How Medical Practices Find More Time For Their Patients

Medical billing has become one of the most cost effective ways of operating a medical practice. No matter how big or small the practice is, medical billing can reduce the amount of time and energy that is spent filling out and submitting claims forms, allowing you staff to attend to the needs of your patients and office duties. Usually, a medical practice needs to hire one person for this position and most often it is very expensive.

Submitting claims forms to insurance companies can be a tedious and frustrating task. Endless hours are spent filling out forms and sending them to the insurance company everyday. The insurance company reviews medical form and if there is an error, which happens often, it is rejected and returned to the medical provider to be redone. When this happens, the workload for the medical biller is doubled. It can be overwhelming at times.

Another factor is that insurance companies receive millions of claim forms each week. They sit in stacks on employee desks until they can be processed. This can take weeks or even months for the claim to be reviewed, and if it is denied, the whole process starts all over again. It can be maddening, especially if the medical practice is depending on the refund from the insurance company.

A medical billing company can assist a physician practice on many levels. First, the personnel are highly trained and have a working relationship with most insurance companies. They are able to get claims processed faster than a single practice. The next factor of this type of company is that they file all of your claims electronically and submit it to the insurance company computers. This means that your claims do not sit on someone’s desk for an undetermined amount of time. The claim is either accepted or rejected immediately.

The acceptance level of a medical billing company is over ninety percent, which means that your claim will be paid n a matter of days and not weeks or months. If a claim is rejected, the medical billing company will correct the error and resubmit it. They also track each payment to find where it is in process and when the payment will be sent.

This is a great benefit to small practices that depend on the insurance payments to meet weekly or monthly obligations.

Medical billing services can be used by any type of medical practice. Big or small, no matter what the specialty is, the same quality service is offered.

Doing a simple Google search for medical billing will yield you with millions of links. It is important to research the ones that you are interested in as each has their own pricing and terms of service.

Many medical practices that have made the decision to use this type of service have been impressed with the results. They have found that they have more time for their patients and their staff can perform their duties more efficiently because of the time that is saved.

Peter Geisheker is CEO of The Geisheker Group marketing firm. One of the types of
clients that Peter helps are medical billing companies

Payroll Services Offer Affordable Accounting Experts for Small Businesses

The smart business owner strives to spend his or her time working on business rather than in the office handling daily operations such as payroll.

A payroll service can help any size company but especially a small business or medium one because this is a job that can be outsourced to experienced, qualified professionals, saving you precious time to work on revenue producing activities.

You can choose to spend less time consumed with these in-office tasks and more time concentrating on your customers for real revenue and growth.

Hiring a payroll services company is not just hiring someone to do all of the calculations for you. Yes, accuracy is very necessary in calculations such as …

* Checks and Direct Deposit
* Remittal of federal and state tax withholdings
* Remittal of federal and state unemployment taxes
* Tax Liability
* Time and Attendance
* Deductions
* Preparation of state unemployment forms
* State and federal tax reconciliations
* Preparation of W-2’s, W-3’s, 1099’s and 1096’s
* Notification of all tax payments and filings due to local, state and federal authorities

But when you are considering a task which is so critical to the smooth operation of your business, you will also want to consider the experience of the payroll solutions firms.

Their attention to detail, response time to your questions, and excellent service are important factors when considering outsourcing. In hiring a firm, you are paying someone to help make your workload lighter. You certainly want to spend your money with accountants who will answer your calls promptly, who will understand your industry, and keep your accounts efficient and up-to-date.

Online Convenience …

An efficient payroll service can address your business’ specific needs quickly and conveniently through the use of technology. Accountants with direct online access to her clients’ reports eliminate time lost waiting for the client to send reports.

The Internet allows clients and their employees access to their payroll from anywhere in the world.

Small Business, No Problem …

Another consideration is if they offer an online accounting product that can be utilized by big and small business alike. This is especially important to consider for potential growth of your company and of your payroll demands.

A simple tool for a small business owner is one that allows him to enter the employees’ hours online and submit to the service for checks to be printed and delivered.

Using the services’ easily adapted online product, larger companies can choose online options to:

1. enter time and attendance
2. add and terminate employees
3. change deduction information
4. cut manual checks
5. calculate gross-to-net wages
6. print, email, or export reports by any date range.

With a great online product, a payroll service can allow employees to go online and view check stubs, history, or request changes.

Your accountant specialist should offer

* personalized service with advanced technologies
* personal care for your specific needs
* availability to answer your questions
* prompt information about all of your account’s activities.

With these services you can be free to pursue money making opportunities for your company growth and remain knowledgeable about your payroll.

Servicing businesses nationwide, and based in New Orleans, payroll service from Payroll Rx, is specialized for medium to small business payroll. On time, easy to understand and personalized for you. They have a plan for every size business and every payroll need for companies nationwide. http://www.payrollrx.com/

Managing Receivables Is Crucial for Businesses

If you want to make your business a success, a steady flow of revenue will be essential. Without a steady flow of money your business will stall and ultimately sink into debt and hard times as you live from payment to payment. But there are ways to ensure that you manage your receivables effectively. Read on to learn about some ways of accomplishing this.

All the bills and invoices that you have sent out constitute your receivables. This expected payment from customers and clients will be the bread and butter of your business as you will most likely rely on the proper payment of bills to finance any expansion plans or just to pay the plethora of bills that you will face. Hence, you cannot afford to play the fool with your account receivables.

You can’t just scribble down a bunch of numbers onto a little notepad and expect for everything to work itself out. You will need to keep a full sales ledger to track all of your customers’ outstanding debts. Make sure that you do not miss out on any bills. Improper management would mean senselessly lost revenue that could have helped your business grow even more.

Thus, you should make an effort to learn how best to manage the receivable of your business. This would be beneficial to you. There are many accounting terms and practices that you will have to learn if you wish to do it for yourself. This will involve a fair amount of accounting work. Get into it only if you have the time to spare. Many large businesses end up devoting tremendous labor into just managing their receivable and ensuring that debts are collected in the proper time frame.

If you want to manage your own account you will have to be ready to spend a considerable amount of time learning all of the ins and outs of the process. There are many legal processes and procedures that have to be followed which you may not be aware of. Improper management could result in a nasty disagreement, accounting errors, lost clients, and even possible lawsuits.

But don’t let all this talk of losses upset you too much. It is actually possible to outsource your accounts receivable to a special company that will ensure a steady flow of cash while also preventing you from having to personally deal with angry customers that just refuse to pay what they owe.

Most of these companies will actually act as a type of short term loan provider by buying your invoices at a discount and then earning money by collecting the full amount later. You might find this to be an odd procedure, but smaller businesses can actually benefit from this. They will have expertise that you can’t just learn and also have the drive and incentive to actually follow your debts through to the end.

Clearly, you cannot possibly afford to forget about or mismanage your receivables. Any business needs to have a steady flow of new money to continue to thrive and improve itself. If you want to make sure that the income keeps coming in, effective receivables management will be essential. Without it, you can bid goodbye to any payments.

Have accounts receivables? Use our collection services. We also help with receivables management.

An Increased Need for PCI DSS Compliance

There have been a number of security breaches in recent years where credit card companies have found data missing — stolen from a breach in the security systems. In the advent of these occurrences a general standard across the board was brought to the table by major credit card companies VISA and MasterCard.

PCI DSS, or Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, is a standard guideline that credit card payment handlers refer to when dealing with sensitive credit card payment information. This is considered to be the bar that all credit payment processors and handlers have to live up to or exceed. To meet PCI compliance would insure that the most up to date measures to prevent theft or fraud are current.

The PCI compliance standard has twelve basic security requirements for card data handlers to adhere to:

- Regular testing of their security systems and processes
- Create and maintain an in-house policy for addressing security issues
- Restrict physical access to credit card data and owner’s information
- Have a tracking system to monitor all access to the network and credit card data
- Those who have access maintain and use an unique ID
- Keep a policy that restricts access to a need-to-know basis only
- Routinely run up-to-date antivirus software
- Maintain a sound secure system and application software
- Encrypt cardholder data and sensitive information across the network
- Protect data that is stored
- Create own system passwords, never use the network software’s defaults
- Maintain a sound firewall

Repercussions in a Credit Card Systems Breach

Not only is money lost, or identity theft a major issue, but the company who suffers a security breach is often subject to major losses due to lawsuits and liability claim compensations. There have been instances where the corporations went under due to simply not having proper PCI compliance.

A case example is the information breach at TJX Companies. A flaw in their computer network was taken advantage of by some data thieves. In that case the largest ever credit card data loss incident to date occurred in early 2007. Several million card numbers and card holder names were leaked.

As a result from this, they lost money in fines by the PCI DSS organization and in parties that have vested who have sued them for the loss, such as major shareholder groups.

The most glaring point in disparity with the PCI compliance in this case was that their data was inconsistently encrypted. The thieves found some older card information (dating back several years) and exploited this weakness. This is one of the 12 points listed in the security standards PCI DSS organization laid out.

Braintree’s solution addresses the two crucial components of PCI Compliance by remotely storing credit card information and preventing any ‘handling’ of card holder data.

Getting Paid On Time And Debt Recovery When The Credit Crunch Bites

Undoubtedly the best credit control initiative is to arrange the sales invoicing such that customers pay up front for goods and services. Despite care taken to exercise credit checks on new customers the actual payment experience is often more valuable in practise.

