We recently blogged about best practices for electronic eligibility (e-eligibility) as a means to protect a practice’s revenue cycle by minimizing the need for post-care patient collections. Similarly for specialists who rely on insurance reimbursements from public or private payers, a clearinghouse electronic remittance (e-remittance) service is essential to making sure the practice receives full compensation from payers for services rendered. Healthcare payers have successfully reduced paper communications with providers, along with associated costs, by instituting automated transaction processing and electronic data interchange initiatives. Physicians are on the receiving end of those electronic transfers in the form of electronic remittance advice (ERA) reports and electronic funds transfer (EFT) receipts, often manually entering the data they contain into practice financial systems.

Elective Surgery physicians are often daunted with the task of competing for new patients. Because elective surgery works on an “opt-in” basis, physicians find themselves having to aggressively market to their target audience. Whether it is done through television, radio, newspaper or online, physicians must actively compete for business in an age where the Internet has made choosing a doctor as simple as online shopping. When a doctor’s marketing tactics pay off in the form of a lead, it is up to the doctor and the staff to close the loop on converting the lead into a new patient.