The Bexar County Medical Society Dinosaurs club is looking for new members.
If you are a physician age 65 or older and a member of BCMS, the Dinosaurs invite you to join them for quarterly meetings and special events throughout the year.
Nevin Rupp, MD and Secretary of the BCMS Dinosaurs said, "Our Valentine's Luncheon alone is worth the $25 entrance fee."
Dr. Rupp added, "The club is a great way for members to keep up with old friends, share news and stay up on things."
Though the club enjoys a 200-member roster, Dr. Rupp said most were dormant. "We don't want to face extinction," he said.
Contact Dr. Rupp at 210-698-0559 or e-mail him at rnrupp@hughes.net for more information.
Bexar County Medical Society's visionary Executive Director Stephen Fitzer will be writing and/or hosting guest writers for a column in this magazine that will feature practical advice on beginning or ending a medical practice. With baby boomer physicians considering retirement, and plenty of new physicians
entering the profession, Fitzer's
column promises to be a rich source of useful information.
In addition to Fitzer's new column, we'll be adding a great BCMS Staffing Services column written by BCMS Staffing Director Jeanmarie Traversi. With more than 30 years' experience in the staffing industry, Traversi offers medical practice staffing advice with a keen wit and welcome wisdom.
Many medical practices have begun to cash in on a recent trend: rejecting the "old" debt collection concept of outsourcing accounts late in the recovery cycle. These practices are now turning over accounts to their collection agencies much sooner than ever before, often within 45 days of delinquency.
Here's how it works: The agency makes "soft" collection contacts on the physician's behalf, by mail or telephone, to people who are behind on their payments.
The program usually consists of up to five letters on collection agency stationery, written as low-key, service-type messages. Physicians have the option of choosing how many letters, and which specific letters get sent. If desired, the first letter in the series can be a first-party "Final Notice," which can soften the effect to a greater extent. Additionally, the use of a Final Notice guarantees movement toward resolution - based on how (or if) the patient reacts, which in turn triggers the appropriate reaction by the practice.
The letters direct recipients to pay the physician directly, and the doctor keeps 100 percent of the money recovered. The practice is charged per account, rather than a contingency fee, thereby significantly increasing net recoveries, which can greatly reduce the overall cost of collections.
Consider that a $1,000 account recovered by an agency could return a net $650 (assuming a 35 percent contingency fee). Early out collection programs, however, could result in a net return of $990, since pricing is often as low as $5 to $10 per account. These early out programs eliminate commissions on easy-to-collect accounts and directly de-crease overall collection costs. Addi-tional benefits include:
• Increase in cash flow because recoveries occur sooner
• Service problems identified before they fester into irreconcilable complaints
• Failure to pay is a decision maker, clearly signaling it's necessary to pursue intensive collections
• Decrease in lost collections from debtors who are on the road to bankruptcy, skipping town, etc.
• More time for your staff to work on projects central to the purpose of the practice
• Providing patients with every opportunity to resolve accounts amicably before the practice has to take aggressive action
Those interested in learning more about the TMA endorsed version of this progressive early out program should contact I.C. System at (800) 279-3511, or visit www.icsystem.com/ tma.htm to find out more.
Aetna has reached an agreement with TMA and other state medical societies to pay resubmitted claims for evaluation and management visits billed with modifier 57 - indicating that the decision for surgery was made during the visit - for dates of service from January 1, 2005, through February 11, 2006. Aetna began paying these claims effective February 12, 2006.
Physicians can resubmit previously denied claims from January 1, 2007, through April 30, 2007. Do not re-submit claims before January 1. They will be rejected as duplicate claims.
Additional information, including detailed instructions and forms needed to ensure timely and accurate processing of resubmitted claims, will be posted on the TMA and Aetna Web sites in December.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio recently announced an $8.2 million boost for its research imaging programs – $4.1 million from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund and $4.1 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The funding is part of a $16.8 million infusion of capital from federal and state sources and private philanthropy that is expected to triple the Health Science Center’s research imaging enterprise from $25 million to $75 million annually.
The funds will establish a Comprehensive Facility for Animal Imaging Research (CFAIR) as a component of the Health Science Center’s Research Imaging Center. CFAIR scientists will use imaging to evaluate new drugs and medical devices prior to and during human trials.
“An array of research imaging instruments found nowhere else in the country, and geared to conduct research of diseases and battlefield conditions in animal models, will be acquired because of the strong commitments announced today,” said Francisco G. Cigarroa, MD, president of the Health Science Center. “Thanks to the vision of Governor Rick Perry, who established the Emerging Technology Fund, we have a Texas-sized investment in research that has the potential to save the lives of many soldiers, lead to breakthroughs in the treatment of many diseases and conditions, and yield findings that can be commercialized.”
David Spencer, chairman of the Texas Emerging Technology Fund Advisory Committee, said San Antonio is poised for growth in the biotechnology sector. He praised city leaders for founding the San Antonio Technology Accelerator Initiative five years ago. Gov. Perry and other leaders will speak in San Antonio Nov. 13-14 at “Harnessing the Lightning: An Economic Growth Summit for Texas,” sponsored by The Texas Lyceum, a statewide leadership organization.
The Emerging Technology Fund and DARPA grants complement a significant donation from San Antonio philanthropist Ruth McLean Bowers and more than $5 million in Health Science Center institutional funds committed to establish CFAIR.
“This landmark investment will open the door for Texas to take the global lead in pioneering the use of medical imaging of animal models to study human disease,” said Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Health Science Center. “Our Research Imaging Center is already internationally acclaimed for both its human and small-animal imaging research. Establishing the Comprehensive Facility for Animal Imaging Research is the next logical step.”
World-renowned neurologist and imaging researcher Peter T. Fox, MD, Research Imaging Center director, said small-animal imaging makes it possible to more quickly study treatments for diseases at all stages of the life span. What would take 50 to 75 years to study in humans can be achieved in a few years in small animals and lead to effective interventions in human care.
“Establishing CFAIR will make it possible for scientists and students from the public and private sectors, including pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers, to discover potential new treatments for patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders, as well as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis,” Dr. Fox said. “This will be done at great cost savings.”
The DARPA grant will support research involving functional imaging. The equipment will include a 7-Tesla magnet, the highest field strength made. This magnet, one of only a handful of such instruments in the country, will provide incredible, high-resolution images.
The Research Imaging Center has done many studies of human performance under stress, including being dehydrated, hungry, breathless and overheated, and DARPA wants to build on this expertise, Dr. Fox said.
DARPA’s intent also is to share the equipment with other investigators. The Research Imaging Center, soon to be enhanced by the CFAIR, is a shared-use scientific resource, much like the Keck Telescope on the island of Hawaii is a shared resource to the world’s astronomers.
Dr. Fox said the CFAIR equipment will be installed inside laboratory animal resources space at the Research Imaging Center. This arrangement, thought to be without parallel in the U.S., will protect against travel-related stress and microbial infection in valuable research animals.
The state of Texas is contributing to the CFAIR through funding
allocated for Health Science Center capital projects. Institutional collaborators in the CFAIR will include the Southwest Foundation for Bio-medical Research and Brooke Army Medical Center.
