Should I take card Payments?
Banks are desperate to phase out cheques. This is due to the cost of processing a cheque from the bank's point of view. Yet the decision was taken not to, as planned, phase out cheques completely by...
No More Paper Invoices
Last month another insurance company said it is no longer accepting paper invoices. Why has it taken them so long? For years, MHM has argued paper invoices should be avoided. We have instead used...
Undercharging – is this you?
Undercharging or not charging the right fee is much more common than you may think. Consider the two real examples below. THE ENT SURGEON Surgeon A is an ENT consultant surgeon. He performs an E1910...
What does a remittance advice do?
Some consultants do not appreciate remittances sent to them are important. They are not just for tax reasons. They are not just to keep the accountant happy. There is a time-critical reason too....
Can you transfer a pre-authorisation?
A question from a group of consultants who referred patients to each other and they had problems getting paid. Following a conversation with the insurance companies concerned the cause of the issue...
Don’t use your home address
Using your home address for correspondence when you are a private medical practitioner is not a good idea! It is a very bad idea in fact. For example a couple of months ago - actually it was...
Health Cash Plans and Receipts
Every so often I take a phone call from a self-funding patient or an insured patient who requires a receipt for their payment. They need a receipt so they can claim the money back from their health...
Failure to get paid is no accident
There is always a reason why you aren't getting paid. And the number one reason is that no invoice has been sent. Take, for example, the consultant surgeon I was working with recently. The issue as...
You want better cash flow? RAISE YOUR STANDARDS!
One of the most often asked questions is "how as a private consultant surgeon can I improve or increase my cash flow". The answer, as regards medical invoicing, is very simple to answer: RAISE YOUR...
It’s a lot easier if you actually talk to the patient
Many times I come across a consultant who is having problems getting paid by self-funding patients. This is often followed by a reference to numerous reminders and sometimes even final demands being...
Take it seriously or else…
you will struggle to make any money. Private medical practice is a business must be run as a business. A surprisingly large number are NOT run as a business which is fine provided you don't...
What do you expect if you don’t ask for the right amount?
It is depressing the number of times I hear consultant surgeons complaining about insurance companies. In my experience the reasons normally cited are incorrect. Far from it. I've lost track how...