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MAS Wonders if ACOs are Already in Jeopardy?

Webmaster — Mon, 16 May 2011 14:24:37 +0000

In the world of healthcare, ACOs or Accountable Care Organization have only recently been creating a huge buzz. Are they already in jeopardy?

ACO’s may already be at risk, due to recent budget cutting measures passed by the House of Representatives that would restructure Medicare and Medicaid. If the Ryan budget is fully passed, it will likely start the countdown to the end of Accountable Care Organizations, which were created under the Obamacare law.

Currently Medicare is a “fee for service system” where healthcare providers are paid for each service rendered. At it’s current rate of reimbursement government spending on Medicare increases 7.2 percent each year and is projected to consume every dollar produced in the United States in only a few years. To try and prevent this, the Ryan budget begins a slow transition away from the current fee for service system to a voucher program that would allow seniors to buy private insurance free of charge.

This move is expected to save billions of dollars in Medicare spending and will guarantee coverage for seniors who otherwise will find themselves exposed when the program runs out of money, while still leaving coverage for those currently on Medicare or nearing retirement unchanged.

As ACOs are currently structured, providers in ACOs receive a portion of every dollar they are able to save Medicare in the form of a bonus. Under the proposed plan however Medicare would only be buying insurance for people not paying doctors directly, removing the main draw of an ACO for doctors and hospitals ultimately rendering ACOs a thing of the past.

So are ACOs almost a thing of the past before they even become reality? Chime in and let us know what think–post a comment below or on our Facebook page.

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Bill Baylis talks about the state of Medical Billing and Outsourcing

Webmaster — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:38:35 +0000

In a short video, Medical Account Solutions President, Bill Baylis talks about the state of medical billing on Friday , January 7th at the Health and Business Alliance. The HBA meets at The Holliswood Hospital 87-37 Palermo Street Holliswood, Queens, NY. For more information, call Bill Baylis at 516-348-7282 or visit the HBA website at http://www.hbametro.org/

Bill recommends that hospitals focus on doing what they do best, and let others—experts—take care of the rest! Click here now to watch the video on the front page of the MAS website!

A special thanks to the HBA for all of their support!!

About MAS: Is there a certain area in your medical billing process which is slowing you down or eating into profits? You no longer have to let an unmet billing need undermine your strength and efficiency. With its team of talented medical billing experts, Medical Account Solutions (MAS) can help your healthcare organization identify and focus on your unique problem and fill the void to keep your billing processes running smoothly.

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Get the MAS Profitability Calculator

Bill Baylis — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 15:37:50 +0000

We’ve had some discussion and outright debate about value of outsourcing and making the decision to keep your billing staff in-house or sending your accounts receivable out.

Now MAS makes it easier to know how profitable your medical billing practice is!

We know that a lot of hospitals have reversed the trend of outsourcing all of their in-patient billing so they can put a concentrated effort on receivables by putting their best and brightest to streamline and maximize that part of the A/R.

At MAS we understand that many doctors and hospitals are on the fence and that the truth is that they are not sure if outsourcing will actually result in increased profits.

To help answer that question, MAS has developed a complimentary Profitability Calculator so you can have concrete proof that using MAS to manage your medical billing will have a positive and profitable impact on your bottom line.

All you have to do is sign up now to get your copy of the MAS Profitability Calculator so you don’t have to keep tackling cash flow alone. Click here to sign up for your copy now.

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Letting Go to Grow

Bill Baylis — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:00:57 +0000

Recently I heard someone say that when you’re building a team, in order to grow you have to learn to let go.

Many of us when we start our businesses are used to doing everything by ourselves. We get scared of letting go and delegating to others. Because we’re afraid that things won’t be done right and that our customers are gonna be the ones to suffer.

Doctor’s are no different. Some doctors run their medical offices this way. They are almost too involved in the administrative things and aspects of running their practice and it gets in the way of patient. They are concerned about outsourcing their medical billing or other administrative tasks.

Other doctors, especially those in multi doctor practices hire staff in house to manage the administrative things, but it’s still hard for them to let go and their staff to get overwhelmed with things like following up with patient billing, the back and forth with insurance companies. These time consuming activities–especially those for medical billing–can make it harder to focus on the core functions of their practice–patient care.

But the truth is if we don’t learn to delegate and get the support we need it’s going to be hard for us to grow. So learn to let go and outsource the things that are taking up too much time for your practice.

Outsourcing to me Bill Baylis and my company MAS to manage your accounts and receivables and medical billing will make it easier for you and your staff to focus on the more important aspects of your practice—your patients.

