Chiropractors Beat Economic Trend with Coding Expertise: Stats Reveal Dramatic Benefits from ACOM Health's Chiropractic Consulting

 

 

ATLANTA, Georgia, June 24, 2009 – A statistical analysis in April 2009 of the collections of Chiropractic practices that were clients of ACOM Health’s Chiropractic Consulting Services from the period of January 1 - June 30, 2008 through March 31, 2009 reveals an average 20 percent increase in collections per patient visit. The analysis also shows that despite declining patient volumes traceable to the economic downturn, practices can continue to thrive if they collect fully and fairly for all of the services they perform.

 

According to Mark Firmin, senior vice president and general manager of the ACOM Health Division of ACOM Solutions, Inc., chiropractors consistently cheat themselves even in the best of times by undercoding or miscoding their treatments because they lack expertise, have fallen into lazy coding practices or are fearful of payment delays, denials, audits and payback demands.

 

ACOM Health Consultants teach the proper methodology so that doctors can submit claims with confidence that they will be paid fully and fairly, and that if challenged, they can successfully defend their charges.

 

Results of the analysis

Prior to working with ACOM Consulting, clients in the sample collected an average of $48.27 per patient visit on an average of 781 patients per month (9,372 per year) for average total collections of $452,386. Currently the same clients are averaging $58.00 per visit, $9.73 or 20 percent more. Annualized, this represents an increase of $91,190 on the same number of patients.

 

Dealing with the downturn

As with doctors everywhere, some ACOM client practices have experienced downturns in patient visits because of diminished incomes or expectations of their clientele. But even in these cases, Firmin says, the effect of ACOM’s expertise can help them hold the line. Consider a clinic with a 15 percent decline in patient volume:

 

A 15 percent decline in the average patient volume cited above yields a total of 7,966 patient visits, or 1,405 fewer visits. At $48.27 per visit, this results in revenue loss of $67,967. An ACOM client, billing at the improved rate of $58.00 per patient visit would collect a total of $462,028 – almost $10,000 more with 15 percent fewer patient visits.

 

“This analysis demonstrates concretely that ACOM’s consulting approach pays off whether in a stable or declining economy across an average group of practices,” Firmin said. “Obviously, results for individual practices will vary. Nevertheless, the study suggests that whatever the business climate, chiropractors can only benefit by engaging our experts to show them how to derive more money from doing the same things, and how to submit claims with convincing professional documentation that discourages payer resistance.”

 

About ACOM Health Division

ACOM Health serves chiropractic with products and services that enhance efficiency, cut costs, increase revenues and propel practice success.  ACOM Health’s Chiropractic Consulting team helps practices ethically and legally maximize their billings and collections, while protecting the practice from the threat of a severe audit. ACOM Health’s Chiropractic Software Suite delivers Clinical Documentation and Notes, Patient Education, Home Exercises, and Practice Management for billing, scheduling, patient management and detailed reporting.

 

For information:

• Call: 866-286-5315 ext 217
• Email: acomhealth@acom.com

 

 

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