NSCHBC Edge Podcast

This month on the Edge Podcast, Terry welcomes NSCHBC member Janet Velazquez of JV Practice Solutions for a timely discussion on what it really takes to retain top talent in today’s healthcare landscape.It’s not just about competitive pay and benefits. Companies must foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive work environment—but what does that look like in practice? Are healthcare organizations offering growth opportunities, flexibility, and a culture that inspires long-term loyalty?Terry and Janet dive into the nuances of employee experience, exploring how workplace culture impacts retention, performance, and overall success. Whether you're a practice owner, manager, or consultant, this episode offers valuable insights into building a team that stays and thrives.

Production represents the services rendered and the value created by a dental and/or medical practice. Without adequate production, there wouldn't be anything to collect, regardless of how efficient the collections process is.Terry welcomes Dental consultant, Callie Ward, to discuss that robust collections are absolutely crucial to translate production into actual revenue and profit. A practice with excellent production but weak collections will struggle financially and how to make sure practice success.

Automating medical coding presents significant challenges due to the intricate nature of health information management, particularly medical records, which form the bedrock of healthcare coding and billing. Protected Health Information (PHI) exists in various formats, including handwritten notes, patient intake forms, and dictated lab reports. This lack of standardization poses a considerable hurdle for AI systems.Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) professionals—such as coders, billers, and auditors—possess the contextual understanding necessary to interpret and extract crucial information from diverse and sometimes illegible records. The complexity of abstracting documentation is further compounded by ambiguous acronyms, localized jargon, and specialized medical language. Additionally, a substantial portion of the information provided to coders is subjective, demanding a level of interpretation that current AI technology may not yet possess.For AI to acquire these essential skills, medical coders will need to train the systems, and auditors will be responsible for verifying their accuracy. This technological shift is inevitable, so RCM professionals should consider developing these skills to remain competitive in the evolving IT landscape.Join us as host Terry Fletcher welcomes Sirisha Bommireddipalli to the show for an insightful discussion on this important topic.

In this episode of the Edge Podcast, Terry and her guest, NSCHBC member and consultant Joe Lessard, discuss how to advise clients on critical business decisions for medical and dental practices. They cover topics such as:Insurance acceptance: What insurance plans should practices accept?Hiring strategies: When is the right time to hire new associates or partners?Location expansion: Should new locations be opened, and if so, where?Operational scaling: When should practices expand or contract outsourced operations?Equipment acquisition: Should practices lease or purchase new equipment?Tune in for expert insights on practice management, financial planning for healthcare practices, and growth strategies for medical and dental clinics.

In the context of medical and/or dental insurance, ADR refers to Additional Documentation Request. This is a request from an insurance payer (like Medicare) for additional records to support a claim. It's not a sign of wrongdoing, but rather a way to ensure compliance with policies and verify the validity of claims. Ignoring these requests, or failure to meet their deadlines, can result in a loss of revenue and trigger additional payers' audits and ADR’s. Terry outlines the ADRs and best practices to make sure your staff is on top of these requests, which helps save your revenue.

In-house billing offers enhanced internal control and potential return on investment but entails higher costs and staffing challenges. Conversely, outsourcing is cost-effective, transparent, and consistent but may result in skewed control of financial operations and introduce hidden costs.Terry discusses this important topic with healthcare consultant Donna White, covering the best option for different-sized practices.

On this edition of the Edge Podcast, Terry welcomes Healthcare Compliance Consultant, Stephanie Allard. The hosts discuss objectives when hiring an external consultant, such as budgets, objectives, outcomes, expectations, and more.Tune into this important and informative episode to make sure you are prepared

Are Dental Billing and Medical Billing the Same Thing?Terry Fletcher discusses the similarities, differences, and where crossover between dental and medical billing.Tune in for advice that can assist clients on both sides to be accurate in their coding and billing processes.

This month on the NSCHBC Edge Podcast, Terry welcomes back, NSCHBC member, Merikay Hunt CHBC, to discuss the pros and cons of a remote versus in-person versus hybrid workforce. When comparing corporate and healthcare sectors, remote work generally tends to be a better option for corporate roles due to the nature of many corporate jobs being more easily adaptable to digital platforms. However, healthcare often requires in-person patient interaction, making remote work less feasible in most cases. The best choice depends on the specific role and individual needs within each sector.

On today’s NSCHBC Edge Podcast, Terry speaks with healthcare attorney and fellow NSCHBC member, Ericka Adler, to identify suspected theft in a medical practice. Terry and Ericka discuss how to identify and prevent theft, plus educate your staff and providers so you are aware of potential red flags. Some areas to focus on include cash handling, prescription drug inventory, and billing practices. The hosts also talk about what to do if you find suspicious activity, how you can further investigate with the use of proper documentation, and the potential involvement of external auditors or legal counsel.

