The skill levels of financial workers can vary as much as those of medical personnel, and the impact that these workers have on the viability, let alone profitability and efficient running, of any hospital, medical practice or facility is quite profound. The common belief now is that the multitude of payment systems that every medical practitioner must access, with their diverse procedures and hundreds if not thousands of medical codes, are scarcely manageable. However, with the right knowledge and the right approach, you can turn a system that controls you into one that you control....

Medicare fraud is big business, but while only a few profit from intentional malfeasance, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is now taking a closer look at everyone. The Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor Program, already infamously known as the RAC, swings into full operation in 2010 and every healthcare provider that receives payment under any of the Medicare fee-for-service payment systems will be subject to RAC scrutiny. And scrutinize, they will... .

Instead of developing another bureaucracy, the government has turned the job of auditing over to...

For healthcare providers and patients alike, the ways of private third-party payer payment systems can be mysterious and oftentimes quite frustrating. Payment for hospital, nursing, or homecare services can be subject to a variety of payment systems including cost-based and charge-based or those with payments that are determined in advance. Knowing the specific rules needed to navigate each type of payment system is essential for all healthcare administrators and accountants.

Healthcare Payment Systems: Fee Schedule Payment System, the second volume in a...