Upcoming Seminars: Documentation and Payment Issues in Outpatient Physical Therapy: Assuring Compliance & Avoiding Fraud and Abuse October 16-17, 2008 — Great Wolf Lodge, Mason, Ohio Payment & Policy Challenges in Outpatient Physical Therapy: Tools for Success in 2008 & Beyond! October 24-25, 2008 — Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Audio Conference: The Advanced Beneficiary Notice: How to Legally Collect Cash from a Medicare Patient September 9, 2008 — Partnership with APTA Chapters Audio Conference: The OIG Self Disclosure Protocol: Should You Notify the Government if you suspect a Problem, and How to Minimize Your Risk of an Audit October 7, 2008 — Partnership with APTA Chapters Audio Conference (2 Part): Part 1: Establishing a Fee Schedule for your Facility: Using the Medicare Resource Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) as a Guide November 11, 2008 — Partnership with APTA Chapters Audio Conference (2 Part): Part 2: Determining Your Cost per Visit: Understanding Basic Financial Statements and Answering the Question: Should I Sign This Payer Contract? November 18, 2008 — Partnership with APTA Chapters Read more	Expertise & Consulting Services — Reimbursement Strategies The reimbursement landscape is constantly changing, and managing a rehabilitation practice or department at any level is complicated. Navigating through the myriad of rules, policies, guidelines, and do’s & don’ts of outpatient payment systems is extremely time consuming but necessary, and can be treacherous to achieving a healthy bottom line if not done correctly. There is an inherent relationship between the ability to get paid for what you do and the ability to provide quality clinical services that lead to optimal functional outcomes. Practice owners, facility or department managers, or hospital administrators can be empowered by an awareness and understanding of reimbursement and fiscal management issues specific to physical therapy and rehabilitation, which are unique from most other health specialties. This understanding of current or potential payment challenges and an assessment of the reimbursement environment specific to your practice, along with development of a plan to address necessary issues, can prevent many problems and help respond proactively to others. RCRI has the nationally recognized expertise through years of involvement of its’ principals in the development, implementation, and application of CPT codes, relative values and fee schedules, and related payment policy. This expertise will provide the confidence you need when responding to a reimbursement landscape that will impact your financial viability. RCRI can assist in assessing your current reimbursement issues and potential risk through: Analysis and assessment of current coding applications and billing and collection procedures Recommendations for modification of current diagnosis (ICD.9) and CPT coding processes to ensure compliance with federal and private billing and payment rules Analysis of statistics related to practice cost, charge, and payment history Analysis and assessment of current accounts receivable Analysis and assessment of payer case mix and payment rates Review of current payer contracts through use of a financial impact analysis Review of claims denial statistics and assistance with preventing and appealing claims denials Review of the application of common reimbursement policies, including balance billing procedures, appropriate billing for supplies, and collection of co-payments and deductibles Assessment of missed revenue opportunities Assessment of other current facility/practice reimbursement challenges Performing audits of coding, billing, and documentation for outpatient services Documentation analysis with presentation of audit findings for staff education and training Identification of potential claims and documentation audit review flags and development of strategies to minimize risk of audits Assessment and instruction in appropriate use of coding modifiers and Medicare beneficiary waivers Development of a plan to improve payment outcomes Identification of risk related to potential Stark ramifications in the areas of ownership, self referral, joint ventures, fee-splitting, kickbacks, or inducements Education and training in reimbursement strategies for achieving practice success in the outpatient setting