Medical

Doctors are smart people. But even smart people make dumb mistakes sometimes.

Going to medical school doesn’t guarantee that you how to handle your finances. Newly minted physicians earn high incomes but have large amounts of student debt, and generally require specialized insurance. This can get people into trouble if they aren’t aware of best practices for building and holding onto wealth.

Below you’ll find 12 of the most common personal finance mistakes that doctors make. Knowing what can go wrong is the best way to make better decisions.

Ramping Up Spending Too Quickly

Physicians enjoy a large bump in salary when they emerge from their residencies. Many are quick to enjoy the lifestyle this increase affords them. But this ignores the biggest drag on their savings — student debt.

Instead of upgrading your house, car, and lifestyle when you become an attending, you should channel your extra income into paying off your debt, thus establishing a stable financial base. Only then you should start enjoying the spoils of your work.

Not Saving Enough

Even when doctors recognize the value of paying down their debts, they may not save enough for retirement. They often don’t realize the importance of compounding interest and underestimate how much they need to save annually to continue their normal lifestyle into retirement. On average, doctors should be saving at least 20% of their income.

Allocating Assets Inappropriately

Early on in their career, doctors should favor growth investments, like stock funds, REITs, and similar assets. However, safer investments, like government bonds and money market accounts, need to be included as a hedge against loss. High net worth individuals often focus on growth without a safety hedge, which can get them into trouble.

A good rule of thumb is to use your age to set your safe investment percentage. A 30-year-old should have 30% of their portfolio in safe investments. As they age, that percentage goes up, ensuring that a larger share of their assets are protected from loss as they get close to retirement.

Buying Too Much House

Buying a big, expensive house, even if you can afford it, isn’t always the smartest financial move.

That’s because homeownership creates a host of hidden expenses that eat away at a physician’s ability to save. The more expensive the home, the higher these costs climb. Taxes, interest, furnishings, climate control, repairs, and other expenses add up quickly. Be sure that you still have enough income after taking care of these costs to save the recommended 20%.

Not Purchasing Adequate Insurance

Life insurance exists to replace your earning power should you pass away. Doctors can earn quite a bit over their lifetimes. Therefore they need life insurance policies that match. $500,000 worth of coverage seems like a lot, but when you make $200,000 a year, your policy payout won’t last very long.

Doctor’s need at least a million dollars of coverage. Two to three million is better. They also need adequate disability, umbrella, and malpractice insurance. Skimping on any of these could get you into trouble. Similarly having a good dental malpractice insurance policy is important.

Purchasing Insurance They Don’t Need

As important as insurance is, sometimes you don’t need it. Life insurance is the most salient example. It’s intended to support your dependents in the case of your untimely demise, replacing your lifetime earning power.

If you don’t have any dependents, you don’t need life insurance. It’s really that simple.

Playing the Stock Market

The proper way to invest in stocks is to purchase shares in mutual funds. This spreads your risk among hundreds of different companies. However, doctors and other high net worth earners frequently play the market, buying stock in individual companies.

This is a mistake. You’re a doctor, not an investment professional. Even seasoned investors find timing stock picks challenging. The chances that you will pick winners more often than losers are slim. Buying individual stocks is a poor way to build wealth.

Leasing a Car

Doctors don’t drive Hondas, right? They drive expensive status cars. And they want the newest model with all of the bells and whistles. Leases guarantee a new car every few years.

But this is the worst way to buy a car. Leasees are essentially renting their cars on a long term basis. New cars depreciate rapidly within the first few years, causing you to lose significant value on your investment. However, with a lease, you don’t own the car, so you’re not building any value at all.

The better move is to buy a pre-owned luxury car. A vehicle that’s three years old has already depreciated significantly, which means you’ll be getting a discount for an automobile that’s still in excellent condition.

Loaning Money Instead of Giving it Away

It’s nice to have the resources available to help family and friends in need. However, if you want to help, the smart move is to make it a gift instead of a loan. Why?

Because if the person defaults on their loan, it can ruin the relationship. This isn’t a risk when the money is gifted. More importantly, you’re less likely to give away money you can’t afford to live without. You might give someone $1,000, but loan them $10,000 because you’re assuming you’ll be paid back. But what if you aren’t?

