National Healthcare

Question: President-Elect Obama wants a universal health care program for the U.S. If he is successful in establishing such a program, what impact will the program have on the medical billing industry and the kinds of services offered through American Business Systems?

Answer: The Obama-Biden plan will not change anything about how our Licensees process claims. We have had a "national healthcare plan" since 1966; it is called "Medicare", and it provides affordable, accessible health care for all Americans over the age of 62.

The Obama-Biden plan, if it passes, builds on the existing healthcare system, and will simply cover millions of additional Americans who do not currently have insurance. It will use existing providers, doctors and insurance plans.*

This means that if doctors are currently doing their own billing in-house, their will be burdened with processing a lot more claims. If they are smart and are outsourcing their billing, it will mean that medical billers will have millions of additional claims to process, which means that this type of national healthcare plan will make this business of processing claims even more profitable for those involved in it.

Here is a direct quote from the plan: "Inefficient and poor quality care costs the nation at least $50 to $100 billion every year. Billions more are wasted on administration and overhead because of inefficiencies in the health care system. Processing paper claims costs twice as much as processing electronic claims. And given current trends, this problem will only get worse as health care spending is expected to double within the next decade. "

All this is good news for Licensees of American Business Systems.

* http://www.barackobama.com/issues/healthcare/#make_health_insurance_work

10 Steps to an Easier ICD-10 Transition - Becker's ASC Review

Wow, this is a lot to consider. Good thing doctors using our system
won't have to worry about half of it.

http://www.beckersasc.com/news-analysis-asc/coding-billing-reimbursement-issues/10-steps-to-an-easier-icd-10-transition.html

- Adam

70,000 Potential Prospects

70,000 Doctors are using Medisoft... an out dated system.

http://www.live-pr.com/en/medical-billing-software-com-announces-release-r1048240042.htm

Why wait for updates?

Why would anyone want to wait around for Medisoft to release an
update, then have to pay for it? Our system is updated constantly,
every day, behind the scenes, for FREE.

http://www.pr.com/press-release/117866

Nearly HALF of Docs surveyed would leave medicine!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/11/17/primary.care.doctors.study/index.html

Microsoft Launches Online Store

You can now download FULL Programs like Windows Vista, Office and Xbox
Games!

Online is the way to go.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10849

American Medical Association - "Heal the Claims Process"

The AMA has large section of their website devoted to helping
Providers "Heal the Claims Process".

You think there are doctors in need of help?

See for yourself:

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/18659.html

A Look at Health Care Under Obama

We get asked this question a lot: "What would happen if we get a
national health insurance plan under Obama?" Meaning, how would this
affect the medical billing business?

The answer, according to this article: nothing. We already have a
"Public Health Insurance Plan". It's called Medicare. And ABS
Licensees are billing thousands of Medicare claims every day for
doctors. And since this plan would be "open to the uninsured, and
employees who can't get health insurance through an employer", this
would simply mean that there would be a lot more claims generated
through this plan, and, thus, more claims for us to process for the
doctors. Bring it on!

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=6185581&page=1

Cash Flow problems on the rise

These are exactly the issues we (you) can help business owners with.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122540968964686203.html

More proof that online software is the way to go.

Don't let anyone tell you that the web is "not ready" for online software...

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/software/2008-10-28-microsoft-office_N.htm

Data Mining

Our system performs the exact same function: Helping Providers collect
money they thought they weren't going to collect on.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/business_intelligence/mining/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211800074

Hiring billing company best bet for medical practice

Excerpt from: The Record (Bergen County, NJ Newspaper)

01-25-2008

Hiring billing company best bet for medical practice

If you decide to outsource your billing responsibilities, you should
take the following steps:

* Make sure you interview several companies to compare the way they
provide their services. For instance, some billing companies will
provide you with a terminal that connects your practice with their
billing software so that you maintain the patient demographics at your
office, while others have a more manual approach.

* Compare fees and, more important, the services you receive for those
fees. Billing fees are usually a percentage of the amount that is
collected. These fees can range from 2 percent to 10 percent,
depending upon the services provided and the specialty.

* Find out if the company provides services to other practices in your
specialty. Anesthesia, for instance, requires a very specialized type
of billing.

