ICD-10 | Five Building Blocks | Q&A from Webinar
ICD-10 Questions and Answers ICD-10 is coming soon. As you get your practice ready for the ICD-9 to 10 changeover, you are bound to have questions regarding documentation and compliance. To help you get the answers you need, we have compiled all questions that were asked during our recent webinar “ICD-10 | Five Building Blocks,” along with the presenter’s responses. Feel free to add any new questions in the comment section below. Q: Where can I find CMS guidelines in written form? A: On CMS.gov, click on the Medicare link and you will find a link for both local and national coverage determinations. Q: When can I start finding ICD-10 codes within your software and submitting them? A: Our software already has all the ICD-10 codes listed; we are building the crosswalk now. We recently completed ICD-10 testing with Medicare, and were successful with our front-end edits. We are looking to have this available to practices by June, to really start testing and cross-walking. At this point, payers are not accepting claims with these new codes; they are not coming over until October 1, but we are testing with payers and clearinghouses directly. You will be able to see which ICD-9 codes correspond to the appropriate diagnosis 10 codes, side-by-side right in the travel card.
Who’s in Charge?
Credit cards are a necessary, but often expensive part of doing business. Could Ben handle credit cards better at his chiropractic practice? “It seems like things are going a lot better at the practice,” Carmen said, turning slowly so Ben could admire the dress she was trying on. Ben was seated in the dress shop, trying to keep their son quiet and still while Carmen found just the right dress for a friend’s wedding. “Yes — but where’d that come from? I thought you were completely focused on the important question of the sarong skirt versus the trumpet skirt.” “Tulip, actually, and yes, I’m very interested in that question. However, I also want to make sure you’re in a good mood before I start using our credit card.” Ben laughed. “I am in a good mood, actually,” he admitted. “The changes we’ve been making at the practice are really paying off. And that dress looks great.” “Good!” Carmen stepped back into the dressing room for a moment and returned with another dress. “Speaking of credit cards…” “I like that dress even better,” Ben offered. Their son ducked under a dress rack. Ben hauled him back out. “Speaking of credit cards?” Carmen was back in the dressing room, but she called through the door. “I’ve been thinking we need a change in our card processor at the pizzeria. The fees seem really high. How about yours?” Ben agreed that he felt his processing fees were high, too, admiring yet another dress. “That blue thing is very nice,” he said as his wife disappeared into the dressing room again. “But, you know, it’s better to pay the fees than not to get paid, and sometimes a patient has an outstanding balance that’s just too high for him to handle in cash.” Carmen stepped out with her arms full of bright fabrics and grabbed Jonathan’s hand. Ben joined her in the line to the cash register. “I guess it’s different at the restaurant,” she said. “We use a point of sale system the same way the store here does. If your transactions are mostly about getting old debts off your books…” “We have some payments through our POS system, both for treatment and for things like back supports and exercise equipment,” Ben said, “but there are also times when we call a client about a bill that didn’t get paid by insurance, and they ask us to put it on a credit card. Those get posted manually, so it’s easy to make mistakes or to miss them.” “I don’t think we have many mistakes in our credit card transactions,” Carmen said consideringly, “but sometimes a card is declined — and the customers have already eaten.” She reached the front of the line and placed her stack of dresses on the counter with a credit card on top. “We’ve had credit cards declined, too,” Ben said. “And as you say, we’ve already provided the services at that point. It’s a hassle to follow up, and I think maybe sometimes we don’t follow up. You can always make them wash dishes, right?” The kids laughed much more than the joke deserved, but Ben hardly noticed. “Hey, how many dresses do you need for one wedding?” “I couldn’t pick just one,” Carmen explained. “Plus, there are other dressy events in our future.” “Like what?” “I don’t know yet, but now that I have these dresses, I promise you there will be some.” Ben didn’t argue, but he was thinking about credit card transactions at the practice. Just how much were those transactions costing him? Could Ben handle credit cards better at his chiropractic practice?
