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.