Cardiovascular Business - November/December 2008 - (Page 9)

Robin Scott, director of the business office for Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists, says front office staff trained for weeks to learn how to work out reasons for denials on the front end before a claim went out the door. by having less foot traffic for coordinating data. The second is in terms of operational efficiencies. “We geared our installation to pre-planning in operational efficiencies to reduce the number of steps to do things,” Jaskie says, adding they have seen a 47 percent increase in productivity. The third is the absence of losing revenue via better management of the order or billing data. An example is the ability to better ensure that patients who are supposed to have an echo actually have that echo ordered. “Being able to manage those data sets and the orders that come out of the encounters is critical to the bottom line,” she says. Jaskie adds that West Michigan is “just getting its toe wet with PQRI,” however, she acknowledges that NextGen’s integrated PM/EMR solution has an integrated PQRI reporting tool that is embedded into the existing workflow, which pulls data and sends to PQRI. Big and small No matter what the practice size, PM software is proving its value in its ability to streamline and automate processes to keep expenses down. Even for a three physician practice like South Beach Preventive Cardiology in Miami Beach, Fla. By using Intergy PM software from Sage Software, integrated with Sage’s Intergy EMR, the practice goes beyond the basics of scheduling, registration and complete billing. With Intergy PM, they can track the patient arrival time and it is immediately flagged in the EMR as well, tying it to patient flow, according to Marynell Lubinski, practice administrator. Prior to the automated features of Intergy PM, the small practice spent hours on the phone or online every day, obtaining insurance eligibility, deductibles and copays. Now, it is an automated function. Two days out, the system connects to the insurance companies and auto verifies eligibility. The only time they have to get on the phone or online now is when the software is unable to verify patient eligibility. “Instead of hours, it now takes minutes,” Lubinski says. When they brought the system in-house, instead of using a third-party billing company, Lubinski says they decreased the number of accounts receivable days by 15 percent, without adding any staff. Another important functionality of the PM software for the small practice is the electronic remittance. Until the last few years, she explains, they had to deal with insurance remittances coming back in paper format, which was time-consuming to post in the system while looking for errors. Now, 75 percent of remittances come in electronically and they are automatically processed and posted to all pertinent accounts. “We can have a check for $20,000 for 50 patients and it can post the money to each individual account, automatically,” Lubinski says. If the software is unable to match funds to correct accounts, it holds it aside and flags it for the user. Costs for Sage Intergy vary based on the number of practitioners and options chosen. It is available both in a client/ server model and a subscription-based model. The subscription-based model is available at a lower upfront cost with a predictable monthly fee based on the number of providers licensed on the system. Looking ahead Irrespective of size and practice management software vendor, it is evident that PM automation is a key to fiscal success for many cardiology practices. The software is critical to managing the dayto-day operations of the practice that impact the bottom line. “The only way you can run your business is through analyzing the data. The old software of just patient demographics and scheduling is out—new systems have to be sophisticated and integrated with EMR and must be sophisticated with how they interact with clearinghouse,” Biga comments. Clearly, challenges still lie ahead for the practice management software market. Practices of all sizes are going to have their hands full with the ICD-10-CM conversion coming and now is the time to figure that out with your software vendor, Biga adds. According to a survey of medical practices conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), 95 percent of respondents said the transition to the ICD-10 code set would require them to upgrade or replace their practice management software. Nearly two-thirds expected to have to buy code-selection software (see News and Views, page 34). CardiovascularBusiness.com Cardiovascular Business 9 http://www.CardiovascularBusiness.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cardiovascular Business - November/December 2008

Cardiovascular Business - November/December 2008 Contents First Word Cover Story: Practice Management Software Moves Beyond Bean Counting The Death of CME as We Know It? Clinical Study Digets: Triple-Antiplatelet Therapy; Ex-Vioxx Users Beware Shockwaves Subside from the FDA's Echo Contract Warning Burning Question: Does Laser Heart Therapy for Angina Really Work? Advanced Visualization Adds New Practive Dimension Coronary Calcium Scoring Program Reaps Dividends Interventionalists Get Pumped Up About Mechanical Chest Compression Trials Force Physicians to Re-Examine Oral Anti-Diabetic Drug Protocols News & Views Calendar Reader Resources The ACC Corner

Cardiovascular Business - November/December 2008

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