Chiropractic Software | New Network Members in February 2014
Forty-nine new network members across thirty-seven practices joined Genesis Chiropractic Software and Billing Network in February 2014! There is strength in numbers due to the shared knowledge – we call it the “Billing Network Effect,” as the billing performance of each member practice improves in step with the total volume of processed claims.Please welcome our new Genesis network members: Ben Sweeney, Casey Taylor and Joseph Gebhardt of 180 Chiropractic and Wellness, Franklin, Tennessee Lanai Stowe of Abundant Life Chiropractic, The Woodlands, Texas Jolena Strawmier of Advanced Chiropractic, Yuba City, California Roni Walker of All Health Chiropractic Center, Royersford, Pennsylvania Nick Zovath of Bold City Chiropractic, Jacksonville, Florida Tanya Hughes, Alison of CPB Spine Center, Windsor, Colorado Renee Honeycutt of Cornerstone Chiropractic, Charlotte, North Carolina Adrian Herndon of Crouch Family Chiropractic, Bowling Green, Kentucky Sarah Cassidy of Delano Chiropractic Center, Delano, Minnesota Angel Ochoa of Dr. Matthew Stuart Green, Oakland, California Erton Joseph C. Averion of Dr. Philip Delli Santi, Newark, New Jersey Leartis Lister of Fort Bend Corrective Health Center, Missouri City, Texas Sarah Weaver of Gateway City Chiropractic, St. Louis, Missouri Kaci Baggett of Gulf Coast Family Chiropractic, Gulf Shores, Alabama Nicole Salierno of Heritage Family Chiropractic, Olathe, Kansas F. Martin Streb, Melissa Gove, Sarah York, Emma Kinnear, Laura Dusha and Julie Streb of Hubbardston Family Chiropractic, Hubbardston, Maryland Dr. Wilson Nickolas of Indy Family Chiropractic, Indianapolis, Indiana Heather Kennedy of Justin Ard, DC, Brentwood, Tennessee Mary Grace of Kevin R. Candino, DC, Manalapa, New Jersey Christy Rataczak of Kingdom Family Chiropractic, Wheat Ridge, Colorado Maria Malak of Lombard Chiropractic, Lombard, Illinois David of Maryland Chiropractic, Silver Spring, Maryland Allison Lowe of Michael A Winters, DC, Paducah, Kentucky Michelle Adams of Miles Chiropractic, Glasgow, Kentucky Angie Lederer of Milonas Chiropractic, Naperville, Illinois Rebecca Dankert of Milwaukee Chiropractic Group, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Dr Greg O’Neill and Angela Zitto of Maximized Living Health Centers, Celebration, Florida Elizabeth Tamminga of Middletown Family Chiropractic, Middletown, Kentucky Danielle Violand of Paris Chiropractic, Rockville, Maryland Dr. Matt Spangler of Peoria Family Chiropractic, Peoria, Illinois Samantha M Wampfler of Premier Chiropractic, Stockton, Illinois Gary Martin, Jennifer Rogers, Michelle Rhea and Brandon Bonds of Sports and Spine Chiropractic, Dallas, Texas Judith Carr of Total Lifestyle Chiropractic, Scottsdale, Arizona Holli Bunnell of Trinity Chiropractic, Naples, Florida Megan Reyes of True Health Chiropractic, North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Alex Rogers of United Chiropractic, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Emilie Durand of Victory Chiropractic, San Antonio, Texas
To Grow, You Have to Let Go
By Garrett B. Gunderson How to Escape the Job Trap & Build a Real Business | Part 1 Are you a business owner or an employee? Think that through carefully. Let me put it a different way: What would happen to your business and income if you were to leave today and take a three-month vacation? If your business would fall apart and your income would stop, you’re an employee—even if you technically own a business entity. The truth is that the vast majority of professionals, and even many entrepreneurs, think they own a business but in fact it owns them, as what they really have is a job. They have to be physically present and doing the work or the income stops. They spend their time working in the business, rather than on the business. They don’t have the right people or systems to duplicate themselves. They couldn’t sell the business because it wouldn’t survive without them. Robert Kiyosaki explains the difference between a job and a business in a parable: There was once a village with a problem: It had not water unless it rained. To solve the problem, the village elders decided to solicit bids to have water delivered daily to the village. Two people volunteered and the elders awarded the contract to both of them. The first, Ed, immediately bought two buckets and began running