staff made copies of the cash, fanning out the bills to show the dollar amount listed on each, but displaying the serial number...
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Banking: Shop and Compare
Journal of Medical Practice Management – May/June 2014 by Jennifer A. O’Brien, MSOD, and Sherry DeJarnette, CPA There are many reasons to take a critical look at the practice’s banking relationship(s)—technology advancements, security measures, improvements in available services, recent banking enhancements designed specifically for medical practices, the impact of the financial crisis on bank ratings and stability,...
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Avoid Billing Service Nightmares: Issues to consider before partnering with independent and hospital-based billing services
AAOS Now – April 2014 by Jennifer A. O’Brien, MSOD In addition to the compliance and security issues highlighted in part 1 of this series (“Avoid Billing Service Nightmares,” AAOS Now, February 2014), an evaluation of operations, experience, and costs is essential to selecting the right partner for the provision of billing services. This is...
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Make Your Last Impression as Good as Your First: Fine-Tune the Fee Quote
Aesthetic Society News – Spring 2014 by Karen Zupko, President You’ve spent thousands on attractive branding and Web design. You’ve hired a capable team that excels at personalizing the patient experience. Your office decor rivals the Four Seasons. So why on earth would you give your patients a fee quote that looks like that? So...
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Coding Boards or Confessionals? Use Online Coding Discussion Tools With Caution
The American Journal of Orthopedics – March 2014 by Cheryl Toth, MBA Author’s Note: The content of the e-mail examples presented in this article is from actual online discussions. Practice and participant names and contact information have been changed. Thanks to Arlene’s question, posted to an orthopedic listserv group, Surgical Specialists has just sent an...
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Avoid Billing Service Nightmares: Use Business Rigor to Reduce Your Risk: Part I
AAOS Now – February 2014 by Cheryl L. Toth, MBA Recently, an orthopaedic surgeon remarked that he was thinking about outsourcing his billing so he could avoid learning ICD-10 and make ICD-10 “the billing service’s problem.” But hastily outsourcing billing and collections without carefully evaluating the company can lead to problems. Choosing the wrong billing...
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Don’t Get Burned by the Billing Company: Avoid These Revenue, Reputation, & Regulatory Risks
Plastic Surgery News Connection – October 2013 by Cheryl Toth, MBA “It’s a total nightmare!” The physician’s voice was a mixture of fear and anger. He had hired his cousin’s next-door neighbor’s billing company, which had reportedly worked miracles for other practices. But with this physician’s claim volume, the one-woman company quickly fell behind. In...
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Are Your Business Associate Agreements HIPAA (Omnibus) Compliant?
Plastic Surgery News Connection – 2013 by Karen Zupko If you’ve been “too busy” to update your Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) with every vendor who accesses your Protected Health Information (PHI), it’s time to pay attention. The HIPAA Omnibus Rule took effect September 23. Your practice is on the hook for ensuring that all these...
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