Ushwin's RCM Assistant has gotten a lot of traction with providers who use AthenaHealth for EHR and RCM. Here's why this combination of AthenaHealth and RCM Assistant creates a win-win.
Several medical practices opt for AthenaHealth's integrated medical billing and EHR platform because it takes a lot of the load off in-house billing. For instance:
That said, medical practice billers need to code claims, enter charges and submit claims; review, correct and re-submit claims in Hold and Manager Hold buckets; and generate reports to track RCM performance. This is where Ushwin's RCM Assistant steps in to help.
Ushwin's RCM Assistant works with medical practices to address practice-side tasks such as preparing claims (CPT and ICD-10 coding, modifiers, billing amounts), improving timely claim submissions, working Hold and Manager Hold buckets, resubmitting claims, reviewing payer portals (ex. Availity), calling payers and patients, and more.
In addition, we generate reports for insights on RCM metrics and trends related to monthly visits, monthly billing, monthly collections, outstanding AR, AR aging, and more. In so doing, we help your practice run more efficiently, with far greater visibility on financial and cash flow expectations on a monthly basis.
Practices that use AthenaHealth see a lot of advantages in using Ushwin's RCM Assistant services, creating a win-win all around.
While the example above focuses on AthenaHealth, our RCM Assistant model works even better with other EHR/EMR systems because most do not take on the same level of workload as AthenaHealth.
OfficeAlly, for example, does not have a built-in claim-scrubber and requires practices to manually input EOBs into their Practice Mate module.
It's with these less automated solutions (which have their own advantages relative to AthenaHealth) that RCM Assistant's hourly billing model really shines, and goes a long way in improving in-house billing happiness, efficiency and morale.
More than ever, medical practices rely heavily on Internet-based technologies to function. Yet, few practices do what is necessary to protect themselves from hackers, and are at grave risk for theft of Protected Health Information (PHI), and associated heavy HIPAA-violation fines. In addition, practices are at risk for ransomware, whereby hackers freeze your network and prevent you from logging in until you pay them hefty sums.
None of this is fun to deal with, but a few basic steps can go a long way in securing your practice from getting hacked.
Typically, your Internet Service Provider installs a modem or router that’s connected to either a co-ax or a fiber-optic cable, to give you high-speed Internet access.
This modem/router is your gateway to the Internet, and the first point of failure because most practices do not change the default passwords that come with this equipment. As a result, any one with physical access (such as cleaners, delivery personnel, or even patients) just needs to take a picture of the equipment label to gain access to your network.
To prevent this, make sure you change the default wi-fi password to at least a 16-digit string of letters, numbers and special characters (@, !, #, $, *) immediately after new gateway equipment is deployed at your practice. Here’s a handy guide to choosing a secure wi-fi password.
Hackers constantly run “bots” - artificial intelligence programs - that scour the Internet for networks with weak security. Whenever they spot a weak link, these automatic programs try to decrypt your password and break into your system. You’d be amazed at how these sophisticated programs break into even some of the most heavily guarded networks.
To keep hackers out, we strongly recommend that you install a heavy-duty firewall. Robust HIPAA-compliant firewalls can cost anywhere from $200 to $500 for small practices, but they are well worth the investment.
A firewall essentially gives you a heavy-layer of armor against outside attacks. The more difficult you make it for hackers, the more likely they will leave you alone and move on to easier targets.
Small practices are especially vulnerable to financial fraud. This fraud typically happens in three areas - in timesheets; at the front desk where cash payments are handled; and in the billing department.
We discovered all three forms of fraud when evaluating a practice for acquisition. In this instance, the practice was owned by a doctor who was not tech-savvy, worked with paper charts, and had no clue or interest in the details of billing and collections.
As a result, he delegated complete financial responsibility to his office manager, who doubled-up as his biller. The office manager subsequently stole co-pays, setup a parallel bank account, and directed EOB payments into her private bank account.
In addition, she overbilled time on her timesheet, claiming she had to work long hours to manage billing and collections. In total, we estimate that the office manager skimmed away close to $100,000 each year, and cost the doctor about $1.5 million in lost collections over a span of 20 years.
Accordingly, we urge small and medium medical practices to institute a system of checks and balances: