Advancing Accreditation Outcomes™
Validare Maintains 100% Accreditation Success Rate
Validare successfully accredited thirty five OBS facilities in Q3.
San Ramon, CA (November 15, 2009) – Validare saw a significant increase in the number of Office-Based Surgery (OBS) facilities requesting assistance in obtaining accreditation in the third quarter. This increase was partly due to the New York Department of Health’s July 14th deadline. The new DOH law requires all offices doing surgical or invasive diagnostic procedures under moderate sedation to achieve accreditation with one of the three national accreditation agencies.
In the third quarter, Validare successfully guided thirty five OBS facilities through the accreditation process by either renewing their accreditation or helping them become accredited for the first time. Even under the looming July 14th deadline Validare was able to maintain its 100% accreditation success rate. Although the majority of the OBS facilities were located in New York, Validare assisted clients that resided in thirteen additional states in the third quarter.
Currently there are over twenty states requiring OBS facilities to maintain some form of accreditation. In addition, there are several other states in the process of adopting similar laws. With health care reform being such an important national issue, we expect office-based surgery to be a key element in reducing medical expenses and accreditation to be a key element in patient safety in the years to come. Validare continues to excel in maintaining its 100% accreditation success rate.
About Validare
Validare is the industry leader in accreditation consulting for office-based surgery (OBS) providers. With offices in New York, Chicago and San Francisco, Validare provides patient safety advocacy and assistance to physicians and their offices in preparations for and maintaining OBS accreditation. Recognized as a valuable partner to both OBS offices and health plans, Validare’s clients provide health plans with access to qualified OBS providers who provide an alternative to costly outpatient procedures performed in the hospital setting. For more information about Validare, call 888-934-4321 or visit www.Validare.com.
Contact:
Rock Rockett, PhD
Validare, Inc.
(888) 934-4321, ext. 520
rrockett@validare.com
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
How can office-based physicians increase their revenue?
Many office-based physicians struggle with the answer to this question of how to increase their practice revenue. Many say that they’re making less today than they were 10 or 20 years ago. They complain that the payors are continually chopping their fees. And they seem powerless to improve their lot……declining reimbursement, more federal and state requirements to keep up with, and increased costs of personnel, equipment and supplies. So are there options or should these office-based doctors simply throw in the towel?
There are options and here are a few ideas that doctors are using to their advantage:
· Do more procedures in your office. The renewed efforts to contain health care costs are driving health plans to seek lower cost venues for surgical and endoscopic procedures. By doing more procedures in your office instead of in the hospital or the surgicenter, you gain more control over your time, increase your productivity and generate new revenue sources. In addition to the site of service differentials many plans and Medicare pay for office-based procedures, more and more payors are paying for a surgery suite fee which can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on the procedure.
· Achieve accreditation as an Office Based Surgery provider. About 16 states require accreditation for OBS and the regulations target offices which are using IV sedation or general anesthesia for office based procedures. With accreditation you can gain recognition from the payors as a higher quality provider and one who is focused on patient safety.
· Contract with health plans for reimbursement as an accredited office-based surgery suite. The plans are eager to contract with OBS providers who can deliver higher quality at lower costs, who can take procedures from higher cost outpatient hospital settings to lower cost OBS settings and who achieve and maintain accreditation of their office based organization with one of the national accreditation agencies.
· How do I do this? Doctors around the country use different methods for increasing their practice revenue. Several hundred practices have contracted with my organization, Validare, to consult with them regarding accreditation, which agency to use and how to achieve accreditation status in the shortest possible time. They also have taken advantage of our expertise in contracting for surgery suite fees with major health plans for their accredited Office Based Surgery organization.
· How long does it take and how much revenue will this generate? A lot of factors are involved in determining the timing of the process and the results of your efforts. Again, Validare is experienced in these projects with practices in hundreds of locations and can chart the course for you, present you with the best options along the way, and realistically deliver on their commitment to assist practices in achieving greater levels of patient safety and in earning more revenue per patient.
There are options and here are a few ideas that doctors are using to their advantage:
· Do more procedures in your office. The renewed efforts to contain health care costs are driving health plans to seek lower cost venues for surgical and endoscopic procedures. By doing more procedures in your office instead of in the hospital or the surgicenter, you gain more control over your time, increase your productivity and generate new revenue sources. In addition to the site of service differentials many plans and Medicare pay for office-based procedures, more and more payors are paying for a surgery suite fee which can range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, depending on the procedure.
· Achieve accreditation as an Office Based Surgery provider. About 16 states require accreditation for OBS and the regulations target offices which are using IV sedation or general anesthesia for office based procedures. With accreditation you can gain recognition from the payors as a higher quality provider and one who is focused on patient safety.
· Contract with health plans for reimbursement as an accredited office-based surgery suite. The plans are eager to contract with OBS providers who can deliver higher quality at lower costs, who can take procedures from higher cost outpatient hospital settings to lower cost OBS settings and who achieve and maintain accreditation of their office based organization with one of the national accreditation agencies.
· How do I do this? Doctors around the country use different methods for increasing their practice revenue. Several hundred practices have contracted with my organization, Validare, to consult with them regarding accreditation, which agency to use and how to achieve accreditation status in the shortest possible time. They also have taken advantage of our expertise in contracting for surgery suite fees with major health plans for their accredited Office Based Surgery organization.
· How long does it take and how much revenue will this generate? A lot of factors are involved in determining the timing of the process and the results of your efforts. Again, Validare is experienced in these projects with practices in hundreds of locations and can chart the course for you, present you with the best options along the way, and realistically deliver on their commitment to assist practices in achieving greater levels of patient safety and in earning more revenue per patient.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Revenue opportunities for physicians
As doctors see their reimbursements fall and more state regulations on the rise, there is a way to make lemonade out of all these lemons. About 16 states and counting are requiring accreditation for Office Based Surgery involving moderate sedation or higher forms of sedation. By becoming accredited as an OBS, you can qualify for surgery suite fees from many health plans. Several regional and national plans provide special reimbursement programs for accredited Office Based Surgery providers and direct their members to these OBS providers for common outpatient procedures, such as colonoscopies, breast reconstructions, cystoscopies, bunionectomies, and more. Perhaps your medical practice can qualify to become an accredited Office Based Surgery suite and reap the benefits offered by the health plans who are striving to direct their members to more cost effective and accredited, high quality providers. For more information go to www.validare.com.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Reducing costs for health plans
Health plans are discovering the lower cost solution of accredited Office Based Surgery for many high volume procedures, such as colonoscopies, carpal tunnel repairs, bunionectomies, etc. With savings of a few hundred dollars per procedure over the thousands of colonoscopies done each year we deliver significant bottom line results for health plans. For instance, colonoscopies are being done at the rate of about 30,000 procedures per million health plan members. A savings of a few hundred dollars by moving a significant portion of these procedures out of the hospital outpatient setting to the accredited office based surgery suite will greatly benefit all of us....the health plans, the physicians, and the patients. See www.validare.com for more information.
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