Listening to Unqualified Investment Advisors

So you know this guy who knows a woman that’s putting together the “deal of a century.” It’s a “home run,” you’re told. You’ll double your money, guaranteed! You just can’t lose!

When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. There are no guarantees in investing unless you’re talking about savings accounts and CDs. Make sure you get investment advice only from people qualified to give it.

Not Having a Proper Will

This is a mistake that many people make, but it can be particularly damaging for doctors and other high earners, particularly if you have children. You’re going to accumulate a sizable net worth, and you don’t want to leave its dispersal to chance.

Managing Taxes Inappropriately

There are significant tax shelters available to individuals with high earning power. However, many physicians are unaware of them or are too busy to educate themselves fully. Doctors that don’t manage their tax liabilities properly lose more money to the government than they need to, reducing their overall savings.

It’s best to consult with a trustworthy tax professional to be sure you’re managing your money wisely. And in general, you should find a financial advisor you can trust to look at your entire financial picture.

In our modern, globalized world we are hearing more and more about people traveling outside their country as “medical tourists” for healthcare procedures, treatment, and tests, but why and how does it work? The reasons why a person may travel for treatment vary widely; the patient”s country of origin and destination vary, too. But as the medical tourism market is currently growing rapidly, it is interesting to note that this phenomenon is in fact not quite so new.

We can trace the origin of medical tourism to as far back as Ancient Greece, when pilgrims would travel to the healing temples dedicated to the god of medicine, Asclepius, to be cured of their illnesses. The god”s serpent-entwined staff is still used globally as a symbol for medicine and healthcare today.

After its inception, the United States received more patients than it exported in the medical tourism market. For quite some time America had been one of the pioneers in healthcare technology, bringing the world innovations such as the smallpox vaccine and live-donor organ transplants, and the economy thrived on its reputation as a quality health care provider. A few “hotspots” for medical tourism still exist in the U.S. – mainly for “high-tech” healthcare, for example cancer treatments in Houston and heart surgery in Cleveland. One of the world’s top health care facilities, The Mayo Clinic, markets its services to a global audience, and numerous clinics in Florida and other southern states advertise their care plans in Spanish to attract potential Latin American clients.

But this trend has largely reversed in the past few years, as the U.S. public health care system becomes more and more saturated and the price of private healthcare skyrockets. Many American citizens are looking abroad for quicker and cheaper solutions to their healthcare needs. Other factors, such as ease of access to information through the internet and the lower costs of air travel, have meant that it is easier than ever to seek treatments abroad.

For American medical tourists, economic statistics point to both Canada and South America as the main destinations – the ease of shorter cross-border travel being a motivator, as well as, for some citizens, the opportunity to return to their country of origin where they have family or friends to accompany them.

Other global statistics show that many economies across Asia are being boosted by the new medical tourism market, notably China, India and Singapore. For instance, India advertises treatments of the same quality and care with the same results as the U.S. but for a fifth of the cost. Medical tourism is on the rise, in spite of concerns regarding the quality of care, legality of procedures and treatments, language barriers that make diagnoses and consent forms difficult to understand and despite the issues of continuity of care, and post-operatory travel.

Research dating from 2017 from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) pointed out that Americans pay more out-of-pocket for health care than any other high-income country and an average of 1.4 million Americans travel abroad for healthcare per year, almost twice as many as in 2007. Many of them are patients who can”t afford insurance or patients who are not fully covered by their insurance plans. Others are simply frustrated by high costs and the lack of cost transparency in the U.S., the stress of having to deal with insurance companies and repeated rejections of insurance claims, administrative sinkholes, seeing too many overspecialized doctors, or feeling over-treated by inattentive, indifferent providers.

The negative impact on the U.S. medical system ranges from being perceived as predatory and discriminatory towards the poor to losing revenue to other countries. On the other hand, medical tourism has become a niche industry on its own which facilitates treatment abroad but charges for it here, in the US. Some of that revenue re-enters the American economy. Health care reforms, such as the Affordable Care Act, extended health care to 30 million Americans who could have otherwise become medical tourists in other countries. At that time there were concerns in the medical tourism industry that the slump those facilitators had experienced after the 2008 recession would continue. As mentioned in the report from OECD about the increase of medical tourists between 2007-2017, that was not the case.

