The Telehealth Tax Checklist

Your telehealth tax questions, answered Health care practices implementing telehealth often focus their efforts on the marketing, technology, security and logistics of providing health care services to their patients and occasionally overlook tax and state regulatory considerations. The very nature of telehealth, which allows for patient care delivery across state lines, requires a careful analysis […]

Help Your Bottom Line: Focus on Your Revenue Cycle

Secure and consistent revenue is integral to any successful medical practice’s bottom line. Sometimes physicians lose track of what is actually going on in their business operations. When you aren’t paying attention to the financials, your profitability may tank regardless of how well you address patient needs and concerns. 

Paid Leave for Medical Practices: Considerations for Setting Time Off Policies

In any business, staff members need the flexibility to take time off from work — whether for sick days, personal days or vacations. Some medical practices take a fairly casual approach, while others have more formal time-off policies. Whatever your current method, you should periodically review and reconsider what would be the most effective and […]

How to Avoid HIPAA-Related Data Breaches

Data breaches are as prevalent as ever. News of large-scale breaches, such as tech-giant Facebook and insurance company Anthem, are popping up on the news nearly every week. Medical practices are often easier targets because of the personal and financial data available.

The Vital Signs of Your Practice: Choose and Use the Right Key Performance Indicators

In the age of big data, it is possible to measure anything and everything, ranging from the number of patients per day to the amount of time spent on phone calls. So, what should your medical practice measure?

Private Practice Owner or Hospital Employee?

More physicians are currently employed by hospitals or medical practices than ever before, while fewer are in private practice. According to a 2016 Medscape report, physicians as a group have shifted from private practice to being employed with the rate of employed physicians growing by more than 30% from 2000 through 2016.

Should You Rent or Purchase Your Practice Facility?

Whether they are just opening a new practice or building a current one, physicians may need to assess whether owning or renting medical office space best serves their needs and those of their colleagues, employees and patients. This article explains some pros and cons of both owning and renting, as well as provides some helpful pointers in making this important decision. A Sidebar provides an equation for determining the amount of space needed for a new or expanding practice.

Always Be Closing: Internal Marketing and Tracking

Internal marketing can help retain patients and increase patient referrals. This brief article explains four tracking methods — including recording how new patients heard about the practice and coding marketing materials — that can help medical or dental practices evaluate their return on investment (ROI).

Cut Practice Costs to Improve Efficiency and Profitability

Maintaining profitability, staying up to date with the latest technology and providing quality patient services can be a difficult balancing act for medical and dental practices. This article offers some ideas for keeping your practice operating lean and efficient, including analyzing staff costs, salaries and PTO, as well as reviewing occupancy costs.

Listen to Your Patients: Their Opinions Matter

In a patient-centric health care world, it is critical to know what patients are thinking — whether it is about their medical care, individual physicians and staff or the practice as a whole. This article offers a number of mechanisms for gathering feedback from patients that can be put to practical use, such as encouraging online ratings and reviews or facilitating feedback from home.

Does Third-Party Billing Make Sense for My Practice?

Physician practices wrestle frequently with the decision about whether to outsource their billing processes. It can be hard to balance the pros and cons. What’s good for one practice might not work for another. This article offers certain recommendations that can help physicians make the best choice.

Return of Physician Practice Management Companies

Physician practice management companies (PPMCs) rose and fell during the 1990s. But now, a new generation of PPMCs has emerged with a stronger value proposition. This blog explains how PPMCs can fill several gaps in the abilities of physician practices to thrive in a highly dynamic health care environment.

Group Medical Visits… Still a Viable Option

Group medical visits have been a well-established offering of many practices for years. And there is a reason why: Both doctor and patients can gain many benefits simply from listening to each other. This blog describes some of those benefits, while noting some caveats to look out for.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Spring 2022

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter provides strategies for Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to create a more stable future — both clinically and financially.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Winter 2022

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter illustrates how nonmedical staff members and external support providers play integral roles in practices’ operations and looks at the potential benefits of adding staff in regard to efficiency, quality and compliance.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Winter 2021

Our Health Care Group Newsletter looks at the benefits and drawbacks of outsourcing billing, details key metrics that will help physicians better understand their revenue cycle to decide whether or not to outsource billing and explains how technology plays a significant role in a patient’s experience.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Fall 2020

Our Health Care Group Newsletter provides strategies for reducing the financial consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic and explains how nonphysician providers can provide high-quality services to patients while relieving pressure on physicians.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Summer 2020

Our Health Care Group Newsletter discusses the “new normal” for physician practices and provides burnout prevention and management strategies.

Health Care Newsletter – Fall 2018

Our Health Care Group’s Fall 2018 Newsletter offers insight on understanding high-deductible health plans, as well as tips for making the right staffing decisions for your practice.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Spring 2018

How to Handle a Medicare Audit LAURENCE SOPHIAN, CPA, MBA Generally speaking, the question isn’t if you get a Medicare audit, it’s when. Every Medicare claim undergoes statistical analysis, and Medicare compares individual claims data to all other data submitted. In addition, it now does so in real-time. It’s important to understand how a Medicare […]

Health Care Group Newsletter – Fall 2017

Technology continues to grow and expand. In today’s evolving society, individuals look to social media to be informed and to connect with one another. By now, most people are familiar with social media, even in the unlikely event that they don’t participate in it. If you are interested in enacting a social media strategy for your practice, it is important to know the pros and cons to these platforms.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Summer 2017

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective health care practice management. The Summer 2017 issue includes two articles: “Group Medical Visits Offer Upsides and Downsides” and “Starting a Practice: How to Develop a Budget.”

Health Care Group Newsletter – Winter 2017

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective health care practice management. The Winter 2017 issue includes two articles: “Five Ways to Plug Revenue Leakage” and “Extend Your Reach with Non-physician Providers.”

Health Care Group Newsletter — Summer 2016

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective health care practice management. The Summer 2016 issue includes two articles: “Nine Business Insurance Policies That Every Physician Should Consider” and “The Ins and Outs of a Winning Billing and Collection Process.”

Health Care Group Newsletter — Spring 2016

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective health care practice management. The Spring 2016 issue includes two articles: “It’s a New Generation: Hospitals and Physicians Seek Out New Investment Capital” and “Buried Under a Mound of Work? Then Call in the Cavalry.”

Health Care Group Newsletter – Spring 2015

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective practice management. The Winter 2015 issue includes two articles, The Ins and Outs of Stage 2 Meaningful Use and Tips on How to Engage Your Patients.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Summer 2014

ORBA’s Health Care Group Newsletter is a quarterly publication focused on effective businesses management for health care providers and practices. The Summer 2014 issue includes two articles: Reengineering Your Practice’s Revenue Cycle and Best Practices to Maximize Patient Self-Payment.

Health Care Group Newsletter – Winter 2014

A significant worry to any practicing physician is the fear of being sued by a patient for medical malpractice. Although most practicing physicians have coverage under medical malpractice insurance, the constant worry is: Is the malpractice coverage I have enough to protect my personal assets? With the increase in lawsuits filed — especially medical malpractice lawsuits — other options of protecting your assets may need to be considered. The following provides three other strategies for protecting your assets that do not involve purchasing additional malpractice insurance coverage.

ORBA Appoints Jason Flahive and Jacqueline Janczewski as New Directors

Ostrow Reisin Berk & Abrams, Ltd. (ORBA), one of Chicago’s largest public accounting firms, is proud to announce that Jason Flahive, CPA and Jacqueline Janczewski, CPA, MBT have been elected as Directors, effective July 1, 2017.