Is it Time to Start Downsizing?
What will affect doctor’s incomes in the New Year? The author of 12 Changes That Will Affect Doctors’ Income in 2015 discusses the real impact of the Affordable Care Act to your bottom line.
High deductibles is the new self-pay in disguise with many patients not aware of this serious issue.
Decrease in malpractice premiums that will probably be a transient benefit. Caps are being overturned or litigated in most states.
ICD-10 will begin in October and the true cost is not yet known. Most experts think practices should have a 90 day reserve fund to make payroll.
Practices involved in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations will be losing their guaranteed contracts to avoid losing money. There is a bill in congress to keep the contracts viable for 3 more years. Not sure what will happen in new congress.
The emergence of Telemedicine is affecting the growth of certain practices. The reimbursement for these services are still being battled over. The legal liability is also in flux.
Retail clinic pharmacy driven practices are direct competition to the standard practitioner.
Primary Care Physicians will lose their enhanced Medicaid payments. These payments will lower back to approximately 40 cents on the dollar.
Meaningful use become more “mean” and will now penalize rather than reward the practitioner. The government wants its money back.
PQRS will no longer give maintenance of certification monies for meeting quality measures. Penalties will ensue.
Medicare payments to specific providers are now available without context on new websites. Bad publicity is the net effect.
Medicare will start paying for chronic care outreach to providers who deal with patients with 2 or more chronic conditions. The downside is the necessary documentation to avoid future audit.
New CPT modifiers to replace the 59 modifier for procedures. Make sure your billing team is ready to change. Failure to act will lead to another excuse to deny or delayCLAIMS MADE.
XpressTechnologies Electronic Health Record, Practice Management and Billing Services can help you through the maze of endless impediments to practicing patient care.
