What to Know when Buying a Veterinarian Practice

vet law

Preparing to buy a veterinarian practice may seem like a daunting task. There are many considerations, many of which usually require an expert opinion and guidance. Buying a veterinarian practice involves legal, financing, real estate, and accounting expertise, at the very least, to ensure a smooth deal with the buyer being protected. Here’s what to consider:

Legal

Buying a practice usually means buying the assets of the practice, rather than the corporation itself. In any event, the buyer is taking a significant financial and legal risk and just like any other purchase, you want to make sure that you are getting what you paid for and not any (or at least as little as possible) of the baggage. Every veterinarian transaction should include a well-drafted and thorough purchase agreement which includes substantial representations and warranties by the seller, thorough lists of included and excluded assets, terms addressing restrictive covenants, and disclosures about any potential liabilities affecting the practice. In addition, some transactions might require a portion of the purchase price to be seller financed. In that case, there will be a need for a promissory note and security agreement. As the deal progresses, there might be a need for additional documents to cover an assignment of rights for certain licenses, contracts, and other. Among other things, the final document signed includes a bill a sale, which is like a receipt for the buyer evidencing the sale of the assets.Continue reading

COVID Home Health Care Trend Here to Stay

With governments locking down communities to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, health care providers and practitioners scrambled to find ways to deliver care to patients at their homes or residences. CMS relaxed restrictions on providing health care via telehealth, allowing for all Medicare patients to receive care via two-way, audio and video communications, and even via telephone calls notwithstanding that patients may not reside in rural zip codes. Hospitals pivoted to providing services to patients in their homes, again using telehealth modalities or by deploying practitioners to a patient’s home. Skilled nursing facilities also adopted strategies of keeping patients in their homes, deploying needed skilled caregivers to the patient. And while home health services may have hit a lull in the first couple months of the pandemic, services provided by home health agencies soon started to soar. Home health agencies started to become busier than ever, with many providers reporting overall growth due to demand to receive services at home instead of hospitals, skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes.Continue reading

6 Essential Questions For Audit Preparedness

medical practice audit

medical practice auditBy: Zach Simpson

As you train your staff on the changes that were recently made regarding evaluation and management coding it is very important to ensure that your staff understands the auditor’s perspective as well. There are four distinct portions of an auditor’s tool when evaluating the documentation guidelines for office/outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services (99202-99215). The four distinct portions are diagnoses, data, risk, and calculation of medical decision making (MDM).  In order to ensure that a provider’s progress note is complete in the auditor’s eyes the provider should ask themselves the following six questions to create the best chances of successfully meeting the auditors expectations:

  1. Does my progress note contain a medically appropriate history and examination?
  2. Were my diagnoses addressed appropriately?
  3. Did I document all orders and data reviewed?
  4. Were other professionals included in my documentation that I worked with?
  5. Was an independent historian used?
  6. Does the documentation support the level of risk I chose?

For the remainder of the article, I am going to dive deeper into each question above so that you, as providers are able to recognize insufficient areas in a provider’s E/M documentation when you perform a self audit to better your practice.Continue reading

Drug Waste A Big Money Issue & How Providers Can Recoup The Cost of Unused Drugs on Medicare Part B Claims

drug waste

drug wasteBy: Zach Simpson

In today’s practices there are many circumstances that call for the discarding of unused portion of drugs, and because of this drug waste can be a big-money issue for many practices. A perfect example is Botox which must be used within five hours of reconstitution, and if it is not used within that timeframe the only option a provider has is to discard the unused supply. What many providers may not be aware of though is that money can be recouped for drugs that have been discarded. The aim of this article is to educate providers that when applicable they may report drug waste in addition to the drug and its administration for Medicare Part B claim reimbursement.

How to Properly Report

For a provider to recoup and report the drug waste they must report the administered drug using the appropriate HCPCS Level II supply code, and the correct number of units in box24D of the CMS-1500 form. As a second line-item providers will want to enter all of the wasted units. It is very important to ensure that the provider documentation verifies the exact dosage of the drug injected, and the exact amount of and any reason for waste. Be aware If the provider did not assume the cost of the drug or administer the drug to the patient they may not bill for the unused portion.