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Outsourcing: Is it all or nothing? Or is it just Medical Billing?

Bill Baylis — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:43:15 +0000

Our recent blog Outsourcing – the Art of Delegation kicked up some debate.

For most of its 24 years in the healthcare field, MAS has focused most of our talents working with hospital and clinics. When MAS decided it was time to lend our talent and expand our client base toward doctor groups and individual practitioners, we knew that there we some misconceptions about outsourcing. We knew we would have to help to change the culture of what outsourcing really does.

At MAS we consider ourselves a “medical billing company”. Medical billing companies do much more then offer the choice of keeping your billing staff in-house or sending your accounts receivable out. Hospitals have been using medical billing agencies since the 1970′s. They have learned to use each agency to complement their own expertise and weaknesses.

For instance, hospitals have reversed the trend of outsourcing all of their in-patient billing so they can put a concentrated effort on receivables by putting their best and brightest to streamline and maximize that part of the A/R.

It’s a good policy because it puts them in control of their own destiny. They can directly manage the bread and butter of how a hospital will pay their payroll and important bills. However, most hospitals are smart enough to know they can’t do it all. For some hospitals, it’s best to send their no-fault billing to a qualified billing company because of the legal knowledge neededd to get these claims paid.

Companies like MAS are looking to change the face of outsourcing to let doctors and doctor groups know that its not all or nothing! We are here to help grow your business.

When you learn to properly delegate the areas that you aren’t strong in, you can focus on your strengths and leverage your team where they can produce the best results for you!

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Whose Ball is It? Profit Management with MAS

Webmaster — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:37:23 +0000

Baseball fans will know that there are many life lessons to learn from watching the game. One of my favorite lessons is project management. When the ball flies up in the air, the players know their range and how far they are playing. If they come close to another player they call for the ball and back the other person off. It’s like poetry in motion when done right.

Everyone knows what their role is and what’s expected. Good project management involves clarity on the strengths of each team member and what their responsibilities are. So when MAS works with its clients everyone is clear on what their area of expertise is and who’ll “get the ball”. Working with MAS is good “profit management.”

MAS clients get to focus more on their patients and worry less about their medical billing needs because we’re on the ball. We focus on making sure that bills go out in a timely fashion, that payments are properly collected and that profit recovery is maximized.

Having MAS take the lead on medical billing means we look at all aspects from the medical billing process, streamlining resources, maximizing physician practice revenue and overall practice management.

Our doctors get to focus on what they do best—taking care of their patients. A win-win for everyone.

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Outsourcing: The Art of Delegation

Bill Baylis — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 14:20:15 +0000

Time management experts all agree that one of the most important skills needed to manage the non renewing resource of time, is to master the art of delegation.

In order to improve your medical office’s productivity it’s important to learn how to delegate those skills that aren’t your area of expertise. That way you can focus on your core business-seeing patients.

In my opinion the medical offices who successfully delegate or outsource their medical billing are more productive and profitable. These offices are also more profitable because by outsourcing their medical billing to a company like MAS,they are able to benefit from our expertise as profit recovery specialists.

So now you’re thinking “trust someone else to bill my patients?” I ask “Why Not?”

When you “delegate” your medical billing and profit recovery needs to MAS, you are a part of the process all the way.

You always have access to your information, you know where your billing is at all times and because we make sure we understand your specific practice—everything is customized to you. The key is that you won’t be spending your time to do it, we’ll take care of it for you.

Mastering the art of outsourcing or delegation will help you streamline your business and save time and money.

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A fun day at work for the MAS the profit recovery specialists.

Bill Baylis — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:00:09 +0000

When you hear the term outsourcing or medical billing, you probably picture a clerical person in the back of a room, just processing invoices and punching in codes and numbers. Some medical offices believe that they don’t need to outsource their medical billing because they can just as easily take care of the “clerical work”.

Well MAS is here to tell you that medical billing is so much more than just submitting codes to insurance companies and following up to receive payment checks. In fact, we’re more than just medical billers, we are profit recovery specialists. We work proactively as an extension of your team to manage your revenue and cash flow so that you can focus on what’s important–patient care.

MAS understands that while it’s important to get the codes right, it’s also very important to remember the human conditions behind the codes. With our team of talented medical billing experts, Medical Account Solutions (MAS) can help your health care organization identify and focus on your unique problem filling in the void to keep your billing processes running smoothly.

