Keeping Your Practice Afloat and Independent

There are many so-called “medical billing experts” out there who are willing to tell you how to ensure positive cash flow even in tough times. The trouble with the expert advice is that it always involves the doctor’s paycheck, assets, or credit, in one form or other.

I decided to take a quick look at what the experts were again advising doctors to do in order to maintain cash flow.

No surprise, the list in amednews.com is comprised of all of the above, and more:

1 – Using a doctor’s personal funds.

2 – Accessing a line of credit secured by practice assets.

3 – Accessing a line of credit secured by a doctor’s personal assets.

4 – Accessing unsecured credit.

5 – Deferring doctor compensation.

6 – Leaving some money in the practice from year to year.

7 – Maintaining a three- to six-month cash cushion.

While well meaning, the list seems to put all the burden on the doctor’s shoulders, from taking a pay cut or no pay at all, to putting hard earned assets up in exchange for credit or, if you’re lucky, paying additional points for scarce, unsecured credit.

What I don’t hear are strategies for doctors to get paid!

I’ve been in the medical billing business for over thirty years and I can tell you that you don’t survive by standing still. Innovation and shrewd insight carry you through tough times. That’s why, over these past few months, we have developed a number of new tactics to help doctors get paid. These new tactics dovetail completely with doctors’ practice payment policies. As doctors become more stringent with regard to payment at time of service and mandatory co-pay policies, CRT Medical Systems becomes the enforcer. Diplomatic, helpful, and firm.

• We use a comprehensive electronic review system that enables us to help prevent and eliminate first time rejections on claim submissions. Statistically speaking it can improve claims payment by over 30% (based on the industry average 37% first time claims rejection).

• CRT’s PAR We employ a highly educated, locally based, special department that contacts patients with overdue balances and process payments immediately or via a patient portal.

In addition, all phone calls are recorded and tracked for quality control and client review.

• CRT deploys a sophisticated Internet-based communication system that enables our team to be an extension of your practice. It is an extremely efficient, paperless way to communicate – nothing can fall through the cracks! It’s like having a billing department in house but without the expense.

• You will work directly with an account leader who has you and your practice in mind, all day every day.

This is an actionable and verifiable road map to profitability without the huge up-front personal sacrifice.

All of these medical billing services take a doctor’s assets off the bargaining table. Doctors get to keep their money and make money at the same time. We can even help you increase staff productivity by assigning the billing challenges to the most capable resources, CRT, and allowing your staff to tend to patients and practice policies.

When a patient walks out your practice door with a balance due, they’re ours!

When you decided to be a doctor, you didn’t anticipate that you would be in the lending business or working for nothing. CRT Medical Systems’ sole purpose is to help you be the doctor you want to be.

Please start by visiting www.crtmedical.com or calling me, David Doyle @ 248.679.1700.