New clients can be asked to pay in advance by issuing pro forma sales invoices for the initial orders until credit checks are complete. In businesses which involve the supplier incurring costs prior to invoicing such as purchasing materials for a job then it is logical the terms of trade should require the client to pay an upfront deposit to cover this expenditure.

The majority of business is conducted on a credit basis and the terms of supply and payment of goods and services should be clearly stated in a set of trading terms the potential customer should sign and agree to before trading commences. The terms of trade should state clearly the effective date an invoice becomes payable, credit allowed and the interest that may be charged in the event of late payment.

When credit is tight during a credit crunch the money supply reduces and the cash flow of every business is affected. Business which have a lack of credit control over sales income suffer the most as other businesses take advantage to supplement their own cash deficiencies and liquidity problems. The solution is to review and set a clear financial policy the business will follow.

The first step in a credit control system is to ensure customers want to pay in advance and within the agreed terms. The very best way to achieve early settlement is to make the settlement in the interest of the client and money is in every businesses interest.

A potential solution would be to offer a cash discount for early settlement. Offering a cash discount for early settlement adds another valuable tool to the credit control procedures as the debtors who do not take up the potential of paying lower prices are most likely to already have cash flow problems and credit should be restricted.

The financial policies of a credit control system should include accurate accounting records and the prompt issuing of sales invoices and the regular production of customer statements. Clients who go over the allowed credit limit must be sent a series of credit control letters worded to ensure the customers take action to pay the outstanding invoices.

Credit control letters should be sent at predetermined intervals and each should indicate the amount outstanding should be paid immediately by escalating the effect on the business relationship if payment is not made.

Such an escalation may be an initial statement of the amounts due for payment. Many accounting and bookkeeping departments use the supplier statements to schedule payments rather than individual sales invoices. Personal contact with the supplier accountant or bookkeeper can assist early settlement.

The first letter should advise the debtor that the standard terms and conditions have been exceeded and request payment to maintain a sound trading relationship. The next credit control letter might advise the sales debtor that late payment penalties and interest payments will be invoked if payment is not made.

In the UK there is a statutory right under the Late Payment of Commercial debts (Interest) Act 1998 to charge debtors interest on late payment and also claim reasonable debt recovery costs. The right to exercise this statutory right does not apply if the terms and conditions of the business set out different debt recovery parameters. Unless the terms and conditions or sales invoice set a different credit term then every commercial invoiced is due after 30 days.

In the UK the interest rate a business can charge is fixed twice annually on 30 June and 31 December using the base rate as the reference rate and then is applicable for the following 6 months. A rate fixed on 31 December is applicable from 1 January to 30 June of the following year.

The interest rate to be charged would be the Bank of England base rate plus 8 per cent. If the base rate is 5 per cent on the reference date then the amount that can be charged would be 5 plus 8 equals 13 per cent.

In the UK there is a set schedule of reasonable debt recovery costs that can be charged to late paying customers. These costs are 40 pounds for debts under 1,000 pounds, 70 pounds for debts between 1,000 and 10,000 pounds and 100 pounds for debts over 10,000 pounds.

If the client chooses to ignore being charged extra for non payment then the next letter should advise the debtor the future orders will be placed on stop until the account is brought to order. Such action by the supplier may harm future sales but it is better to restrict the financial exposure to the sales already made than continue to extend credit where the prospect of never being paid may become a reality.

If payment has not been received by this stage then a serious situation has developed. The customer has not paid on time causing the business a reduction in cash flow. The debtor has also indicated by non payment action that increased costs through interest and penalties is preferable to paying and finally that they are prepared to risk not receiving further goods and services.

At this stage the supplying business has to consider legal action to recover the outstanding balance. The amount outstanding is at risk and legal debt recovery should be invoked to avoid the whole balance becoming a bad debt which may never be recovered with the consequential effect on both cash flow and net profit.

Terry Cartwright is a qualified accountant at DIY Accounting designing UK Accounting Software on excel spreadsheets providing complete Bookkeeping solutions for small to medium sized companies plus accounting packages producing automated copies of the Self Assessment Tax Return for self employed business.

Debt Collection for Business Success

Every business functions of the basis of sales and payments. It is not possible to run a successful venture if debts are not recovered. There is no place for charity when it comes to business. Hence, there should be strict measures to recover the money that lies pending with a number of clients.

There are difficulties involved in trying to recover one’s debts. And red tape is seen even in the best of business organizations of the modern world. Yet, as a business organization, you cannot afford to let go of a particular payment. Only in special cases should debts be written off at all.

Debt management is certainly not an easy task. People who are indebted to you (and this is true of organizations as well) tend to become difficult to get hold of. Even those who used to call several times every day, now become as rare as blue moons. Yes, the idea of money changing hands does result in some changing attitudes.

