Time Out and thinking through a problem
I called one of my friends early one evening last week. His phone went straight to voice mail. Curiously he didn't call me back with half an hour or so per normal. He called me this morning...
The REAL cost to your practice
What follows is absolutely real and why medical invoicing can be more troublesome than it need be. Ordinary Day One of my guys ran an outpatient clinic last Thursday The clinic list arrived with me...
Want to get paid? Make the details important.
Don't say - "all the details should be obtained". Say "all the details MUST be obtained". In other words, turn "should" into a must. But why is this so important? And why must you do it every day?...
Medical Practice? Business? Or Both?
All MHM clients are very dedicated individuals. Having spent approximately 15 years of training and to become a consultant surgeon, they then go on to work incredibly long hours. They do so because...
How long should a consultation last?
An interesting question asked by a consultant starting her own private practice. And a question I couldn't really answer. What I could do was interrogate, based on a month's worth of outpatient...
Medical Coding – Revisited
I've been asked to revisit why coding is such a big part of medical invoicing. It is integral because without the correct code the chances of getting paid decrease. It is unlikely if you wish...
I can send 10,000 tweets out per day for you!
I had a really illuminating conversation with a guy who called me recently. He ran a marketing business and was a specialist in using Twitter. Basically, the guy told me he'd been looking at my...
They don’t know what it is that they don’t know
During a conversation with a friend of mine recently, I pointed out that our clients had some things in common. For one thing, they are consultant surgeons. And that means they are all supremely...
I’m not surprised he has poor cash flow
I was asked to speak with a colleague of a current MHM client recently. He was having problems with outstanding invoices both from insurance companies and from self-funding patients. He, in turn,...
How to argue with a medical insurance company
I argue with medical insurance companies all the time. Let me, however, be very specific about when and why I argue with them. I argue with them when I think they are wrong or when I think they...
The Billing Process. Now what?
Having analyzed where the private practice is both in terms of outstanding accounts, it is important to have a structured and rational action plan. Why do it this way though? On numerous occasions,...
Excess and Shortfalls – the reality
Excess and shortfalls are the biggest headaches any private medical practice will face. You will not stop them despite what you may think so you MUST have a process in place to identify them and...