Vital Times 2017 - 29

ADVOCACY

Practice Management
Committee:
Identity Crisis Resolved!
By	Keith	Chamberlin,	MD,	MBA,	FASA	|	Practice	Management	Chair

I

t has been said life is what happens to you while you
are planning other things. Well, Practice Management
is what happens to you while you are planning other
aspects of your future professional career.
As part of the Legislative and Practice Affairs Division,
Practice Management seemed to take a backseat to
Legislative Affairs. All the attention went to the state
legislature, lobbying, and working on bills that affect our
practice. In the meantime, Practice Management quietly
plugged along trying to make day-to-day professional life
easier and more productive.
NOW, as of January 2017, Practice Management is its
own committee! Meaning what? Well, we plug along
a little less quietly, have access to a budget, get more
recognition at board meetings, and in general, do what
we always did except with some resources at our disposal.
What is it we have done quietly? We have helped our
members resolve day-to-day problems such as: billing
and management issues; difficult practice relationship
issues, be it within a group, or between a group and a
hospital; and serving as a buffer for patient complaints.
We have also tackled the big issues we need to live with,
such as Assembly Bill 72, California's out-of-network
billing legislation. While the Legislative Affairs folks
work on that bill (no balance billing, average contracted

rate, etc.), Practice Management works directly on how
to live with that bill. We published an online webpage
dedicated exclusively to AB 72's implementation,
including guidelines on how to submit bills and how
to report underpayments and late payments. These are
critical to ensuring that the bill's legislative intent is
followed. That is, eliminating surprise bills in exchange
for fair and reasonable payment to anesthesiologists (and
others) so that patients have adequate access to care. To
access these important resources, visit http://csahq.
org/practice-resources/ab-72.
Shockingly, insurance companies are using AB 72 to
decrease contracted in-network providers' payments.
The CSA and other professional societies are working
with legislators to ensure an adequate number of network
providers and reasonable reimbursement. The webpage
provides detailed instructions for data collection and
how to get mandated reasonable payment.
AB 72 has occupied virtually all our attention in 2017,
and I'm sure that we will address other large issues in
2018. Your comments will help guide us on deciding
which practice issue is the most important for our
committee to tackle.
Practice Management wants to help your professional
life, as indeed you plan for your professional future.

Annual	Publication	2017	|	 	29
http://csahq.org/practice-resources/ab-72 http://csahq.org/practice-resources/ab-72
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vital Times 2017
