I trust that your holidays were filled with peace, love and happiness.  I was able to enjoy much needed time with family and friends.  I was also able to reflect on the past year and begin to plan 2010.  You were included in those plans.  My desire is to assist more Chiropractors and their staff in reaching their goals.  My first step is to send you this New Year Quick Start email.  Just my way of saying thank you for your support in 2009 AND to get everyone started on the right foot in 2010.

Tips for the New Year:

1.  Begin by planning your year.  What do you want it to look like when it’s all said and done?  Knowing what you would like to see at the end is a great way to begin your plan. Review the services you offer.  Decide if you would like to offer more services.  If so, how do you plan to implement the change?

2.  Re-verify insurance coverage.  Even if the patient started care in December of 2009, be sure to get a copy (front AND back) of their NEW insurance card and verify benefits.  Often times, employers will make changes to their plans that do not become effective until the new year.  Remember to ‘date’ the copy of the insurance card so that you will know when you received this information.

3.  Review your patient’s care plans.  Make necessary changes and even update diagnosis if applicable.  This will be critical for your Medicare patients.  If necessary and applicable, perform re-exams taking care to document changes and updates to their care plan.

4.  Review your insurance contracts.  Make sure that they are worth any and all contractual write-offs that you are taking.  If possible, re-negotiate your fee schedule.  Make sure that it is within the range for your region/county.

5.  Put into action your Patient Recall/Reactivation and Patient Referral System.  The New Year is a great time to call past patients and to ask for referrals for new patients.  If you do not have a Patient Recall/Reactivation or Patient Referral System, develop one.  It’s critical to your business.

Just a few  other tidbits:

1.  If you are a Medicare Advantage provider you must take the Fraud Waste and Abuse training program.  (Some examples of those plans are Humana, Texas Community Care, Aetna, Secure Horizons, etc.)  To receive FREE training and a Certificate of Completion, simply  CLAIM YOUR FREE MANUAL by completing the information to your right.

2.  To find out Medicare’s deductible for 2010, click here.

3.  Medicare is asking that claims for 2010 be held for a short period of time.  To get more information, click here.

Here’s to doing it BIGGER and BETTER  in 2010!!!!!