Sometimes, if your own people are not being too successful at recovering your organization’s money, it might be a good idea to get help. Contact a company that provides accounts receivables services if you want to get back your own investment sooner rather than later.

Accounts receivable services are also convenient for those that owe the money. Often enough, it is not the unwillingness to pay that gives rise to delayed payments. Sometimes, several difficulties may be involved. Collection services make it easier for even the debtor to make good on the amount that he owes.

Moreover, debt collection is a major headache for any business. If this function is farmed out to some other organization, there can be nothing like it. This leaves the former with sufficient time and energy to pursue some more profitable ventures.

In today’s world, one cannot afford to get sucked into the maze of red tape and delays. If one does, there are various ways in which to get out of it. Collecting payments is hard and odious work at times. However, firms need to be smart about how they make use of their time.

There is great value to be earned by placing the responsibility of debt collection in the hands of a reliable outsider. It relieves you of the headache and also makes great business sense. Sometimes there is only harm in allowing yourself to get mired in a task that you know nothing about. Getting outside help can be a boon at times.

A good business needs to avail of effective accounts receivables services. Come to us for debt management and for our collection services.

A Basic Introduction to Accounts Receivables

If one were to reduce business to the simplest terms, one would probably call it the selling of goods by one person, and the buying of those same goods by another. Thus, whether we pay cash or run up a tab while doing business, money has to change hands during the course of a business transaction.

Accounts receivables is one such type of a business transaction. It refers to the way of dealing with amounts of money that are owed to a business by its customer. On the balance sheet of a company, accounts receivable refer to the amount of money that a customer owes it. Accounts receivables are also referred to as trade receivables, which makes the concept a little clearer. As this is a debt related amount, it appears under the category of current assets on the balance sheet of the company.

An accounts receivables transaction is generally carried out by means of an invoice which is sent to the customer with the aim of informing him of the duration within which the debt amount must be paid off. The term within which the debt has to be paid may be thirty days, forty-five days, sixty days, or even as much as ninety days. However, the duration of the debt depends entirely on the debtor and the creditor.

Various payment practices may be followed. These practices may be determined by the various industry standards. They may also be colored by the financial status of the debtor, or affected by the company’s corporate policy.

Larger business organizations usually have to resort to the development of an entire accounts receivables department to look into the various kinds and amounts of debts that its customers owe it. A sales ledger is usually used to record transactions that pertain to accounts receivables.

Anyone who is starting out on a new business venture would have to learn about the various kinds of accounting terms and practices that are carried on within various industries. To get into a business undertaking without adequate study of the various accounting practices would be committing professional hara-kiri. Accounts receivables is only one of the many kinds of transactions that prevail in a business setting.

No matter what noble work you hope to do through your business, ultimately you would want it to be financially sound. So, you should make sure to find out about the many financial transactions that will enter into the picture once you start selling your products or services.

Ajeet Khurana is a web enthusiast and an author. He recommends: Accounts Receivables, Accounts Receivable Management and Debt Collection Services.

How Does Medical Billing Help With Accounting?

Medical billing. This is probably not the first time youve heard of this word and you pretty much have a basic idea what the phrase connotes. However, one thing you should know is that most people have the wrong idea of what is medical billing in reality.

Often, what is medical billing is equated with what is medical transcription or what is medical coding when in fact, the three are as separate and as distinct from each other as night and day. While its true that all three of them are somehow related and sometimes even their responsibilities overlap, it still doesnt change the fact that medical coding deals strictly with codes and medical transcription is strictly on transcribing doctors notes.

So, what is medical billing then?

Some people say it is the doctors key to getting paid for services rendered. Others say that it is a process of submitting claims to insurance companies. But these descriptions are vague. What is it really?

Perhaps, the question what is medical billing is better answered with this definition of the term:

Medical billing is practice management. It involves front office skills, with emphasis on billing and accounting, insurance claims processing, and making decisions concerning the financial aspects of a practice.

What is medical billing compared to medical coding and medical transcription?

Compared to medical coding and medical transcription, medical billing is wider in scope and broader in its range of responsibilities. Front office also means acting as an executive secretary to the practice, dealing in clerical work such as patient scheduling, clearing appointments, documenting patient visits, recording diagnostic and treatment procedures, and organizing medical records using a software program.

What is medical billing and what are its responsibilities?

The job of the billing professional starts with the office visit where you will handle everything from scheduling of the appointment to making sure that the patient makes it to his appointment. After the doctor sees the patient, depending on the services provided and the examination, he will then create and update the patients medical record.

The billing professional then organizes these records according to a system earlier adopted by the practice. This record contains a summary of treatment and demographic information related to the patient. The medical billing specialist will have to organize these records according to their contents to provide for easier access in case of another visit or some such circumstance and to create the billing record which is the document submitted to either a clearinghouse or an insurance company.

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