In addition to listing the wasted units as a second line-item certain local contractors may require you to use the modifier JW Drug amount discarded/not administered to any patient to identify an unused drug from single-use vials or single-use packages that are appropriately discarded. Be aware that is inappropriate to use the modifier JW with an unlisted drug code. Therefore, it is imperative to be aware of the local contractor requirements, and appropriate drug codes.Continue reading

How Often Should Chiropractors Have Their Patients Sign A New Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN)?

chiropractor abn

chiropractor abnBy: Zach Simpson

Over the years I have come to grasp that ABNs although very useful are quite difficult to implement appropriately for chiropractic practices. My goal for this article is to help practices understand how often ABNs should actually be signed by their Medicare beneficiary patients. A question I am typically asked about ABNs is when should a patient sign a new one? Many offices have the misconception that a new ABN should be signed by Medicare beneficiaries at the beginning of each year which is not the case.

Medicare only requires that the ABN form be completed before the first spinal chiropractic manipulative treatment is rendered for maintenance, wellness, palliative, and/or supportive care. Until one of the following takes place the ABN remains active:

  • In the event a new condition or active treatment is initiated the current ABN would be rendered invalid because the active treatment would likely meet Medicare’s medical necessity guidelines and be considered eligible for payment again; or
  • The current ABN on file is more than twelve (12) months old. In the event the ABN is more than twelve (12) months old an updated ABN must be signed in order to continue maintenance care. Once the new ABN is signed it shall be valid for twelve (12) more months or until another active treatment is initiated.

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A Quick Refresher On Medicare’s Requirements For Self-Reporting & Returning Overpayments

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By: Zach Simpson

With the current healthcare environment many providers looked to alternative methods of treating patients and achieving outcomes this past year due to the pandemic. To meet the needs of their patients, and their financial obligations many providers implemented services that were not customary to their practice, or their billing departments. As is the case for any office that begins to provide something new there is always the potential for error in any aspect of the practice involved with the patient or claim. Therefore, I believe it is a great time to refresh providers on the procedures for reporting and returning Medicare overpayments as they are discovered moving forward.

As many of you are aware in 2016 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rue pursuant to Section 1128J(d) of the Social Security Act (the Act), as amended by the Affordable Care Act, that requires Medicare Parts A and B health care providers to report and return overpayments 60 days after the date an overpayment is identified, or the due date of any corresponding cost report, if applicable, whichever is later. If credible information indicates that an overpayment exists, the rule requires that a reasonably diligent inquiry must be performed.

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Buying a Dental Practice? Here’s What to Consider

tips for buying a dental practice

tips for buying a dental practiceBy: Chase Howard

Whether you’ve been in practice for years or you’re just graduating, buying an existing dental practice can be a great way to quickly enter into an already established patient base without the pains of starting up from scratch. While it may seem like a daunting task, the right team can make the purchase transaction flow as smoothly as possible. Here’s a list of important things to consider when negotiating the purchase.

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Just The Fax, Ma’am…

hipaa compliant healthcare communications

hipaa compliant healthcare communicationsGuest Blog Post By: Phil Liberty, Universal The Communications Company

The healthcare industry is doing its level best to keep fax machine manufacturers in business. Because fax machines are considered to be HIPAA compliant, it’s easy to keep them humming along. Paying for expensive toner, electricity and the telephone line attached to the wall behind the machine is just the way we’ve always done it. But that telephone line should give you enough reason to consider your options.

AT&T built and owns the copper telephone network that provides the analog signal required for T1 lines, traditional telephones, fax machines, credit card machines, postage meters, alarms and elevators. That service is known as POTS – Plain Old Telephone Service. Maintaining that antiquated network is costly and inefficient for AT&T so they will retire POTS in the near future. All services will eventually run over fiber optic cables and your equipment may have to change to keep up. You may have received a letter telling you about this transition but probably ignored it or did not even open it thinking it was a solicitation. So, how does AT&T get your attention if you won’t read their letter? Check your phone bill!

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What Can I Negotiate In A Commercial Lease Agreement?

commercial medical lease propertyBy: Chase Howard

Commercial leases are arguably the most one-sided contracts you could enter into while doing business. Most, if not all, commercial property owners and landlords will shift all of the liability of the premises onto the tenant. This includes maintenance, repair and replacement of structural components, roofs, wiring, plumbing, and even store fronts and sidewalks.

While a majority of the terms in a lease are “non-negotiable” there are a number that landlords can reasonably agree to change.Continue reading

Can I Provide in-home or mobile IV Therapy?

iv therapy

By: Chase Howard

IV hydration therapy has many applications and purposes. In the most common cases, the purpose is for post-surgery recovery or wellness optimization. IV therapy businesses that want to offer a more concierge type of service by offering mobile or in-home services, need to be aware of Florida home health agency laws and regulations.

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