CPA versus bookkeeper: what is the role comparison in Healthcare, and medical practices? What does a physician or a physician practice need and why?A bookkeeper, although helpful for day-to-day accounting, payroll, and expenditures accounting. When the medical provider needs tax breaks information, provider relief funding accounting and deadlines, and retirement planning, what’s the better option and why?Terry talks with Healthcare CPA and NSCHBC President Shane Pickett on the best option for success.

In this episode of the NSCHBC Edge podcast, Terry welcomes back David Zetter of Zetter Healthcare to discuss Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) versus Office Based Labs (OBLs).Topics of discussion include:Which one is easier to get funding for?Are there differences in OSHA safety protocols?Is there an approved list for each that differs?And finally, which one have you seen as more profitable?

The NSCHBC Edge Podcast welcomes fellow NSCHBC member, Rozmin Bapat to the show to discuss remote workers.Rozmin joins us from CodeRite Healthcare Consulting, based in Allen, TX. They are a billing, consulting and RCM company specializing in physician billing services.Terry and Rozmin define what it means to be a remote worker.What are some of the pros and cons of remote work and managing it. Also, how does remote work compare versus bringing everyone back in-person either hybrid or full-time?Healthcare jobs can be tricky in this sense. This episode will provide insights on how to make remote employees a success.

Many practices hire nurse practitioners and physician assistants (known as mid-level providers) along with RNs, MAs, and other clinical staff. Still, sometimes the lines get blurred on what services they can individually provide. Terry Fletcher, with fellow healthcare consultant and industry expert, Betty Hovey, discusses these compliance issues and gives medical practices insight into the pros and cons of these hires.

Healthcare policies, Medicare cuts, and election year promises and rhetoric all affect how a patient will receive or not receive benefits. We have so many Congressional policy rules on the table that will impact not only Medicare patients, but all patients as we may get a new HHS director as well when the presidency changes. Listen to this episode of the Edge podcast to know what is real and what is noise, as Terry Fletcher and Sean Weiss discuss healthcare and politics in 2024.

Staffing shortages continue to plague the healthcare industry, creating a vicious cycle where overworked healthcare professionals question their ability to continue.A recent NIL report showed that 81% of clinicians want states to implement laws governing staff-to-patient ratios, which they ranked as one of the biggest considerations when taking a job.As more medical professionals leave hospitals, physician practices, and clinics, consumers find their access to quality care threatened. It’s also not just clinical staff, it is administrative staff in healthcare as well.Terry speaks with consultant Debra Phairas, on this episode of the Edge podcast on how to tackle staffing shortages in this climate of post-COVID burnout.

In the setting of AI - Artificial Intelligence - Healthcare is running head first into possible risk. In this month’s episode of the NSCHBC Edge Podcast Terry and Vinny Sankaran tackle the PROS and CONS of AI in Healthcare.Data suggests AI helps health providers practice their profession and invest their time in engaging with patients rather than spending time on transcribing notes and administrative work. Also, when used safely and appropriately, this could exponentially expand evidence-based medicine to improve health outcomes and people-centered care.However, there are some CONS. Risks from AI include poor outcomes from algorithms (due to bias, low-quality data, lack of transparency, or usage in inappropriate contexts) which is a concern. HIPAA issues are a concern as well as cyber-hackers. We look at the current and future landscape of AI in Healthcare.

On this month’s episode of the Edge Podcast Terry welcomes back Healthcare Consultant Jackie Coult as they discuss the ins and outs of physician and dental practice startups.Terry and Jackie talk about having a plan, financial woes and potential funding, staffing, location and of course, what kind of practice you’d like to have.Join us for a fun and engaging conversation.

More than 100,000 doctors have left private practice and become employees of hospitals and other corporate entities since 2019. Today, nearly 3 in 4 physicians are employees of larger health care entities or other corporations — a record high.The cost of managing a medical practice — whether in primary care or a specialty practice — has surged. Not to mention, reimbursement rates from Medicare have not kept pace with higher operational costs. So how does a physician make sure they are collecting all that is due to them, not just from insurance payers, but where it begins: At the front desk?In today’s NSCHBC Edge Podcast, Healthcare Business Consultant David Zetter and Terry Fletcher, discuss front desk collections, making sure you have the right staff at the front desk and billing office to collect those out of pockets and share of costs. How to manage workflows, and how to insure you are getting every penny you are entitled to.

Terry welcomes fellow NSCHBC Member and Healthcare Consultant Anthony (Tony) Werner to discuss reducing administrative burden and costs incurred by meeting payer requirements.Most likely there will be resistance from most payers to incorporate intraoperability terms in contracts, including those required by legal or governmental directives. Terry and Tony discuss the complexities of these discussions and how to be successful in the process of contract negotiations.