back and forth along the trail to the lake, which was a mile away. He immediately began making money as he labored each morning hauling water from the lake. Each morning he had to get up before the rest of the villagers awoke. The second man, Bill, disappeared and was not seen for months. Instead of buying buckets to compete with Ed, Bill had written a business plan, created a corporation, found four investors, employed a president to do the work, and returned six months later with a construction crew. Within a year his team had built a large pipeline, which connected the village to the lake. Bill’s pipeline delivered cleaner water than Ed’s and it supplied water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Bill was also able to charge 75 percent less than Ed. Of course, Ed ran ragged while Bill was able to enjoy life—making money even while he was on vacation. So the question is: Are you hauling buckets or building pipelines? Now, let’s be authentic about this: Building a business is no small task. It’s incredibly difficult, particularly for trained professionals and personality-based operations. When you know as much as you do, you’re as skilled as you are, and you care more than anyone, it’s very challenging to replace yourself. But it is possible. The most common thing I hear from FastTrack members in this regard is that “it’s different for chiropractors and dentists.” I realize that there are some differences between highly-trained and skilled professionals and McDonald’s, but it’s still possible to build a business. It’s a classic case of hard/easy, easy/hard. It’s easy to just show up and do the work every day, but that makes your life much harder over time. It’s hard to build a business, but it makes your life way easier over time. But doing so requires a totally different mindset. It requires that you do things that don’t immediately pay off. Running a business means to be efficient and quick, but building a business is methodical and slow. Freedom FastTrack is a similar business to professionals, in that it is highly-technical and personality-based. But over time I’ve been able to escape the job trap. And trust me, it hasn’t been easy. For me, it was much easier to do a coaching call myself than to train a new coach. But I knew I could only be in one place at one time, and I wanted to impact more people. I’ve had to be committed to building a business. There is still progress to be made, but I rarely do coaching, and I have the time to go on trips, work on the business, and focus on the things I love doing most. Here’s how you can do it, too: 1. Build the Foundation of Culture First, you want to be very clear on who you are, what you stand for, what you stand against, what you really want to define your organization. Write down your non-negotiables and never allow anyone in your organization to stray from them. For example, we have everyone that works with us read our style guide, which details our values, vision, and culture. We also do several interviews before hiring, and we emphasize values over talent. 2. Hire the Right People, Train them Meticulously, Treat them Right There’s an informal debate in the business world right now between Michael Gerber, the author of The E-Myth Revisited, and Seth Godin, the author of Linchpin. Michael Gerber says that building a business is all about systems. He teaches to make your systems so simple that you could insert pretty much any warm body to run them. Seth Godin says it’s all about finding the right people—what he calls indispensable “linchpins.” Linchpins are proactive, responsible, and smart. They see needs and fill them. They’re full of ideas for improving your organization. My take is that any business needs both, but I side with Seth when it comes to hiring. You don’t want the lowest common denominators that will be the cheapest to pay. You want the best and the brightest who can adapt to change and proactively improve your organization. You want people who think like trusted stewards upon whom you can depend to make good decisions. The way to find the right people is to first create the position you need filled. Understand the mindset and skills that will be required to fill that position. Then hire someone whose Soul Purpose fits that position. Be willing to allow other people to express their Soul Purpose by building Soul Purpose networks and teams. There are some
