Physician Revenue Cycle

Provider Directory Accuracy Issues Persist for Medicare Advantage

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Online Medicare Advantage provider directories are still not accurate, according to a recent CMS analysis of approximately one-third of Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). In its third round of...

Clinicians Less Optimistic About Value-Based Care Than Execs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Clinicians are more skeptical about the benefits or viability of value-based care and reimbursement compared to healthcare executives, a new survey shows. Only about one-third of clinicians (38...

Implementing a Patient-Focused Culture Good Business for Practices

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Fostering a patient-focused culture was a top business strategy top-performing medical groups and practices implemented in 2018, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recently reported. As...

Physician Compensation Increased for Just 37% of Docs in 2017

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Average annual physician compensation for most specialties remained relatively flat from 2016 to 2017, leading to mediocre income satisfaction rates among physicians, the second annual PracticeMatch...

Falling Productivity Stifles Physician Compensation Boost in 2017

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Physician compensation increased by just 0.89 percent in 2017, marking the first year that provider salaries have grown less than two percent in over a decade, AMGA recently reported. The 31st annual...

Antitrust Case Before Supreme Court May Limit Physician Referrals

by Jacqueline LaPointe

An antitrust case involving credit card companies could potentially impact healthcare by allowing payers and hospital systems to limit physician referrals. Ohio v. American Express Co. is a pending...

Provider Data Standardization Critical to Improving Inaccuracies

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A multi-disciplinary workgroup is calling for provider data standardization to ensure accurate provider information is available for connecting patients with providers, licensing providers, and paying...

Value-Based Care Driving Independent Practices to Consultants

by Kyle Murphy, PhD

Independent physicians and practices are turning to consultants to make the transition to value-based care and stay competitive in a shifting market. The latest research from Black Book shows...

Primary Care Physician Shortage Driving Bump in Compensation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Primary care physician compensation increased by more than 10 percent over the past five years. But the rise in pay indicates a worsening primary care physician shortage, according to the 2018 DataDive...

New Org Aims to Help Independent Practices with Value-Based Care

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The value-based care transition has been a thorn in the side of independent practices, but a group of leading provider organizations is aiming to better support solo practices in the current healthcare...

Average Physician Compensation Sees Modest Growth in 2018

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Physician compensations increased slightly over the past year, with the average annual income increasing from $294,000 in 2017 to $299,000 in 2018, according to most recent Medscape Physician...

New Docs Don’t Use Social Media for Healthcare Recruiting, Jobs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

While we seemingly cannot avoid Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites, healthcare organizations may want to reconsider using these social media sites for healthcare recruiting and employment...

AAMC Projects Physician Shortage to Reach 120K Doctors by 2030

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Physician demand continues to outpace supply, resulting in a new physician shortage projection of up to 120,000 doctors by 2030, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) recently...

Hospitals Acquired 5K Independent Practices from 2015 to 2016

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Hospital acquisitions of independent practices continued, with another 5,000 physician practices acquired by hospitals from July 2015 to July 2016, a recent Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) and...

Service Sharing Helps Independent Physician Practices Stay Open

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Small and independent physician practices can survive in the era of healthcare consolidation by entering service sharing arrangements that allow practices to pool and manage resources collectively...

Doctors to HHS: Level the Playing Field for Independent Practices

by Jacqueline LaPointe

In the face of increased hospital consolidation, HHS should better support independent practices and develop policies that allow solo providers to compete with hospitals and health systems, the...

Medicare Wellness Visit Adoption Boosts Primary Care Revenue

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Practices that performed Medicare wellness visits on at least a quarter of their patients earned greater primary care revenue, experienced more patient assignment stability, and treated patients who...

Pay-for-Performance Strategies for Independent Physicians, Small Practices

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Pay-for-performance models aim to reward providers for high-quality care at lower costs. However, value-based reimbursement structures tend to require substantial upfront and ongoing investments and put practice revenue at risk, straining...

4 Key Ways to Improve Healthcare Revenue Cycle Management

by Jacqueline LaPointe

“There is always room for improvement” should be healthcare revenue cycle management’s mantra. Declining claims reimbursement rates, the shift to value-based purchasing, and evolving...

KLAS: athenahealth, Aprima Earn Top Marks for Ambulatory RCM

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Aprima, athenahealth, and NextGen Healthcare topped the list for overall performance and most consistently satisfactory ambulatory revenue cycle management (RCM) services among large and small...