According to the article: “Washington Physicians caring for Medicare patients said their practices will find keeping up with government mandates and the increasing demand for services more difficult once a 2% rate cut hits starting April 1.
“The consequences of Congress and the White House failing to strike a deal to prevent spending reductions throughout the federal government under the process known as sequestration have yet to be felt by physicians directly. But the American Medical Association and other organized medicine groups said the cuts will become evident soon, squeezing practices’ margins and interfering with needed reforms to improve the health care system.
For physicians, the struggle for adequate pay for Medicare services has been an ongoing battle. The flawed Medicare pay system has increased doctors’ rates by only 4% since 2001, even though the cost of operating a practice has risen by more than 20%, said AMA President Jeremy A. Lazarus, MD. The 2% cut only will widen that gap and cause problems that go beyond the pocketbook.
“At the same time that Medicare physician payment rates have been frozen, physicians need to make investments in their practices to help design, lead and adopt new models of care delivery that can increase quality and reduce costs now and in the future,” Dr. Lazarus said. “Further cuts are counterproductive and stifle important progress while placing an unsustainable burden on physician practices.”
Brace yourselves and hang on, because this is not an isolated incident, nor the last you’ll experience on your thrill ride through the choppy government reimbursement waters.
Feeling a little seasick? There are some assurances out there, but it all begins with a shift in healthcare revenue cycle management.
It’s not a scary transition, but rather a smooth one that finally provides your practice with the assurances you need. You’ll actually do more than just stay afloat; you’ll soar.
It all begins with an innovative methodology called Assured Return.
Developed by revMD.com, Assured Return mitigates the risk of transitioning coding, billing and collections that’s out there – and even assures you’ll come out ahead.
As this industry leading methodology generates increasing returns, practices pay the percentage for healthcare revenue cycle management services that align with that bottom line gain. Simply stated, medical practices only pay less if they receive less. They pay more if they receive more.
For example, when partnering with revMD.com at the 7 percent variable rate:
- With returns of 5 percent more to the practice bottom line, revMD.com earns 1 percent more.
- With returns of 10 percent more to the practice bottom line, revMD.com earns 2 percent more.
- If revMD.com performs only as well as your previous outsourced or in-house process, you will pay 1 percent less than you are paying right now.
- In the unlikely event revMD.com generates less revenue than your outsourced or in-house process, your costs will be adjusted down to 2 percent.
Other assurances from revMD.com include:
- Revenue is assured.
- Quality control is guaranteed.
- Greater revenue is assured.
- Faster turnaround for payments occurs.
- Human resource issues disappear.
- Greater efficiency for your practice happens naturally. Costs decrease while practice revenue increases.
- Physicians see more patients and spend more time doing what they do best.
- Physicians gain greater control.
revMD.com is the results-proven alternative for healthcare revenue cycle management, with a niche specialization in medical coding and billing that generates unprecedented results and builds profitable medical practices. Leveraging a history of industry wide success spanning 25 years, revMD.com partners with medical practices throughout the U.S. to optimize revenue for hospital based and practice based physicians. For more information, visit www.revmd.com.
About the Author