RBMA Radiology Summit — Sessions
Monday, May 5, 2008
8:15 am – 9:45 am
Is National Health Reform Possbile?
Senator David Durenberger, JD
Not since 1992 has a presidential election focused so acutely on health policy. State efforts to provide universal coverage and national efforts to pay for quality performance are also focused on cost containment and on utilization of medical technology. Senator Durenberger has been a key player in every national health reform effort over the last 30 years. As chair of the National Institute of Health Policy and as a member of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) and the National Commission on Quality Assurance (NCQA) he is helping to shape the health policy reform agenda for 2009. Is national health reform possible?
10:30 am – 11:30 am
The (Sad) State of Healthcare in the US: A Perspective from MGMA
William F. Jessee, MD, FACMPE
Medical practices of all specialties face daunting challenges. Many of these stem from the uniquely complex, expensive and wasteful system through which health insurance benefits are administered in our country. While radiology practices sometimes find themselves at odds with other specialties, all physicians - and all practice managers - face a number of challenges in common. This presentation will discuss MGMA's views on the major issues facing practices today and tomorrow and will explore how radiology practice managers can work with their colleagues from other specialties to help medical groups survive and thrive in a difficult economic environment.
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS
Facilitated discussions based on pre-submitted and current topics members want to address.
- Large Practice
- Small Practice
- Billing Service
- Imaging Center
- Hospital Based
3:15 pm – 4:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Radiology Assistants – New Developments in a Growing Profession
Christine Lung, CAE & Cindy Daniels, MS, ARRT, RT (R)
A discussion on the roles, responsibilities, legalities and practice benefits of the radiologist assistant, a new radiologist extender in the clinical environment. This presentation will describe how a radiologist assistant can enhance radiologist productivity and assist with patient management.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Debt Collection and More
David B. Feldstein, JD & Elizabeth Miller
Examine the collection of past due debts. Learn how to reduce write-off charges. Discover the importance of utilizing a collection agency in your revenue cycle and how to choose the right one. Gain an understanding of the legal issues involved in collecting past due accounts, including a discussion of the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and other laws that govern the collection of past due medical debt. This session will break down the collection process from when to place an account to when the agency should close an account. Various methods of collecting will also be discussed. An individual attending this session will leave with a greater understanding of how a debt collection agency operates, the tools to help select an agency and how important an agency can be in your company's revenue cycle.
Recovery Audit Contractors and Medicare Units
Andrew Wachler, JD
The topic of Recovery Audit Contractors and Medicare Units will be of substantial interest to RBMA membership. Originally, federal legislation directed CMS to investigate Medicare claims payment using Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) to identify overpayments and underpayments. This project originally began in only the three states with the highest Medicare expenditures (New York, Florida and California). Notably, Congress recently has directed CMS to expand this auditing program to all 50 states by no later than 2010. However, CMS has announced its intention to aggressively move forward with the expansion, with intentions for nationwide auditing to take place by spring 2008, three years ahead of schedule. This session will provide an overview of the Medicare appeals process, outline successful appeals strategies for third party payor audits, and present proactive compliance strategies.
Payor-Provider Challenges: A View from the Commissioner’s Office
Carol Clark
This session will focus on the major issues and unique challenges that providers face when dealing with payors and managed care organizations. Attendees will learn how to successfully navigate payor and managed care relationships, identify a payor’s major concerns when dealing with providers, and to effectively engage their insurance commissioner’s office.
Marketing Your Business – Selling Your Services: What’s the Difference?
Brian Baker
Too many times we hear "Sales and Marketing" in the same context. Is there really a difference in those terms as it relates to the imaging center marketplace? Some of the most requested solutions sought by imaging centers today are helping with sales and marketing programs. Learn how the subtle differences in these terms affect your business every day and how to identify and leverage the right strategy for your operations.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
8:00 am – 9:30 am
ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS
Facilitated discussions based on pre-submitted and current topics members want to address.
- HIPAA/Compliance
- CAC/Managed Care
- New Managers
- Marketing
- Financial
10:15 am – 11:15 am
ACR Update
Maurine Spillman-Dennis, MPH, MBA & Ted Burnes, MPA
This session will cover current economic issues and look ahead to identify future trends as well as focus on practical guidance for everyday economic issues in radiology practices. Topics will include payor interactions, coding, and a legislative update.
11:15 am – 11:45 am
RBMA Business Meeting
Gregory M. Kusiak, MBA
RBMA President
11:45 am – 12:45 pm
Benchmark Jobs-Not People
BethAnn Neynaber, CPBA, CPVA, TriMetrix
Healthcare organizations everywhere are seeking better ways to secure the talent necessary to achieve proper staffing ratios. Jobs and specific talents of the people who fill them are the unique building blocks of that success. How can you discover the specific talents required by a "job" and match them to fill the talents inherent in a "person"? Before we can learn the true meaning of superior performance for any particular job, the experts must remove their natural biases. Only after experts remove those natural biases can they deliver a true rendition of superior performance for the given job. This highly interactive session will explain the three step competency benchmarking and measurement system for effective development of talent.
