Physicians Practice - March 2008 - (Page 5)

WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM • VOLUME 18 • NUMBER 3 MARCH 2008 CONTENTS FEATURES 24 COVER STORY Your Complete Guide to Patient Service Providing excellent care isn’t enough to keep your patients happy — and smiling patients are the key to a successful practice. Here’s a simple ﬁve-step guide to providing a total patient service experience, from the appointment call to follow-up. 49 TECHNOLOGY Learn to Love Your Nerd They can be a little intimidating, those IT geeks, what with their tech jargon and oh-so-superior attitude. But it’s your practice. Those are your computers. Here’s how to foster a positive relationship with the experts who keep them humming. 77 THE LAW Audits 101 So you’re being audited by Medicare or a large private payer. Now what? First, don’t panic. Second, check out our pointers on how to limit the damage. Plus: Advice for avoiding the dreaded audit in the ﬁrst place. 36 BILLING & COLLECTIONS Rules to Code By With thousands of complex coding rules and a busy practice to run, some billing mistakes are inevitable. And every mistake costs you money. What to do? With our help, learn how to avoid the most common coding blunders, and get paid on time (almost) every time. 81 IN PRACTICE CME FEATURES 73 NEW! Do As I Say … Pretty Please? Why noncompliant patients come to see you in the ﬁrst place is a mystery, but we have some pointers on getting through to even the most recalcitrant — and how to protect yourself when nothing works. START IT UP How to Launch a Practice Our six-part series on everything you need to know to open a practice begins this month with a comprehensive guide to the crucial planning stages. Whether you’re just thinking about starting out on your own, gung-ho to get going, or even running your own practice already, you can’t miss this series. 85 HEALTHONOMICS Handling the Changes Wrought by Medicare D We’ll let the pundits haggle over whether Medicare D is helping seniors. We’re concerned with how it’s affecting you. If changing formularies and requests for new scripts are wearing you out, try these recommendations for making things easier. COVER ILLUSTRATION: CHRISTOPHE VORLET http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

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Physicians Practice - March 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Try a Little Tenderness Second Opinion Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: The Value of First Impressions Noteworthy Cover Story: Your Complete Guide to Patient Service Billings & Collections: Rules to Code By The Administrators Desk: Selecting an EMR Technology: Learn to Love Your Nerd Ask The Experts Coding The Guide The Tech Doctor: All About Blogs The Great Practice Makeover: When Bad Things Happen to Good Practices Start It Up - NEW! The Law: Audits 101 In Practice: Do As I Say... Pretty Please? Healthonomics: Handling the Changes Wrought by Medicare D Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - March 2008

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