Guest guest Posted December 7, 2008 Report Share Posted December 7, 2008 This is always an option, but I think those doing this need to wade with caution into this area. Why? 1) What we are doing is out of the typical practice management box, so how reliable is the typical practice management consultant (who cannot wrap their head around how our practices can work)? Practice management consultants will look at how to help the practice make money. This is a great thing to look at, but cannot be the entire focus. Yes, practices make more money by running people through. Yes, practices make more money by playing the billing game better. Yes, practices can make more money by doing more tests. But, do any of these things augment the doctor-patient relationship? If we lose focus on the relationship in order to make more money, we cannot ever change the system which is in desperate need of change. Greener pastures do not always make healthy cows (right Joanne?). 2) I have heard the argument that hiring someone is more economical than us doing it ourselves. Generally this is dependent on how to do the math. Ex. I do my own billing. It takes me about an hour a week to get all the claims buffed and sent to the clearing house and around 97% of them go through cleanly the first pass. The real time it takes for billing is posting the returning EOBs and trying to collect the other 3%. In any case, most billing companies will charge around 8% of collections to get around a 95% return on allowables. Last year I collected $260,000. At 1 hour a week—52 hours/year that would be an amazing $400/hour. I don’t make that much money. NOTE: I could (and ultimately may) hire someone for $10/hour to post the EOBs and get out the statements to the patients—then it would be economical and helpful as my bp would not go up once every 4-6 weeks). 3) The more we outsource, the more patients we have to see and the faster the treadmill gets. Sometimes this is helpful—ex. I have an accountant do my taxes. Sometimes not so much. If you find you are overwhelmed and cannot get organized, my advice is to first seek out like minded docs (like, I don’t know, perhaps this list serve) and if they can’t seem to help, then call one of the older (well, more established) IMPs. If they cannot help, then cautiously go to a practice consultant. [Practiceimprovemen t1] being organized > > > > > > > > new thread > would like to hear opinions > > today on a call someone talked about how organization was not her strong suit > > I get home and there is an email to me form someone else who says the same thing > > One person says this l eads to low self esteem " I just cannot get my work done " > > Yikes > docs doing good work who i do not measure up to and they have low self esteem...! > So i ask my husband , who is like NOT remotely organizationally inclined shall we say, but he is a doc > > I would like to hear from others what useful tools work to keep the naturally unorganized among you > on track? > > Ideas i have heard so far > - make lists > - use various tools to help you-- call yourslef / email yourslef > - delegate and forget about it with only spot chekc > - be flexible in what you think organization is ( eg AM huddle withe satff vs do it for the next day at 5 pm if that works better) > > other suggestions? > > Jean(highly organized ) > > -- > If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/ > please note the new email address. > Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ > MD > > > ph fax > > > > -- > If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/ > please note the new email address. > Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ > MD > > > ph fax > > > > > -- > If you are a patient please allow up to 12 hours for a reply by email/ > please note the new email address. > Remember that e-mail may not be entirely secure/ > MD > > > ph fax > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Get one of the books about time management/ organizing for ADD. If you organize by piles and think that being a specialist would be too boring because it's the same thing over and over, consider being tested for ADD and try meds. It helped me... although 44 years of compensating and bad habits aren't going to change overnight :-) All the suggestions I have ever heard about organizing sounded right, but I couldn't implement them. I'm learning (slowly) that, because I think differently, I have to organize differently also! Lynette I Iles MD 301 South Iowa Ste 2Washington IA 52353 Flexible Family Care'Modern medicine the old-fashioned way' This e-mail and attachments may contain information which is confidential and is only for the named addressee. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 8, 2008 Report Share Posted December 8, 2008 Get one of the books about time management/ organizing for ADD. If you organize by piles and think that being a specialist would be too boring because it's the same thing over and over, consider being tested for ADD and try meds. It helped me... although 44 years of compensating and bad habits aren't going to change overnight :-) All the suggestions I have ever heard about organizing sounded right, but I couldn't implement them. I'm learning (slowly) that, because I think differently, I have to organize differently also! Lynette I Iles MD 301 South Iowa Ste 2Washington IA 52353 Flexible Family Care'Modern medicine the old-fashioned way' This e-mail and attachments may contain information which is confidential and is only for the named addressee. If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete it from your computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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