Costs are rising on everything, and healthcare costs are no exception. It is becoming more and more difficult to cover your day to day expenses, let alone to find affordable healthcare coverage. However, there is cheap medical insurance out there. You simply need to put in a little time and effort to find some.

Many people are tempted to simply go without insurance to save money. This can be a disastrous decision. Just as insurance costs are rising so are the costs of medical services, tests, and prescriptions. This means that should you get sick or injured without medical insurance coverage you may put yourself into a financial hole that you cannot dig yourself out of. One major medical encounter could mean bankruptcy for many families.

Instead of just crossing your fingers that you stay healthy you will want to do some serious research into possible medical insurance plans. In order to find the most affordable policy you may want to think about meeting with an insurance consultant. Insurance consultants make their living by finding the most affordable option for their clients. They have been specially trained in all the in’s and out’s of health medical insurance policies so they will be able to explain all of the details to you and how those break down to form your healthcare costs. This understanding can help you to determine what coverages are necessary so that you can adjust your overall expense.

Your friends and family may be a wonderful source for cheap insurance. Ask them about their medical coverage. Discuss cost and quality of their care to see if they might have coverage that you want to look into getting.

Additionally, the internet can be a really wonderful resource for you. By looking online you can usually compare and contrast policies point by point. Additionally, you need to remember that policies and costs vary based on the people that are being covered. If you are in high risk categories your medical insurance costs will be higher than others might be. While online you can usually ask for a personalized quote that will give you a more accurate estimation of what your monthly premium and deductible would be. This will truly allow you to get an accurate idea of price versus quality. Read the rest of this entry »

Medical consultants and others who work in today’s American medical industry are used to hearing some of the same complaints over and over again from doctors. Here are some of the top concerns cited by American medical businesses over the last few years:

• less reimbursement from diverse payors, including patients and insurance companies
• changing reimbursement patterns from government programs
• higher operating costs

All of these pressure types can really lead physicians to feel torn between the day to day administration of their practice, and their number one priority, patient care.

HITECH and the “Work Smarter” Imperative

The American federal government has focused on using technology to solve some of these problems for medical providers, increasing efficiency and effectiveness. However, even though EHRs and digital technologies can aid in solving revenue problems, the strategy still needs a significant human component at the helm.

What most experienced consultants would recommend is a setup where in-house staff have control of the big picture, and technology, as well as outsourced third parties, can provide meaningful support.

Possible Setups for Successful Implementation

Some of the best advice we’ve heard lately involves creating what’s called a “subject matter expert” or SME around medical billing and claims handling. Subject matter experts are used in many industries, for example, wherever good advertising or outreach requires experts in a given industry or field. In a medical business, the SME is often most useful as the person who coordinates revenue collection and other financial issues from a kind of bird’s-eye perspective. The SME can figure out operational needs and help to apply the best technologies. This person can delegate to outsourced personnel, change up technology that’s not working, or detail how EHR systems will, for example, ensure proper CPT and ICD code labeling in addition to anything else that can affect the revenue cycle.

This kind of setup can really help with the following kinds of tasks:

• sending and receiving critical documents
• validating insurance
• scheduling
• selecting accurate codes
• making sure claims go out the door and get paid the first time Read the rest of this entry »