Both industries, the medical industry proper and medical tourism have adapted not only to the fluctuations in demand and prices, but also to the logistics of providing care to patients who want to take advantage of medical vacations abroad, whether they come into the U.S. or travel outside the U.S. For example, Massachusetts General Hospital has a dedicated International Patient Center in an effort to attract foreign patients who are willing to pay high prices for top care and state-of-the-art facilities. Websites like http://www.mymedholiday.com/ offer international treatment options as well as local.

Other hospitals and clinics in the U.S. have jumped on the bandwagon by aggressively advertising to foreign patients from Asia, South America, and even Canada. U.S. insurance companies have been expanding medical insurance to global travelers. The old fear that medical tourism would unbalance the national health care system and would worsen disparities between services made available to humble citizens versus cash-wielding foreigners has been put to bed by the health care professionals” ability to adapt, and the increased availability of health care services for all budgets.

Some benefits we may see emerge from the medical tourism industry could be economies in developing nations thrive from the new source of income that creates jobs, not just the medical field”s clinics, laboratories and technology start-ups but also in the tourism sector. Another positive impact could be the increased competition in the healthcare industry leading to overall global improvements and advances in healthcare technology, procedures and infrastructure as well as after-care facilities and treatments.

The medical tourism market is predicted to expand rapidly by 2027 at a compound annual growth rate of 21.1%, so it”s no wonder many countries want to see their economies benefit, and the goal is to attract, attract, attract. Competing offers in healthcare may see an overall increase in standards of care as each provider seeks to outdo its competitor to get the best reviews and ratings. A global movement of evaluation and standardization of medical protocols is underway, taking the shape of accreditation programs such as the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) program.

Whatever the next few years will bring on the global health front, it looks like medical tourism will continue to have a significant impact around the globe.

In many ways, it doesn’t matter how knowledgable a doctor is, or how much they care for their patients if the patients aren’t actively engaged in their care. That’s because unless they’re willing to follow their doctor’s advice and do what it takes to stay healthy, the quality of service means nothing.

That’s why, in a patient-centered care model, patient engagement is critical. Engaged patients drive better outcomes for themselves, reduce operating costs, and improve the relationship between themselves and their caregivers.

However, improving engagement isn’t always easy. Clients can be resistant to their diagnoses, their care regimens, and the costs associated with their treatments. Overcoming these obstacles is a primary concern for patient-centered organizations. The strategies detailed below represent best practices for getting patients past the blocks preventing them from engaging deeply with their healthcare.

Collaborate With Patients on Their Healthcare Goals

Patients are far more likely to feel vested in their healthcare outcomes when they’re given a voice in their care. Instead of a physician dictating a regimen that’s divorced from the realities of the patient’s life, it’s more effective to treat care as a conversation.

For example, a patient suffering from high blood pressure might decide that their healthcare goal is to stop being dependant on medication. When they come to this decision on their own, they’re more likely to develop the healthy habits necessary to achieve their goal.

Encourage Questions and Explain Things Thoroughly

Patients with a comprehensive understanding of their condition, what it means for them, and the purpose of their treatments will engage more deeply simply because they feel like active participants. Instead of receiving treatment edicts from their doctor’s ivory tower, they feel like partners in their care.

Therefore, it’s in a patient’s best interest for doctors to treat all questions with respect, and to answer them a patiently and as thoroughly as possible. This often means reducing complex concepts to explanations simple enough for a child to understand. Doctor’s shouldn’t assume their patients have the requisite knowledge base to grasp the ramifications of their health issues fully. They should listen first and then explain.

Take Advantage of Engagement Technologies

Several technologies can be utilized to increase engagement. Patient portals make it easy for them to ask questions, access previous conversations, request refills, make payments, and more. Portals increase engagement by allowing real-time access to care options in unprecedented ways.

Telehealth technologies do the same thing for patient appointments. When they need to see their doctor, patients are more likely to act when they know a video chat is all that’s required. It’s faster for them, and the caregiver, which makes it more likely the patient will seek the care they need.

An underappreciated technology that’s quite effective at improving outcomes is an appointment reminder system. Simply reminding people of upcoming doctor visits dramatically increases attendance.

