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MASON CITY, Iowa, November 19, 2007 - Under the
guidance of the ACOM Chiropractic Consulting Group,
Mason City Chiropractor Scott Nelson has reengineered his
practice to better satisfy his requirements for personal
flexibility while at the same time assure excellence of patient
care, expedited workflow and improved practice revenue.
A 2000 graduate of the Northwestern College of
Chiropractic, Bloomington, Minnesota, Dr. Nelson is the sole
chiropractor at Mason City Chiropractic. For personal
reasons, he keeps a flex-schedule, supported by an
insurance clerk, two clinical assistants, two massage
therapists and a reflexologist, with the office maintaining
normal office hours. In addition to adjustments the clinic
offers an extensive range of therapeutic modalities.
In 2005, on the recommendation of the Advantage
Chiropractic Network, a doctor-owned nonprofit affiliate of
the Iowa Chiropractic Society, Dr. Scott Nelson modernized
his five-year-old practice with the purchase of the RAPID
EMR chiropractic notes and reporting solution developed
and marketed by ACOM Solutions Healthcare Business
Division. The new software enabled him to record patient
notes automatically to a sophisticated electronic database
and to produce reports directly from the electronic patient
files.
Two years later, in mid-2007, Dr. Nelson took a long look at
his practice and came away convinced that even with the
technology (1) he was still not being reimbursed
appropriately for all of his services, (2) his office
management processes, which had evolved over time, were
inefficient and were negatively impacting the growthoriented
practice, and (3) he was not going to be able to
improve the situation on his own.
"I felt that we needed to increase the average number of
visits per patient to assure that we collect fully for our
services whether through insurance or cash payments,
maximize productivity by streamlining necessary processes,
and eliminating those that were no longer necessary," he
said. "The ACOM Chiropractic Consulting Group came
highly recommended and we engaged them for a two-day
on-site visit in August, with a period of follow-up counsel."
ACOM's consultant analyzed their current chiropractic
coding policies and identified procedures that were being
overlooked or which were being represented improperly, resulting in underbilling. He performed a walkthrough of the
practice's office procedures, spotlighting duplications of
effort, functions that were unnecessary and areas where
staff were unclear on who was responsible for what.
"The first day was a 'live-fire' exercise with normal patient
flow," Dr. Nelson said. "The second was remedial, with
training in proper coding and documentation and the
development of recommendations for improved office
processes and patient flow. Over the following month we
implemented all of the recommendations."
Immediate results, among others, included:
- Increased income per patient visit
- Improved coding practices, quickly yielding better,
faster insurance reimbursements
- Better cash flow through prepaid cash treatment
series and upfront co-payments
- More efficient office operations, with assignments
clearly defined
"The reengineering of the practice is clearly paying
dividends," Dr. Nelson said.
About ACOM’s Healthcare Business Consulting Group
The ACOM Chiropractic Consulting Group, a professional
services unit of ACOM Solutions, Inc., offers a suite of
consulting programs for educating, equipping and
empowering healthcare providers for success. Group
consultants diagnose practice problems and provide
options for improving chiropractic office operations and
addressing the critical coding and document issues that are
unique to the profession. The Consulting Group's two-fold
mission is to enable doctors to make more money ethically
by collecting fully for all services performed while protecting
themselves against audits, payback demands and possible
legal actions.
For information on ACOM’s Chiropractic Consulting
Services:
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| “I felt that we needed to increase the average number of
visits per patient to assure that we collect fully for our
services whether through insurance or cash payments,
maximize productivity by streamlining necessary processes,
and eliminating those that were no longer necessary.” |
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