Call your carrier to verify a patient's coverage after an accident or other personal injury and mention to the carrier you might be looking for future conditional payments to help ensure you'll be paid during these sometimes tricky situations.

This chart shows how denial rates have changed by place of service from 2006 to 2007. The denial rate was calculated based on 12 imaging codes, which were chosen because they had high utilization across each service setting.

Get a faster response to claims from private payers by reminding them on every claim that you'll hold them to your state's prompt payment laws. That was just one popular tip shared at the first annual Physician Office Managers Association of America (POMAA) conference, held in Baltimore from Sept. 8 to Sept. 12.

Don't be caught off guard: IRS garnishments and adjustments to physician compensation are now more likely and that puts cash flow at risk, experts say. Starting in October, the IRS can garnish a physician's Medicare reimbursements for non-tax related reasons - because of child support, alimony or other outstanding business transactions - under the government's Federal Payment Levy Program. Physicians are already subject to a federal tax levy under the program.

CMS is readying to send out millions of dollars in bonus payments in October to providers who participated in the 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) program. Bonuses are equal to 1.5% of eligible Medicare charges in 2008. Remember: Bonus payments for 2009 and 2010 have been increased to 2% of your Medicare charges
(PBN 7/20/09).

You've got even more reason to believe that the 21.5% physician pay cut set for 2010 will never materialize. A draft summary of the health reform bill being crafted in the Senate Finance Committee - obtained by Part B News from sources close to the process - delivers a 0.5% pay boost instead in 2010.

Greatly reduce your chance of getting an E/M service downcoded by watching how the phrase "additional workup" is used during your billing process, experts say. Opinions on exactly what qualifies as "additional workup" vary widely, says one compliance auditor. "Some people say it's as simple as, ‘if there are any additional diagnostic tests, that's additional workup.'"

Brush up on billing and coding guidelines with your staff as you're certain to face more complex Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) targets in the future. RACs have proposed 73 new issues they'll target to recoup money for billing mistakes and physicians failing to follow service guidelines.

When you find large overpayments before they're discovered by government auditors, volunteering a settlement offer to your carrier could save you thousands of dollars while slashing your compliance risk. A well-worded letter explaining why you want to settle with the carrier for part of what you owe is key, experts say (see story for guidance).

Follow these six tips to prepare your practice and staff for the H1N1 influenza virus - the swine flu - this flu season.