Essential action area for clinical laboratory management and pathology management
With the American economy in a tailspin, payers and patients want to delay or avoid payment for laboratory testing services. That is not good news for clinical labs and pathology groups. It means their billing and collection departments must perform at an even more productive level just to stay even!
At the same time, during poor economic times, “cash is King!” Clinical laboratories and pathology groups can protect cash flow and increase their revenues by boosting the effectiveness of their billing/collection efforts. This is a proven management strategy. In response to the glum economic news of recent months, proactive clinical lab directors and pathologists have begun devoting more attention and resources to their laboratory’s billing and collection department.
A variety of experts in laboratory coding, billing and collections have been tapped to share their expertise at the upcoming 14th Annual Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management . It takes place on April 28-29, 2009 at the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. These experts can help you take your lab’s coding/billing/collection performance to the next highest level. That means more cash flow and increased revenue just when it is most needed by your laboratory.
These sessions are rich sources of practical, “how to” methods and techniques for collecting more dollars with less effort and cost. Think of how much additional cash flows into your lab when the collection rate increases by 3% to 5%! Here are several of coding/billing/collections experts you can tap at this year’s Executive War College:
- Going paperless at the front end with processing and order entry to enable CCI editing and error-checking to happen automatically at reception, by integration of the lab’s informatics tools, to produce a 50% reduction in the rate of denied claims at first submission. Learn from Rene Ennis, CFO at TriCore Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, how her lab accomplished this and more in “Clinical Lab Billing: Finding the Hidden Home Runs That Increase Efficiency and Collected Revenues.”
- Methods to address high volumes of low-dollar claims, inadequate billing platforms, ineffective denial remediation, and inaccessibility of accurate financial data. Hear Donna Beasley, Lab Channel Manager at McKesson Provider Technologies in her session on “Clinical Laboratory Billing: Top Hidden Sources of Increased Collections and Revenue.”
- Strategies and proven responses to efforts by payers to slow down claims payment, new ways to collect all your deductibles from consumers with high-deductable health plans (HDHPs), and anticipating cash preservation moves by client-bill physicians. Sit in on Kevin Ellison’s (CEO of Kellison & Company) session titled “Why Today’s Economy Requires Your Lab to Redirect Its Billing and Collection Effort.”
Each of these sessions provides different types of knowledge, expertise, and experience. These are being used today by top-performing clinical laboratories to boost collected cash and increase their revenue. Every lab and pathology group needs a strategy and an action plan to respond to the unique economic circumstances in its local community. Here in Austin, Texas, home of Dark Daily , the economy continues to perk along at a good clip-only a mild decline from 2008. But that is not true in other markets across the nation. Current figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the states with the highest unemployment rates for February as:
- Michigan 12.0%
- South Carolina 11.0%
- Oregon 10.8%
- North Carolina 10.7%
- California 10.5%
- Rhode Island 10.5%
- Nevada 10.1%
These are sobering statistics and a powerful reminder that you and your laboratory management team should be preparing to guide your laboratory through these unprecedented and unpredictable times. As the coding/billing/collection strategies, methods, and techniques referenced above demonstrate, there is plenty your laboratory managers can to do stay ahead of these events and sustain your lab’s cash flow, revenue, and profits.
But doing nothing is not a winning strategy! That’s why you should join us for this year’s Executive War College. It’s the place you can get all the knowledge you need to succeed, while leading your clinical lab or pathology group through the economic and clinical landmines that lie ahead.
Plus there’s more good news for you! The early bird discount to the Executive War College is extended through this Friday. Use this registration and agenda link to guarantee your place at this vital event and benefit from the early-bird discount!
Related Information:
Brand new! Just released is a full color program agenda PDF. (or paste this URL into your browser: http://www.executivewarcollege.com/PDFs/09brochure.pdf )
Early-Bird Discount Registration now available online
Visit http://www.executivewarcollege.com
Four Easy Ways to Register:
1. Register ONLINE
2. Call 800-560-6363. Our friendly staff can register you quickly and easily, as well as answer any questions you may have.
3. Fax this complete registration form to 512-264-0969
4. Mail the one page form with payment to:
THE DARK REPORT
21806 Briarcliff Dr.
Spicewood, TX 78669