Create Patient Accountability

People are more likely to do what they’re supposed to when they know they’re going to be held to account for their actions. Gym buddies are an example of the sort of accountability that health practices should strive for. You’ll show up to the gym even if you don’t want to because you know you’ll have to explain yourself if your buddy shows up and you’re not there.

Once a patient chooses a goal, doctors should set up some means to ensure accountability. That might mean weekly check-ins. Support groups can also be an effective way of creating accountability.

However this accountability is accomplished, it’s critical that patients feel there are tangible consequences for not doing what’s required of them, consequences beyond their health.

Cultivate a Focus on Preventative Care

Illness can have a profound affect on a patient’s mental state. Depression and resignation can make it difficult for people to engage actively in improving their situation. That’s why preventative care is so critical. It helps keep people healthy so that they aren’t faced with major treatment issues.

Preventative care is an engaging practice because it’s proactive. It’s not a reaction to something external to the patient. It’s a conscious choice the patient makes. It means actively engaging in their health outcomes because they want to, not because an illness is forcing them to. Preventative care creates good habits that can then carry over if an illness does appear.

Patient-centered care is also a choice, one that hospitals and medical offices need to make every day. The suggestions offered here can help practices drive better outcomes for themselves and their patients.

Revenue cycle management in healthcare is a critical discipline. It keeps the lights on and maintains a practice’s ability to see patients. Without it, efficient data collection and patient billing aren’t possible. And with healthcare complexity increasing year upon year, the hunt for qualified individuals assumes a higher priority.

Certified revenue cycle representatives (CRCRs) are revenue professionals with specialized credentials that ensure they have the knowledge, skills, and attitude needed for success in modern healthcare. CRCRs demonstrate their readiness by passing an exam administered by the Healthcare Financial Management Association.

Acquiring CRCR certification can be a wise career move for anyone in healthcare revenue cycle management that wants to extend their skills, increase their marketability, and scale their earning potential.

What Are the Responsibilities of a Certified Revenue Cycle Representative?

A CRCR handles a patient’s financial journey through the healthcare system — from the moment they request an appointment until the very last claim and payment has been handled. Representatives are tasked with shepherding this process to avoid the many pitfalls that can cause problems for the practice and their patients.

New patients come to a medical provider with a raft of information that must be carefully collected and notated. Mistakes at this stage can lead to insurance denials and other problems down the road. CRCR’s have the training required to handle even complicated pre-registrations.

Representatives must also be skilled with claims submissions and understand the nuances involved with accurately coding medical services. Improperly-coded submissions may lead to financial losses and service denials.

Once claims are in process, there are plenty of back-office responsibilities required for proper stewardship of patient accounts, including payment posting, statement processing, collections, and handling claims denials. At each point, mistakes can cause delays, missed payments, and angry patients.

Ultimately, it’s the CRCR’s responsibility to maintain efficient procedures and systems that ensure insurance companies and patients appropriately compensate the healthcare provider, and that these fees are collected as quickly as possible.

What You Can Expect From the CRCR Exam

Candidates can prepare for their exam with online materials provided by HFMA. Members get access for free. A $399 fee is required for the study materials and the exam if you don’t join the organization.

To earn their certification, candidates must complete the full program and then score at least 70% of the questions right on their exam. They’ll have 90 minutes to complete the test. If they fail on their first attempt, they’re required to wait 30 days before making another attempt. Once awarded, certifications last for two years. Recertification is required every two years, earned by passing a recertification exam.

The test is 75 questions long and focuses on several broad topic categories, including:

• Ethical practices
• Compliance regulations
• Patient-centric revenue cycle best practices
• Revenue cycle KPMs
• Best practices for patient financial communications
• Payment models
• Patient satisfaction management
• Claims requirements
• Patient estimates and price transparency
• Financial assistance requirements

According to HFMA’s official course description, after completing your certification you’ll be prepared to:

“Identify processes and techniques for both enhancing the patient experience and improving financial performance, explore the most effective ways to reduce denials and simplify collections, review regulations to assure compliance, outline effective ways to increase interdepartmental cooperation, heighten staff confidence and improve work satisfaction, and create effective ways to measure revenue cycle staff proficiency, recognize staff knowledge and expertise, and decrease turnover.”

