As a service to our Environment of Care Leader & Inside the Joint Commission customers & other hospital professionals, we provide this web site as a free education and research tool. It will aid your quest for solutions to current or approaching business problems or needs.

Sponsored by DecisionHealth-Professional Services (7/30/2008)

For hospitals and health systems that own physician practices or bill for physician services, this white paper provides a convenient reference for answers to seven common questions or “myths” about physician charges: (1) asking what other physicians charge, (2) offering discounts to self-pay patients, (3) waiving deductibles, copayments for Medicare patients, (4) giving professional courtesy discounts, (5) billing Medicare more than other payers, (6) using the same fee schedule for all payers, (7) billing Medicare patients for missed appointments, plus a bonus advisory on prompt-payment discounts. Learn how to navigate these issues to the financial advantage of physician services while staying on the right side of antitrust law, billing rules and fraud and abuse laws. Includes 31 citations and hyperlinks to source documents. 16 pages Read more...