Why we are right for you
- I have used coaches before. What makes ACOM Health different?
- Are the solutions you recommend the same, office to office?
- Do I have to change my office operations and procedures?
- How do I know this consulting arrangement will be worth the money?
- How do you improve my collections?
- How will my revenue stream benefit from your consulting service?
- What's the relationship between coding and documentation?
- Why is proper coding so important?
- What do you mean by "proper coding?"
- What is the big deal about "medical necessity?
- How do you help me cope with denials and payback demands?
1. I have used coaches before. What makes ACOM Health different?
ACOM Health’s approach is based on actual experience in operating chiropractic clinics, extensive education, and years of experience in applying our skills in professional clinical business operations. We do not apply cookie-cutter solutions but rather, we devise each clinic “treatment plan” based on the needs of the specific doctor(s) and the clinic’s operating environment. We do not teach “opinion,” we teach the law. And unlike other consultants, we spend time with you on-site, in your offices, so that we can precisely isolate your problems, identify solutions to them that are unique to your operations, and spot opportunities where you can extend your service and expand your income.
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2. Are the solutions you recommend the same, office to office?
No. We take pride in the uniqueness of our solutions. Other consultants start you off with a seminar and follow-up with online or phone coaching. We provide all of that, but not until we have visited your offices and thoroughly examined your clinical and business procedures, analyzed the characteristics of your community and patient population, taught you the things that will improve your revenues and your office processes, and launched you on a program of remediation and upgrade.
3. Do I have to change my office operations and procedures?
Wherever possible, we don’t ask you to change. Our approach is to take the things you already do and devise ways in which you can do them better. We disdain the cookie cutter approach, but some solutions may bear resemblances since they have evolved from our experience working with several hundred chiropractic clinics in the United States and Canada.
4. How do I know this arrangement will be worth the money?
Our Guarantee is unique in the chiropractic field. We guarantee a 200% return on your investment: that is, for every dollar you invest in ACOM Health Services, we guarantee that your income will increase by at least double the same amount. In fact, we are quite safe in making this no risk offer, since most of our consulting clients achieve results of significantly greater for every invested dollar.
5. How do you improve my collections?
The best way to improve collections is to provide payers with proper coding and documentation so that they are not distracted from paying you quickly and in full. Beyond that, we institute office processes that focus on accelerated billing and a consistent, coordinated follow-up program.
6. How will my revenue stream benefit from your consulting service?
We teach you how to code fully and fairly for all of the services you perform. We also teach you how to maximize the services you perform on each patient visit and how to influence patients to invest in an ongoing wellness program. We examine what you do today and identify opportunities that you can incorporate in your practice that will enable to provide more services and to increase per-visit patient revenue.
7. What’s the relationship between coding and documentation?
Coding is how you identify the treatment to interested individuals, most notably the third party payers who will reimburse you. Documentation is how you apply the codes to support your claim for the treatment you provide. Thus, knowing the codes and their refinements will enable you to define the services you provide precisely while your documentation relies on these codes to tell a complete and accurate treatment “story” or narrative. Both are important.
8. Why is proper coding so important?
The fact is that proper coding is usually something doctors have to learn on their own, not in chiropractic college, and most of them do not do so well enough to have confidence in what they are doing. The result is constant peril: doctors intentionally fail to code fully for fear of denials or payback requests; if they code improperly, they risk alerting the insurer that they are a potential “pigeon,” that can be scared into submitting short claims. If they do not understand proper coding, they will likely cave in at the mere mention of a medical examiner audit. Understanding the rules of coding is the best offense and the best defense.
9. What do you mean by “proper coding?”
Proper coding is nothing more or less than strict adherence to the CPT and ICD-9 rules. The rules are clearly spelled out and as long as the codes applied to a particular treatment comply, they are unchallengeable. Beyond that, there are subtleties involved in coding that most doctors do not understand and which, properly applied, can contribute significantly to revenue. Among these are ways in which certain treatments can be billed fractionally to amplify revenue per patient visit: for example, applying CPT code 52 and 59 modifiers to indicate a separate and distinct procedure and a reduced amount of time procedure. Knowledge of such refinements allows doctors to code with confidence without fear of challenge and with the ability to defend their charges if need be.
10. What is the big deal about “medical necessity?
“Medical necessity” is the basis on which you get paid. If you don’t demonstrate it in your coding and documentation your are asking for delays, denials, paybacks and audits. It is not to hard to demonstrate medical necessity if you simply supply what insurers expect to see. You can do that with a five-element process that includes the patient’s history; a complete exam that overlooks no detail of the basic complaint; a sound diagnosis that considers not only the patient’s basic complaint but also potentially related conditions; a treatment plan that is linked to the findings of the exam; and a defined course of treatment with goals and timelines. By observing all of these requirements the doctor is virtually assured of satisfying all payer requirements.
11. How do you help me cope with denials and payback demands?
If you are challenged in any way, your best defense is your precise coding and documentation, since if you do what we teach you to do, you will be following the law. The law will be on your side. If that is not enough, we will provide whatever support you need, all the way to providing expert testimony in a court of law.
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