Medical Practices
Your practice deserves the same quality of care as your patients. A well-cared for practice achieves its maximum level of profitability, and runs efficiently with a minimum of problems.
But, physicians should be practicing medicine, not managing the business side of medicine. You probably need help in achieving this end. Our firm has very specialized skills, training and experience to assist you and your staff to better manage your practice in several key areas:
Revenue Enhancement and Cost Controls
One way to maximize profitability is to ensure that practice revenue is at its highest attainable level while keeping costs low. In this area, we have provided practices with:
• Collection Policy Evaluation - Ensuring the practice is collecting the maximum amount from the initial patient encounter, to filing of the claim, to posting the payment.
• Cost Accounting Services - Identifying the true cost of delivering medical care to your patients by dissecting component costs liable to your practice and using relative value costs. We can translate those costs into specific areas of care or treatment.
• Fee Analysis - Determining that fees are set at appropriate levels to insure maximum reimbursement from third party payers and all claims are properly reimbursed.
• Payer Mix Analysis - Determining what an appropriate collection percentage is for the specific practice and how to maximize the current ratio.
• Overhead Analysis - Identifying where expenses can be reduced with comparisons to similar practices and national benchmarks.
• Budgeting and Cash Flow Analysis - Planning for periods of growth or change using variance analysis to identify current and avoid future problems.
Office Operations Review
An efficiently run office pays dividends in terms of reduced costs, maximum reimbursement, patient satisfaction and high employee morale.
In this area we can assist with:
• Staffing - Determining whether the practice is properly staffed in terms of number of personnel, positions and performance.
• Computerization and Software Evaluations - Choosing and effectively implementing an appropriate automated patient information system is critical in providing a practice with important demographic data, timely and efficient filing of claims, and up-to-date collection information.
• Internal Accounting Controls - Setting up systems that guard against embezzlement and misappropriation of assets.
• Record Keeping and Paper Flow - Training staff in keeping all the necessary documentation (while minimizing excess paper) that will provide the valid financial and clinical management information needed.
Tax & Personal Financial Planning
After maximizing the profitability of an efficiently run practice, the next step is to look at ways to minimize the yearly tax bite, and preserve and enhance assets for future family needs such as college and retirement. Our expert tax professionals and financial planners will work with you to develop short and long-range plans in many areas:
• Business and personal tax planning - to minimize business taxes and plan for future contingencies.
• Estate planning - to minimize estate taxes and ensure that assets pass to the appropriate individuals and institutions.
• Retirement planning - to secure sufficient funds, thus ensuring that your desired lifestyle will continue well into your retirement years.
Strategic Planning
As the healthcare industry continues the consolidation trend and changes in reimbursement, an effective strategic plan is critical to the survival and success of a medical practice.
• Group Dynamics - Physicians thinking about joining a group practice today are faced with a variety of issues and time-consuming tasks. They must review financial information, understand contractual positions and scrutinize buy-in agreements. We can help analyze the opportunities and the obligations and make sure you have the information you need to make your decision with confidence.
• Managed Care Participation Decisions – Deciding when it is time to join or drop a plan, which plans offer the highest reimbursement or the least administrative requirements, what are the services and carve-outs that can be negotiated, and how to make current participation profitable.
• Choice of Entity - Choosing the practice type: sole practitioner, partnership, corporation, limited liability company.
• Practice Valuations - When buying or selling a practice or adding a partner, a vital step is determining practice value. We can accurately determine the current worth of your practice by objectively evaluating its financial performance, positions in the market, and potential for growth.
• Consultation - Our experts will work with you from beginning to end, advising and implementing practice startups, mergers, buy-ins and buy-outs. Consultations regarding:
- Buy-sell agreements
- Deferred compensation agreements
- Employment contracts
- Lease versus buy decisions
- New doctor buy-in arrangements
- Physician compensation models
For more information, please contact John Wilson (jmw@borlandcpa.com) in Birmingham at 205-802-7212, or Dena Davis (dwd@borlandcpa.com) in Florence at 256-767-3555.