The Private Medical Practice Academy

Finding space for your medical practice can seem very intimidating.  So when someone asked me for a consultant in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area to help them figure out where to look for space for their new office I realized that I need to address this topic head on.  You don't need to pay a consultant for this. You need a commercial realtor. 

That's why I invited Colin Carr, the founder of Carr Healthcare, to join me...

Drug and Device reps often drop into medical offices--usually uninvited. And they seem to always to be there at the most inopportune times. Most annoying is when they camp out in the back waiting for you. It's no wonder that many physicians have disdain for Drug and Device reps.

If this is your attitude, you're missing out on a great (free) opportunity to grow your practice.

In this episode, I chat with ...

I’m frequently asked about the benefits of hiring employees versus having independent contractors.  

Many physicians are under the impression that hiring someone as an independent contractor is going to be less expensive than as an employee. But not so fast. The IRS has rules.  The employer is responsible for determining if the new hire meets the criteria. Choose the wrong status and you may be liable for past taxes and the associat...

When I started my medical practice I quickly learned that there's much more to accounting than quickbooks.  My CPA firm, with its extensive healthcare experience, has served a phenomenal business advisors. In this episode of The Private Medical Practice Academy,  Jeremy Klibert CPA and I discuss some of the pressing questions that private practice physicians have.

• Are you wondering what the right structure is for your medic...

You want to offer a service to a patient but you aren’t sure that Medicare will reimburse you. Is there something you can do to increase the chances of getting paid? The answer is an advanced beneficiary notice of non-coverage (ABN). 

You use an ABN when you are offering a service that is usually reimbursed by Medicare but may not be reimbursed by Medicare in this particular case. 

Voluntary use of an ABN
When you know, in advanc...

We've all heard, "First impressions matter." Calling your office to schedule an appointment is your patient's first interaction with you and your practice. That call defines whether the patient schedules an appointment. And, their attitude toward future interactions with you and your office. 

Today, Zed Williamson from TrackableMed joins me to discuss how your staff can improve the impression patients g...

One of my greatest frustration with practicing medicine is poor patient compliance. You spend time educating the patient and discussing the treatment plan. When you see them back in follow up you discover they haven't followed through. If you are lucky, they are the same. Unfortunately, sometimes they are worse.

Using FDA-approved devices, remote monitoring remote patient monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM)...

Are you afraid of getting audited by insurance companies or Medicare? Do you get anxious when one of the payers sends you a request to audit 5 of your charts?  Have you heard horror stories of the Feds knocking on a physician's door? Don't worry--you are not alone. 

But not all audits are created equal.

Today David Vaughn joins me to discuss what you need to know about the different types of payer audits...

 In 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced Chronic Care Management (known as CCM) with the intent of improving the care of patients with chronic conditions. CCM offers physicians an opportunity to be compensated for the work that they were doing between office visits including but of course, not limited to calls, education, coordination, and pre-authorizations. In 2020, CMS rolled out Principal Care...

 If you are an employed physician, chances are your employer purchases  malpractice insurance for you. Your first introduction to the complexities of malpractice insurance may come when you leave that employer and have to buy a "tail." And, if when you start your own practice you'll need to understand how to get the best malpractice insurance. 

Today, I chat with Jennifer Wiggins from Aegis Malpractice to he...

Today I had a great chat with Dr. John Lin about how to think about choosing to be In-Network vs. Out-of-Network. We all know that dealing with health insurance companies can be very frustrating. But reimbursement rates are only a part of what makes dealing with these companies a headache.

Trying to decide whether it makes sense for you and your practice to be In-Network or Out-of-Network has to be an informed calculation ...

You’re a Medicare provider. And you know that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) runs Medicare. But did you know that CMS is just the umbrella organization? The actual administration is done by a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC.)  

What is a MAC? 
A MAC is a private health care insurer that’s been awarded a geographic jurisdiction to process claims for Medicare Fee-For-Service beneficiaries.  

CMS relies...