* Check the company's reputation and standing with your peers, medical
societies and specialty organizations.

Your work isn't done once you hire a billing company: You need to
monitor the effectiveness of its services. Each month, you should get
reports that contain key billing statistics such as the number of days
from the date the service is performed to the date the claim is
entered and the date the payment is made. You need to track on a
rolling 12-month basis your collection ratio as well as monitoring
your accounts receivable.

***

Susan Reed CPA is a principal of Sax, Macy, Fromm & Co. PC in Clifton.
Participants in Ask the CPA are members of the New Jersey Society of
Certified Public Accountants . More information is available at
MoneyMattersNJ.com.

Good advice for choosing billing software

http://www.medicalbillingbusinessresources.com/articles/choosing_software.htm

Medical Billing and the Economy

I would never recommend someone just take a medical billing course to
get into this business (we'll teach you MUCH more than that), but
here's a good article on why Medical Billing is a good choice, even
during economic crisis.

http://www.medicalbillingbusinessresources.com/articles/main.htm

Proper Coding: Essential

http://medical-scam.blogspot.com/2008/09/why-proper-coding-is-so-important-to.html

This blogger makes a great point... it is key to have the doctor's
codes up-to-date. That is where our system comes in. We have coding
experts on staff that make sure that codes are updated as soon as they
possibly can be.

Billing a top complaint with Providers

http://www.sacbee.com/107/story/1248324.html

In order to run a successful Medical Billing Business, it is VITAL to
use a billing system that is always up-to-date with regards to coding,
guidelines, etc. You cannot get any more updated than with an online
practice management system like ours.

Better Medical Billing: Prescription For Lower Healthcare Cost

http://myq10.com/2008/09/better-medical-billing-prescription-for-lower-healthcare-cost/

Flu Myths Debunked

http://www.jigsawhealth.com/articles/flu-myths.html?utm_source=jh-sepnews08&utm_medium=email

Do doctors need help with their billing woes?

http://www.physicianspractice.com/files/pdfs/Pediatrics.pdf

 

Consider these facts:

45% of pediatric practitioners are disappointed with their income

20% are not sure they'll be able to meet their overhead for the next five years

Medical Identity Theft on the rise...

All the more reason for doctors to move to an electronic system. Data can be "locked down" and only access by those who are supposed to access it.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-medical-identity-22-aug22,0,1434025.story

Medicare easily duped...

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/08/04/gao-fakes-out-medicare-in-undercover-equipment-scam/

EMR not as widely adopted as first thought...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/technology/19patient.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&emc=eta1&adxnnlx=1217358015-krgFv6EOwAYERxTMf3mFeQ&oref=slogin

Some good reasons why doctors should use Billing Companies

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Medical-Practice-Can-Increase-Their-Insurance-Claims-Acceptance-Rate&id=1246614

Google Health goes live!

What does this mean for the future of EMR? It means that, first of all
traditional CD, based software continues to be proven out-dated and
unreliable as compared to online systems. Second, it will be much more
cost effective using the online systems, as with our online claim
filing system.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080519/google_health.html?.v=1

All the more reason to use a competent, compliant system

We have coders who maintain all the regulatory stuff for you... this
eases the doctors mind, and yours.

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9106&page=1

EMR/EHR... Not as easy as it seems...

http://www.healthcareitnews.com/story.cms?id=9136&page=1

Sounds like the Whitehouse needs to upgrade...

Here is yet another strong example of traditional, CD-based software
gone awry. With an online system, all updates/backups/changes are made
for you, each night, for FREE.

http://news.slashdot.org/news/08/04/30/1359209.shtml

PHOTOSHOP is now online!!!

The big developers are all moving some of their most prized, best selling, software online. Software that was traditionally CD based. Case in point: Adobe's most well known program, Photoshop

https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Why SaaS software is the future of software delivery.

The writing is on the (virtual) wall:

http://www.itnews.com.au/News/NewsStory.aspx?story=46780

Welcome aboard!

I love my job. I work for a training and support company devoted to creating the most successful Medical Billing/Cash-Flow/Business Consultant Entrepreneurs in the country. 

This blog is to keep you updated about the goings-on of American Business Systems (ABS) and other tidbits I run across on the web.