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OUR COMMITMENT:
PMG is active in representing our doctors' interests with regulatory entities,
payers and other interested parties. We have presented point papers on fee
schedule issues, testified at hearings, assisted in creating training programs
for physician offices and insurance companies, and in general, tried to keep
our network providers informed as well as heard.
One of the most important issues facing physicians involves the security,
efficiency and handling of billing documents and patient records. Quite simply,
paper records and documents have become too expensive and cumbersome for payers,
providers and companies like PMG to process and handle.
After an exhaustive search , we have finally found tools that can significantly
improve the financial performance and operation of your practice through the use of
powerful clinical documentation and tracking tools. See Documentation & Billing
Systems for more information.
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Three years ago, PMG established practice building and
consulting services to assist our network providers.
The services were based on the premise that our PPO
can’t succeed unless our doctors succeed. Central
to this goal, we set out to identify systems,
and services that could materially
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assist any practice in becoming more efficient and more effective in the provision of care.
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Practice Building & Consulting |
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We understand the inner workings of a physician's office from the
unique perspective of functioning as both a payer and practice manager.
That means we can not only help you with internal operations, we can
also objectively assist in improving your image and business relationships
with important payers.
Many practices are buffeted by inadequate documentation, legacy billing systems,
low profits, excessive costs and a shortage of effective personnel.
We can help you analyze your practice to determine what is right and what needs
improvement, what is profitable and what is costing you more than necessary.
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We help our physicians build new practices from the ground up.
We also help doctors revamp practices that need everything from
minor tweaking to a major overhaul.
Specifically, we assist our doctors and their staffs with compliance programs,
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revenue and profit analysis, HIPAA compliant on-line
billing, clinical documentation and disease
management, MIS analysis (hardware and software), web sites,
e-mail and more.
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HIPAA: The New Privacy & Electronic Security Standards
A critical issue that affects virtually every physician and hospital
in the U.S. is the electronic storage and transfer of patient information,
including on-line billing, payment and claim status queries.
By October 2002, every medical provider will be required to submit all billing
and documentation on-line in accordance with very specific Federal guidelines.
As a practice, you will not be able to comply with all of these electronic transfer
and security requirements on your own. You will have to upgrade or replace your
existing billing and electronic medical records systems. You, along with every health
plan in the U.S., including Medicare, will have to accomplish this by October 2002.
Don't take our word for it. Go to the federal government
web site http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp for more information. Then call your local hospital administrator, your attorney,
your accountant, or contact us here at PMG. It's coming. It affects you. And it's the law.
What you don't know will hurt you and it will cost you. Don't wait for a letter from
Medicare because it's not going to come. And neither will your reimbursement checks
after October 2002 if you are not in compliance. THIS IS NO DRILL. IT'S THE LAW.
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The biggest headache facing medical practices today isn't billing.
It's DOCUMENTATION and
COMPLIANCE and
GETTING PAID FAIRLY and
ON TIME.
Many tools exist to help practices with Electronic Medical Records (EMR),
SOAP Notes, billing, collection and scheduling.
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None of them, however, are designed to help the one person
in the practice who needs it the most: You, the doctor.
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Here's how you can prove this to yourself: |
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Call your software vendor for your practice management and/or Electronic
Medical Records (EMR) system. Tell them you want to produce a complete
and original set of encounter notes to support a Level 4 visit that meets
HCFA E&M Guidelines. Then ask for a sampling of their documentation system
showing the input (your H&P, exam and recommendations) and the output
(a complete set of organized notes based on the encounter).
Here's what you will receive: (1) nothing; (2) a brochure; (3) a template
system that creates identical SOAP notes for each encounter level; (4) an order
form for a dictation system or service.
When you're finished with this exercise, call or email us. We'll provide you
with information on efficient, effective and affordable documentation and practice
management systems that meet the following criteria:
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- HIPAA Compliant for electronic billing with documentation
- HCFA Compliant for E&M coding and documentation
- Flexible enough to eliminate dictation (and its costs)
- Fast enough to save 2 hours in documenting time per doctor per day
- Customized by specialty and by physician to meet your specific requirements
- Fully functional on existing Windows-based operating systems
- Truly capable of taking any practice paperless
- Tested and proven in 23
specialties
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If you would like us to provide you with a set of "test" notes to send off to
your vendor, send us an email or call us here at PMG.
BILLING SYSTEMS NOTES: (a) You do not have to replace your current billing system to use the documentation portion of a recommended system. (b) For those practices using MEDICAL MANAGER, VISIONARY or SOFT-AID, the recommended system offers complete export of documentation to the billing system and complete import of patient and demographic data.
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IMPORTANT NOTE
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FEDERAL AND STATE LAWS hold the treating physician solely responsible for
proper documentation, coding and ethical practice conduct. That means, at
a minimum, treating physicians are responsible for adopting and implementing
Evaluation & Management (E&M) Guidelines for office/hospital visits, properly
documenting each encounter, and properly coding and billing each procedure based
on established guidelines and written documentation. Failure to do so is
officially regarded by the Department of Justice as fraud and/or abuse.
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Web Site Development |
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Numerous surveys reveal that the #1 use of the web is by laypersons "researching"
medical conditions and treatment. Many states are now encouraging individuals to
check out their doctors by posting detailed credentialing and claim information on
state-supported web sites. The trend is clear: more patients will be checking out
their medical conditions and doctors on the web than anywhere else.
If you're not visible on the web, you need to be. And while you're at it, give them
more than just a picture and your CV. We can provide active links for new or existing
patients directly to your office. E-mail, on-line scheduling, medical Q&A, results of
tests, and pre-filling of patient questionnaires are just some of the outreach programs
that can help you attract and keep the kind of business you want and need.
All information is protected by multi-level security features that include:
Server-side secure socket layers (SSL), internal software/hardware firewalls, and
permission-based access levels on the client side.
For more information, call or Contact Us at PMG. We'll get you
started on building a web presence that does important work and one that you can be proud of.
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