Like any other certification, the CRCR provides its recipients an edge over the competition. They become more attractive to employers because their certification provides tangible proof that they have the skills medical offices are looking for. Once on the job, they’re more effective due to the specialized skills the CRCR training provides.

Holding a CRCR certification offers revenue professionals a more nuanced perspective on their industry. They’re better equipped to keep current with the inevitable shifts in practices and procedures that occur as healthcare evolves. And because they’re required to recertify every two years, their knowledge is guaranteed to be up to date.

Healthcare revenue workers looking to cement their place in the industry would do well to become a certified revenue cycle representative. It’s good for them and it’s good for healthcare generally.

There are a lot of challenges faced by medical practices today. Between providing high-quality care, improving the patient experience, dealing with the constantly evolving world of medical regulations, managing finances, and more, these challenges can be overwhelming to medical care providers. This is why an all-in-one solution that meets multiple challenges faced by medical practices is so important. This is what Allscripts Professional EHR provides for users. Allscripts is a platform developed by physicians for physicians and can offer your practice a wide range of solutions. Here are just a few of the top features and benefits that Allscripts HER offers.

1. Integrated Systems 

One of the biggest challenges medical practices face is how to get different systems used throughout a group or even within the same practice to work together. Using disparate systems leads to everything from duplicated work to major mistakes that can cost your practice in a big way. Allscripts EHR allows systems and technology to integrate and communicate seamlessly and allows for a streamlined flow of information that ultimately leads to better overall results for patients and the business.

Already using AllScripts? Have unpaid medical bills?  Need to transfer your unpaid medical bills to a debt collection agency? Contact us You decide what should be the minimum outstanding balance eligible for collections. Only send accounts if a payment hasn’t been made in _(60/120/180) days. Send 5 collection demands to your patient or transfer directly for debt collection calls. You are in total control of the process. Dedicated medical & dental debt collectors. Contact us for a demo of our free AllScripts debt collection utility.

2. Customizable Platform  

All practices and specialties within the medical field are different. That is why it can be hard to find the right all-in-one solution if those solutions aren’t flexible enough to work for your specific needs. Allscripts EHR Is a customizable platform that can be set up to meet your individual challenges and provide the exact solutions you are looking for. To make things even easier. Allscripts offers a wide range of templates and protocols for multiple practice specialties that can be ready to go out of the box. The templates are based on internal workflows and are also fully customizable.

3. Manage Revenue Cycle 

Medical practices are businesses like any other business at the end of the day and they need to manage their finances accordingly. Even non-profit medical centers need to make sure their accounts receivables are in a healthy position in order to be able to offer the quality care they need to. Allscripts EHR helps practices deal with insurance and individual payers, government incentives, billing, collections, denial management, and lets organizations get paid quickly and accurately. Having the financial side of the practice aligned in a single program like this will increase the financial health of any medical institution.

4. Better Patient Portal 

In addition to making life easier and more convenient for your employees and partners, Allscripts EHR can improve the overall patient experience as well. The user-friendly and comprehensive patient portals that Allscripts offers allows patients to receive safer and more informed care. It also allows patients to engage in their own treatment in a meaningful way which is good for both patients and doctors.

5. Keep Up with Regulations 

As all physicians and medical professionals know, the world of governmental medical regulations is always changing and can be very difficult to keep up with. These people also know what not keeping up could mean in the form of financial penalties or worse. Allscripts EHR supports multiple regulatory systems and is constantly updated to reflect the latest rules and regulations. Keeping your practice in compliance has never been easier than it will be with Allscripts.

Conclusion 

As you can see, Allscripts Professional EHR offers comprehensive, customizable solutions to meet any practice’s needs. These are just a few of the benefits the platform offers. See exactly how Allscripts EHR can help your practice by visiting Allscripts.com today for more information.

No one ever wants to have to go to an urgent care center, but unfortunately, sometimes it’s unavoidable. If you take a fall and your ankle swells up or you spike a fever and can’t wait for an appointment with your primary care doctor, it’s better to seek treatment at an urgent care center than ignore your symptoms. Of course, it can be confusing to know where the best place to seek treatment might be. Fortunately, urgent care is usually the best place to go for unexpected medical problems.

