Practice Management

Make sure you are paid for authorized services.

Always make sure that you work all of your accounts each month.

I try to practice random acts of kindness with our office staff.

If, when you suggest an improvement, someone in your practice responds, "That's not the way we do things," charge that person 25 cents on the spot.

Giving out money isn't the only way to reward your employees.

Have someone write on the charge ticket what time each patient checks in.

If you’ve already bent over backwards to set up a payment plan for self-pay patients, don’t cut further into your cash flow by mailing them a statement every month.

Don’t appeal claims worth very little.

If you discover a patient changed insurers, take a close look at the effective date of the insurance.

Caring for a patient with diarrhea that may be caused by Clostridium difficile.

Does your staff need an incentive to reduce claims-related errors?

Don't take it personally when patients leave your practice-take control.

Measure and monitor your "lag time"-the time between the date of service and the date of claim submission.

Leave yourself time to appeal denied claims.

Print your own coloring book for children to draw on while they wait.

To better coordinate follow-up care after patients have been in the emergency department or hospital, instruct staff to tell patients to bring their hospital discharge sheets with them to their appointment. Surprisingly, many patients don’t think to bring these sheets, which contain invaluable information, such as test results and new medication recommendations.

During my residency more than20 years ago, Dr Theodore Frakerataught me these 2 diagnostic principles,and I will rely on them as longas I practice medicine:

Track and identify patients who chronically miss appointments so you can automatically double book them.