Practice Management

One of the greatest benefits of being covered under a high-deductible health plan is generally the ability to open a health savings account and receive tax-preferred treatment on money saved for medical expenses.

In a series of articles this year, Robert A. Dowling, MD, will examine what you need to know about the law, what the CMS proposed rule for implementation implies for the near and long-term future, and-when it is issued later this year-what the final rule means to your urology practice.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a proposed rule regarding the implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015. This article will summarize some of the details of the proposed rule, including an outline of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), one of the key components of MACRA.

The next few years may bring more change for urologists in a more compressed time frame than ever before. Could a perfect storm be brewing, and what should you be doing about it?

Medicare Part B charges and payments constitute a significant fraction of the typical urology practice’s income, and owners of these practices should be aware of the pertinent rules and regulations-and the consequences of failure to comply with them.

The Painters offer some suggestions on how to tackle phase II of ICD-10 coding.

"Money Matters" columnists Joel M. Blau, CFP, and Ronald J. Paprocki, JD, CFP, CHBC, discuss irrevocable life insurance trusts as well as what happens when someone dies without leaving a will.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 was signed into law on Dec. 18, 2015. The law renews a long list of tax breaks known as “extenders” that have been expiring on an annual basis.

In this article, I will describe some nuances of buy and bill that you should understand in your roles of small business owner and treatment provider, especially as it pertains to Medicare.

In this latest installment of "Coding Q&A," Ray Painter, MD, and Mark Painter also discuss compensation plans and answer a question regarding CPT 76942 and 50200.

No one can predict with any great certainty the financial outlook for 2016, especially with the national elections looming in November. Nevertheless, certain money management strategies make sense every year.

In this article, Robert A. Dowling, MD, addresses common questions and answers on patient access to protected health information-recently released by the government-to help your office manage this common task in a compliant fashion.

Dawn Collins, JD, also writes about a lawsuit in which a patient sued over an alleged failure to diagnose Fournier's gangrene.

The federal government’s aggressive timeline for full Stage 3 implementation of meaningful use in 2018 seemed to derail on Jan. 11 when Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt declared that the program would come to an end this year. Now that the news has settled, urologists are among those who think meaningful use is very much alive, but evolving, and urologists and other physicians should not change EHR course, just yet.

There are several very detailed steps that we will combine into 11 separate functions that have to be performed in a prompt and accurate fashion in order to submit a clean claim and be paid in a timely fashion.

When Dr. Painter started practice during the early 1970s in a small town in western Colorado, the entire billing and collections process was much simpler.

Check out the latest new products. From Single-use ureteroscope addresses shortcomings of reusable scopes, to an App that helps IC, chronic prostatitis patients choose the right foods and much more.

Henry Rosevear, MD, recently read what he felt was 2015's best article on the business of health care.

The HHS Office of the Inspector General work plan for fiscal year 2016 includes a number of topics of interest to urologists, which is my focus in this article.

In this "Coding Q&A" column, the Painters also the explain difference between CPT codes 74420 and 74450.

Other pipeline products discussed in this article include an immunotherapy for metastatic bladder cancer, a treatment for lower urinary tract symptoms of BPH, and an investigational clear cell renal cell carcinoma treatment.

The 529 plan, named after the section of the Internal Revenue Code authorizing it, allows you to remove wealth from your estate while you steadily accumulate assets to help educate children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews-and even yourself if you're planning to go back to college.

The State of the Specialty survey, now in its tenth year, takes the pulse of urologists’ current challenges, business and clinical practices, satisfaction, and opinions on a variety of hot-button topics. I

Learn more about these products as well as a powered exam table and an app that measures, monitors, and helps improve fertility in men.

Here are the highlights of the final rule for Medicare Part B payment for calendar year 2016 of greatest interest to urologists.

The defendants did not dispute the patient's claims but did question the severity and frequency of her complaints and whether they related to the original operation.

In this final installment in a series on privacy and security concerns, I will discuss issues related to secondary use of data derived from those primary systems.

today’s urologist has to stay current with new technology and care models and cater to patients who seek more knowledge and participation in their care. In part two of this two-part article, I will discuss how these practices are both good for business and for improving the quality of the care you provide.