Practice Management

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With real-time claims adjudication, a patient receives a service in your office and then in real time, while the patient is in the office, she receives an explanation of benefits that details her charges, what the insurance company allows, the amount of the co-pay, and the status of the patient's deductible.

The owners of most medical practices feel confident in the service they provide and believe they are both meeting their patients' needs and making a good first impression. But are they? Taking a critical look at the average practice, I'm not so sure.

When an official acting on behalf of a government agency contacts a medical practice, it can be a daunting, even frightening experience-one that requires knowledge of your rights and what you must and should do.

Most urologists' professional conduct is impeccable, but there is an occasional physician whose attitude and behavior make life at work difficult for everyone.

The two biggest issues that come to mind in light of the current economic climate are how well you're communicating within the urology practice and how the economy might affect staff performance.

Although the request to revise the urodynamics codes was initiated by Medicare, the request was to change the CPT code descriptions to reflect the fact that the old 51772 and the old 51795 were billed in conjunction with code 51726 almost all the time.

Practices with 20 or fewer physicians may be exempt from the "Red Flags" rule, which requires physicians' practices and other businesses to spot and report identity theft, according to a bill unanimously passed in October by the U.S. House of Representatives.

No matter the size of your practice, unless each physician is the same age and plans to retire at the same time, you should consider developing a transition plan for the senior doctors in your practice.