For anesthesiologists who spend most of their working hours in the operating suite, the greatest practice expense after clinical salaries is likely to be the billing operation. There is much variation in the quality and cost-effectiveness of billing services and staff. One way to bolster the likelihood of obtaining good service is to tie compensation to performance. Patrick Everett, CPA, CMPE, president of Millennium Medical Management, Inc. in Alpharetta, Georgia, has more than 11 years of experience in advising anesthesiologists on numerous facets of the business in which they are engaged. Below are his suggestions for creating a system of incentives for improving billing operations.
People tend to produce better results when the rewards are visible, tangible and quantifiable.
That theory has long been embraced by corporate America in compensating sales forces through commissions and upper and middle management through stock options. Until recently, there has not been much published guidance on designing compensation arrangements for office staff that reward performance but still reflect today's economic realities. As with almost any change in the status quo, implementing a new approach to compensating a billing office or service poses questions that must be addressed and resolved by group members prior to executing the plan. It is very likely that you will hear both valid suggestions to fine-tune your program and objections raised only in resistance to change. If you maintain your own business office, a good time might be upon the hiring of a new administrator or office manager, or at the start of a new fiscal year.