Your practice management tools can be a costly part of your dermatology practice overhead. New practice management solutions are popping up frequently. With busywork costing physicians an average of $50,000 a year in lost revenue, it can be overwhelming to evaluate the latest timesaving or job-simplifying solutions in a busy practice.
However, by examining your existing practice management tools, such as billing, your EMR, and your dermpath lab partner, you may discover increased efficiency may require some simple finetuning that makes a big difference to your bottom line.
Billing
Collecting payment for the work you perform seems an obvious yet sometimes daunting task. A common question for dermatologists is whether to keep billing in-house or use a professional billing company. Each option has its benefits.
The advantage of a professional billing partner is the experience they bring to the table. About 10 percent of claims will be denied, and a high percentage of those (63 percent) are recoverable, so it’s important to resubmit denied claims. In addition to submitting and challenging claims, billing professionals can perform coding audits, credentialing services and potentially negotiating superior rates with insurance companies.
These companies typically charge a percentage of collections, ranging from 5 to 10 percent, and are therefore incentivized to maximize your collections. Look for a company that specializes in dermatology billing and talk to reference clients. Make sure they can work with your particular EMR or PM software.
A common issue for physicians using in-house billers is how to be confident that billing is being performed correctly. There are services that will perform a complimentary revenue cycle audit to ensure that you are maximizing your reimbursement.
EMR
Embracing the advantages of a modern, cloud-based EMR system can simplify record-keeping and maintain effective patient care in your dermatology clinic. It’s exciting to see more dermatology-specific EMRs created by dermatologists who understand the unique workflow of dermatology. While almost 86 percent of office-based physicians employ EMR/EHR systems, many have yet to tap into the full breadth of productivity-increasing features.
Look for an EMR company that performs consistent upgrades and frequently informs and educates users about new timesaving benefits. After comprehensive onboarding, keep in touch with your EMR customer service representative to get answers to any questions or challenges your staff may encounter. Resolving performance issues is part of their job description, and it will save your team valuable time. Often, chat or emailing support is the most time-efficient way for staff to reach out for questions or troubleshooting, rather than calling the helpline.
Dermpath Lab
The working relationship between your dermatology clinic and the dermatopathology lab is critical to maintaining accurate and timely results for your patients. This alliance is particularly vital when you consider that a third of dermatologists work as solo practitioners.
One effective way to build this relationship is to establish open lines of communication. This includes providing accurate clinical information on your requisitions, conversations about difficult clinical cases, and correlation on challenging slides, such as alopecia or melanoma cases. In addition to quality assurance, these frequent conversations can also head off complicated billing issues before becoming a problem.
Your dermpath laboratory partner should keep you in supplies so your staff isn’t left scrambling to find requisition or shipping materials. The lab is also responsible for tracking samples from when they leave your practice until you receive the final results.
Finding a lab that establishes an interface with your EMR can make a significant impact on your workflow. Instead of spending time managing paper charts and faxes, a full-service dermpath lab like PathologyWatch can return reports electronically into each patient’s EMR chart. Digital slides are also provided to the clinician along with the pathology report. This instantaneous, 24/7 access eliminates your MAs’ need to track and file paper trails and glass slides, leaving more time for meaningful patient correspondence. Also, labs like PathologyWatch offer broad insurance coverage and locum tenens contingencies, so there is always a backup ready to keep up with your tissue samples.
Many dermatologists carry the daily pressure of meeting patient expectations while running a proficient and profitable clinic. By breaking down ways to make billing, EMR, and your dermpath lab partner work smarter and more efficiently, you may find ways to simplify and improve operations through your existing practice management tools.