1:45 pm – 2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Conducting a Revenue Cycle Audit
JoAnn M. Berk
In today's increasingly challenging climate, every practice should perform a review of its coding, compliance, and billing functions regularly - annually at a minimum. This session will provide the practical tools necessary to conduct such a review, including current benchmarks and tips to cure common revenue cycle issues.
How to Avoid Personal & Professional Liability
Eartha Jean Johnson, JD, SPHR
This interactive presentation educates participants on things that they can do on a daily basis to reduce and even prevent legal and personal liability associated with their actions and communications. Attendees will learn types of everyday conduct that will expose them to the greatest risks, and how to communicate information in a manner that will not expose the individual to unnecessary liability.
The Missing Link: Are You Asking All the Right Questions When Evaluating a Billing Service? (Sponsored by MMP)
Mary T. Fedele, MS
When evaluating a billing service, most administrators concentrate on items such as years in business, private or public company, disaster recovery plan, compliance plan, etc. Though these are very important questions, has anyone ever asked the billing service to describe the billing software they use pertaining to system functionality and technology? This course takes a different approach when preparing an RFP and will illustrate some very necessary and key questions to ask, ensuring you optimize the end user’s efficiency and establish a thorough and successful RFP process.
Medicare Compliance Issues for IDTF’s
L. Scott Garrett
The session discusses the complexities of the standards that IDTF's must meet as Medicare providers. Hospital and Physician Office providers are not held to the same standards. It is critical for administrators to understand what will be expected of them by Medicare relating to the IDTF standards, enrollment requirements, staff/physician credentialing, and physician supervision requirements.
Change in Power Structure: Evolution or Revolution – Part I
Patricia Kroken, FACMPE, CRA
Every radiology practice faces an eventual shift in power structure as new partners eventually comprise a voting majority. Will that change occur with a logical succession plan or will there be a sudden “flip” that alters the structure, philosophy and viability of the group virtually overnight? This session will discuss group environmental factors and how they contribute to revolutionary change, including the impact of the flip on physicians and their management staff. Learn how the world can change overnight—or not.
3:30 pm – 4:30 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
To Merge or Not to Merge: The Business and Legal Issues when Radiology Groups Combine with NON-Radiology Groups
W. Kenneth Davis, Jr., JD
Under pressure from all directions, radiology groups are increasingly evaluating whether to combine in some fashion with non-radiology groups. As an example, radiology groups are looking at merging with cardiac or vascular groups to better serve cardiac heart and vascular patients. As another example, radiology groups are looking at becoming part of large multi-specialty groups (some of which are primary care driven, others specialty driven). This session will examine threshold questions a radiology group should answer before it even considers a combination with any other physician group. The session will look at the numerous business and legal issues that should be evaluated before going too far down the path, some of the structural models that have been used, and the process that will likely need to be followed.
So, A Radiologist Applied to Your Job Posting…Now What?
Lauren Krebs
This session will take the administrator through the process of receiving the application, telephone interview, face-to-face interview, and the offer stages. Gain a better understanding of how to review the application and CV, who should be the first contact, and what should be discussed in the first telephone interview. Obtain insight as to how to arrange the face-to-face interview itinerary and who should be involved. Finally, we will discuss the selection process of the candidates interviewed, who receives the offer and the negotiation process.
A/B Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) Reform – What do the Changes Mean for Providers
Karen Damon, BS RT(R), RCC
Medicare Contracting Reform requires significant changes to be made in order to meet an implementation and completion date of 2011 for work currently handled by fiscal intermediaries (hospitals) and carriers (physicians) in administering the Medicare fee-for-service program. The first contractor will be fully operational in July 2007. There will be 15 A/B MAC contract awards which will change the way providers' claims will be processed.
The Disconnect in Healthcare
John Boyes, MD, MBA
Ask any physician what one of the biggest challenges he or she faces when dealing with patients is, and you will soon find that a recurring response is their frustration with the disconnect between what patients expect from their health plans versus what they are actually willing to pay for. Often times patients perceive that their health plans are not providing the level of service that corresponds to the monthly premium that the patient is paying. As healthcare professionals, how do we address this disconnect and help patients to have a more realistic expectation of the level of service they receive from their health plan?
Change in Power Structure: Evolution or Revolution – Part II
Wendy Lomers, CPA, MBA
The session will outline a successful program for developing leadership skills among radiologists which will assist with succession planning and teach them to think more strategically on a daily basis. Attendees will learn how to encourage participation among physicians, and how to effectively move toward a more strategic group model.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
8:30 am – 10:00 am
Seven Steps to Market Leadership
Robert Maier, CPA
The current imaging environment demands an aggressive organization in order to succeed. How do you measure success in this market and more importantly, how do you achieve success? We will walk you through the seven key elements that any practice or imaging center must achieve in order to be successful. From planning through implementation this is the process that you will need to champion for your organization. If you are in a competitive market you won’t want to miss this program!
10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Closing Keynote Speaker
Timothy P. Trysla, Esq.
Counsel
Alston & Bird LLP
Executive Director
The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC)
