by Ray Foxworth, D.C., FICC •
President & Founder, ChiroHealthUSA •
When it comes to billing your chiropractic patients, achieving compliance with federal healthcare laws every time is a big responsibility. The size of your clinic doesn’t really make staying compliant much easier. The smaller your operation, the less staff there is to stay on top of things. The larger your practice, the more moving parts you must monitor.
Most chiropractic practices have a small staff count. Thus, outsourcing compliance can make a world of positive difference for busy teams. Let’s discuss how it can help and spotlight the risks you’ll become better at avoiding.
1. Increased Focus and Peace of Mind
Working with a reliable compliance team liberates chiropractors from stress, confusion, and paperwork allowing them to dedicate greater attention to their patients. Outsourced teams also bring their own laser focus to observing your financial habits and can spot gaps and weaknesses you may be used to or too burned out to spot.
2. Tighter Documentation, Coding, and Billing
Every claim your practice makes is now under the microscope of Medicare and other payers. The slightest error could result in devastating fees. For example, violating any HIPAA regulations could see your practice fined under the 4-tier system which may mean up to $50,000 even if the error was unintentional.
Reviews, assessments, reports, and bills must be correct down to the smallest details. Worse, the rules can, and often do, change. Review this CMS exemplar and consider how much easier practicing would be if you outsource all that.
3. A Huge ROI
Many practices may freeze at the thought of outsourcing compliance, thinking it will be too expensive. Paying for outsourcing is effectively a form of insurance; a fee that pales in comparison to the massive outlays that may become necessary without it. Some types of outsourcing help are ongoing while others are a one-time assist. Either way, it’s a wise investment that can repay itself many times over.
4. A Smarter, Safer Staff
Outsourcing relieves the worry that you may be missing something in one of the three required areas of annual training: OSHA health and safety, HIPAA privacy and security, and fraud, waste, and abuse (FWA). Outsourcing teams help your team complete the necessary compliance steps and log them for your records. This makes your people and processes more effective and secure when delivering care.
5. The Right Balance Between Compassion and Compliance
Some practices offer free or discounted services to their patients. It’s a noble model, but a vulnerable one depending on state-specific rules, provider agreements, insurer stance, and more. Outsourcing compliance means you’ll confidently navigate serious risks to do the right thing, the right way.
Get Tough with Practice Protection
ChiroArmor™️ puts a full-service, expert compliance team at your disposal. They’ll get to work protecting your interests in all the key areas like gap analysis, best practices, and documentation so you can navigate health laws and audits with confidence. Outsourcing can assist your practice in establishing a financial policy that’s both compliant and profitable. Schedule your free Gap Analysis to see if ChiroArmor can bridge the gap for you.
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Why is the Discount Challenge prize amount $15,024? Because that is the average “per-occurrence” fine for Medicare inducements. That’s not $15,024 per patient, that’s not per provider, that’s PER VISIT. Stinks, doesn’t it? To us, the prize amount is worth the investment if we can help our profession better understand proper discounting.