Chiropractic Collections | The Strategic Chiropractor

13 Things Chiropractors Will Have to Change in 2013 (Part 5)

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on January 16th, 2013

Topics: chiropractic accounts receivable, chiropractic billing, chiropractic collections, chiropractic insurance

5. Beware of Profitability Shrinkage. At this point, there are many concerned about the declining value of the U.S. dollar in the world marketplace. However, chiropractors have to pay attention to this on both a macro and micro-economic level. There are a combination of market forces that are aligning against you that, if not closely monitored, will reduce your profitability to the point where you are either working for free or at a loss. Most chiropractors believe that if they adjust their patients or provide services, they are profitable. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple. High deductibles, payment lag from payers and the increase in the cost of doing business are just a few examples why your profitability can be reduced or eliminated or your cash flow can be severely compromised to the point where you are actually busy but on the verge of going under due to a lack of working capital.

The sum total of all of these little beasties is this: your accounts receivable is getting bigger and the chance that you will eventually be paid on all of it is getting smaller. Furthermore, once chiropractors begin to get behind the A/R eight ball, it’s tough to catch up.

The good news is that a little prevention goes a long way and in 2013, you will find that prevention is not just a good option to consider, it is a vital ingredient to A/R success. Here are a few suggestions on how to keep up with the changing landscape so that you can continue to profit or so that you can generate more profitability than you are currently doing: Read More

Why 2012 Health Insurance Report Cards Are Bad News for Chiropractors

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on October 23rd, 2012

Topics: chiropractic billing, chiropractic collections, chiropractic insurance

The National Health Insurance Report Cards recently celebrated its 5 year anniversary of giving geeks like me a lot of the dirt and data on how insurance is paying (or not paying). The 2012 version of the report cards were not very different from previous years. Although a few payers made improvements, most are woefully slow, problematic and downright secretive with how claims are processed and providers are reimbursed. While these report cards are not specific to chiropractic itself, there is much we can learn as a profession from this data.

As an individual business owner and our calendar year is winding toward a close, this is also an important time to consider the direction of where you want to take your practice for 2013. Integral to that plan may be the decision to continue to be a provider for certain insurance payers – or whether to not accept that insurance at all.

So, below is an “executive summary” of some of the highlights of the report card from 2012 as well as 5 year trends. If you’d like to read all about it in full gory detail, you can click here. Read More

Whiz-BANG! Increase Income & Avoid Trouble with Chiropractic Technology

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 15th, 2012

Topics: chiropractic business, chiropractic collections, chiropractic practice management

Even for chiropractors who are not quite gadget-geeky enough to have a bathroom like the one pictured above, the writing on the wall is clear: the future of all business, including healthcare, is becoming increasingly dependent on technology.

I have met the rare bird who refuses to use a computer, cell phone or debit card and I am sure they have good reasons. But for most of us who don’t want to go the route of the dinosaur, we must embrace at least some technology that can make our practices better, more profitable or more efficient. And there are many tools and strategies available now to help you improve your chiropractic business.

That said, I will also admit that I am NOT in favor of every new gadget or idea that comes sailing over the internet or raved about by the blogosphere. As a whole, I have found that most chiropractors are actually not on the cutting edge of technology. Fortunately, since our main tools of our trade are our two hands, we don’t have to be. But we can pick and choose which gizmos can really help us and not just look pretty. Here’s my short list of things you need to consider: Read More

How Can You Increase Your Chiropractic Income Without Working More?

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on January 24th, 2012

Topics: chiropractic billing, chiropractic business, chiropractic coding, chiropractic collections, chiropractic documentation, Chiropractic Seminars

At one point in time, virtually every business owner – chiropractors included – has asked the question “How can I improve my income?” Today’s post will discuss this mega-dilemma of nearly all entrepreneurs.

Before we discuss potential solutions, allow me to throw another question at you:

HOW do you want to increase your income? Read More

12 Things Chiropractors Will Have to Change in 2012 (Part 2)

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on January 9th, 2012

Topics: chiropractic business, chiropractic collections, chiropractic practice management

For the previous article in this series, see 12 Things Chiropractors Have to Change in 2012 (Part 1)

5) Be on the A/R Alert. As predicted, the latest statistical surveys on the economics of medicine (including chiropractic) have indicated that small physician and hospital Accounts Receivable are growing and “aging” across the board. Translation: it’s taking longer to get your money and you have more money hanging out there in the void. Read More

Bill Electronically? Mandatory Conversion to 5010 for Chiropractors!

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on April 26th, 2011

Topics: Billing, chiropractic billing, chiropractic business, chiropractic coding, chiropractic collections, chiropractic webinars, HIPAA

Today I’m going to speak to you about a mandatory format conversion for your electronic billing that you must do by January 2012 or you will not be paid! If 2012 sounds like a long way away, you should know that testing for the 5010 conversion starts now — in April 2011!

Specifically this format conversion is called 5010 and you might’ve heard of it as a HIPAA 5010 Format Conversion or “mandatory claims reformatting.” Lots of chiropractors have been emailing me for advice on what to do, where to go for information and what exactly is required for the conversion.

First — a reality check. Do NOT be fooled by the term HIPAA! One reason I told you up front that you will not be paid and I didn’t mention HIPAA is that I know chiropractors by in large ignore lots of things related to HIPAA. They think, “Well in I’ve never seen a HIPAA policeman” or “this is just some low priority compliance items I can handle later.” This is entirely different!

This 5010 conversion is mandatory if you do ANY sort of electronic claims transmission or electronic billing. Read More

5 Verification Mistakes That Chiropractors Make That Put Their Income at Risk!

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 22nd, 2011

Topics: Billing, Business, chiropractic billing, chiropractic business, chiropractic collections, chiropractic practice management, Collections, Insurance

As we discussed in my last post, Expedited Agreements and Other Fee Negotiation Scams Waged at Chiropractors, insurance payers are continually rolling out new tactics to avoid releasing claim payments or to minimize reimbursements.

Accordingly, your standard operating procedures may longer be sufficient to get you paid for all the good work you do. One overlooked but vital tool to accomplishing this is your Insurance Verification Form. As such, now may be time to enhance your verification of benefits to insure that emerging claim processing tactics are identified and thwarted.

Unfortunately, most chiropractic offices are employing few, if any, of these tactics. Instead, they are doing insurance verification, “the way we have always done it” and getting the same (or worse) results. Read More

Expedited Agreements and Other Fee Negotiation Scams Waged At Chiropractors

Written by Tom Necela, DC, CPC, CPMA, CCP-P on March 9th, 2011

Topics: Billing, Business, chiropractic billing, chiropractic collections, Collections

Many of you have probably received a letter similar to the one pictured below offering you “expedited” handling of the reimbursement owed on an outstanding claim.

This scam is being used by a number of different companies who contract with payers to primarily (but not exclusively) target out-of-network providers. These letters, which are often received by fax, propose to “expedite payment and decrease the patient’s responsibility.”

While this sounds admirable in theory, a quick look at the math behind this proposal will illustrate why you should feed such documents to a hungry shredder as quickly as possible. Look at the example below: Read More