Urgent Care vs. Emergency Room

“Urgent” and “Emergency” have very similar meanings, so it’s completely understandable that people might be unsure which place they are supposed to go to in the throes of an unexpected medical emergency. However, there is a distinct difference between the two types of medical care, and it’s important to know the difference.

An urgent care center is used for patients who might not have health insurance or people who have sudden, non-life threatening medical conditions that require treatment within 24 hours. These are places where you would go if you have an unexpected or sudden condition that you want to seek medical treatment for but you are not experiencing anything life-threatening. They are designed to treat minor illnesses or injuries and most people end up there because their normal doctor’s office is not open or available.

Emergency rooms are open all hours and are equipped to handle medical emergencies that are serious or critical. These are places where you might go if you have a serious injury that might require stitches, serious burns, or symptoms that could indicate a life-threatening condition. And it’s better safe than sorry- if you’re seriously questioning your symptoms and you’re worried that the might indicate something serious, the emergency room should be your next stop. They are staffed with professionals who can evaluate your symptoms and provide you with the care you need. It’s better to be told that you have nothing to worry about by a healthcare professional than minimize your symptoms, go to urgent care, and end up in a dangerous situation where you don’t get the help you need in time.

What’s Behind the Growth of Urgent Care Clinics?

There are 2 factors contributing to the growth of urgent care clinics according to Medical Economics. One is that working in urgent care allows physicians to have a better work-life balance than when they run their own practices. More and more often, doctors are opting to work full time in urgent care clinics rather than run their own practices and sacrifice valuable time with their families.

Additionally, urgent care clinics offer same-day treatment that often isn’t available through doctor’s offices. People are impatient and don’t want to wait for help, understandably, so often, people will choose to go to urgent care clinics rather than call and try to get an appointment with their primary care physician.

Pros and Cons of Urgent Care Clinics

Urgent care clinics are a critical part of the healthcare system. While regular check-ups are important preventative care, life happens! Sometimes you need to go to the doctor unexpectedly. However, urgent care visits shouldn’t replace your primary care doctor permanently. There are pros and cons to urgent care clinics, as there are with anything else.

Pros:

• Anyone can walk-in and be seen, even without healthcare.
• Urgent care centers have 24-hour availability.
• There is a lower time than in emergency rooms.
• X-rays and lab testing are available.

Cons:

• Doctors don’t spend as much time with their patients in urgent care.
• Your medical history won’t be available to the physician treating you.
• Going to urgent care does not guarantee that you will see a doctor. You might see a physician assistant or nurse practitioner.

Mistakes to Avoid When Going to an Urgent Care Clinic

If you need to go to an urgent care clinic, there are a few things you should keep in mind.

1. Know what it will cost. While this hopefully will not prevent you from getting the care you need, there is typically a cost of going to urgent care, even if you have insurance. Particularly if you have a PPO health insurance plan, urgent care visits will likely have a higher copay than a standard doctor’s visit. However, they are still usually lower than the cost of going to the emergency room. Regardless, it’s good to be aware of what kind of cost you’re going to be looking at after a visit to the urgent care clinic.
2. Double-check that the urgent care center is actually urgent care. A lot of urgent care centers are actually billed like emergency rooms because they have an affiliation with a hospital, and sometimes even if they don’t. Before you sign in or consent to treatment, ask an employee if they bill like an urgent care center or an emergency room and make sure to get their name. If they bill like an emergency room, you might want to seek treatment elsewhere. Additionally, if you are billed as though you had an emergency room visit rather than an urgent care visit, you’ll be able to contest the charge if you are able to provide the employee’s name who told you differently.
3. Bring your information. Keep in mind that if you’re going to an urgent care center, your medical records will not be available. Make sure to bring any documentation or information you need to seek treatment or provide context for your symptoms.

No one ever wants to need to go to urgent care, but in the event that something unexpected happens, it’s better to have the option to go somewhere for quick and effective treatment. And in the midst of an unexpected medical problem, you don’t want to be wondering where to go or what to do. Being prepared and understanding the difference between emergency rooms and urgent care means you’ll be able to handle the situation effectively and get the medical care that meets your needs.

If you operate an Urgent Care Center and need help with accounts receivables, then contact a Collection Agency.