We look at monthly trends to see if there are any areas that we can help you improve and streamline your processes to maintain good cash flow. Our problem solving approach means we work harder to make sure that your patient’s important procedures are reimbursed because we know that denied claims hurts them and you.

Why do we care so much? It’s not just about the codes and the numbers. Simply medical billing is fun to us.(when was the last time you heard that). We enjoy fighting on your behalf with the insurance company”s to get claims paid. Going the extra mile to get rejections over turn and doing our part to take the pressure off a growing medical group.When MAS processes your medical billing, we know we’re boosting your productivity so you can see more patients. We know that when we get it right, it’s a win for you and a win for your patients.

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The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care. The path of least resistance for a medical blogger.

Bill Baylis — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 14:24:00 +0000

60 minutes ran a story Sunday night Aug. 6, 2010 (originally published on Nov. 22, 2009). The Cost of Dying: End-of-Life Care . It started with the statement “Every medical study ever conducted has concluded that 100 percent of all Americans will eventually die. This comes as no great surprise, but the amount of money being spent at the very end of people’s lives probably will.” They also reported, that last year, Medicare paid $55 billion just for doctor and hospital bills during the last two months of patients’ lives. That’s more than the budget for the Department of Homeland Security, or the Department of Education.

This piece created a lot of emotions for me. I don’t think it was an accident that I related to this story, considering that I have been working with colleagues who are experts in the field of eldercare and life coaching.

When I first decided to add this story to my blog; it seemed like an easy angle to write about our role in the debate as medical billers. (If you have any thoughts on what role we play, please comment.) After reporter Steve Kroft asked Dr. Elliott Fisher, a researcher at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy “How do so many people end up in the hospital?” and Fisher replied “It’s the path of least resistance”. I realized I was about to take the same path with this blog–so here goes the harder way.

Perhaps we as a country need to take a step back and as hard as this is to say “decide how we want to die”.

Most Americans don’t like to focus on morbid thing like this, but I have to agree with the point of view held by Dr. Byock who leads a team that treats and counsels patients with advanced illnesses: “This is a hard time in human life. But it’s just a part of life. Collectively, as a culture, we really have to acknowledge that we’re mortal,” Dr. Byock said. “Get over it. And start looking at what a healthy, morally robust way for people to die looks like.”

Dale Carnegie once said “Prepare for the worst that can possibly happen” then “calmly try to improve upon the worst.”

I think that we should put some thought today into how we what to die, to maintain some control of our last days. I have deeper understanding of how working with my end-of-life colleagues could help us live a better life. Attorney Craig Andreoli an estate planning expert, Stephanie Ethe long term insurance specialist and Jean Summit-Riker life coach can help us plan and ask ourselves the hard questions now so that we’re better prepared for death.

Jean Summit-Riker said “Life is a journey we all travel, but the choice to take the path to peace and happiness is yours alone.” I think this is our chance to collectively leave a legacy to our children and grandchildren and show them that it is important to prepare for death and that is possible to do it gracefully.

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Comparing medical billing companies? If you only focus on price, MAS hopes you don’t get what you pay for.

Bill Baylis — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 22:05:37 +0000

Believe or not on 90% of our sales calls the first question our potential clients ask is “what do you charge?”

I can understand why most medical offices focus on that “pre-programmed answer” they assume that all medical billing offices are the same. Because they do the same things–don’t they?

I’m here to tell you that they don’t. If you’re considering hiring a medical billing company, I’d like to give you a few different questions to ask, because the truth is ALL MEDICAL BILLING OFFICES ARE NOT ALIKE!

Instead of just asking about price, dig deeper.

Ranging from basic to difficult the answers to these questions will help you figure out if they will give you the attention and client service you deserve.

How long have they been in business? Make sure they have the longevity to grow with you.
Who are their clients? You’ll find out if they are experienced in your area of specialty.
Who are the owners? Understand if they share your strategic vision.
How often will you get to meet with the owners? Confirm how accessible they are if you need to reach them.
Are they givers or takers? Givers will help you grow by sharing information and resources that keep you current and ahead of your competitors. Find out if

they will share what billing software they use with you
the data always yours or theirs
what format can the data be exported in.

How am I doing so far? These questions are a lot tougher than just pricing and we haven’t gotten to any performance questions yet! (I suspect I will get to that in another blog soon).

When it comes to finding the right medical billing company for you, do your research and think about what important qualities you need in a billing agency. If they deliver the right answers to the questions above, price won’t the only factor you base your decisions on.

Remember, not all medical billing companies are the same. Demand the best for your practice. But, if you only focus on price, you will get what you pay for.

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