Starting with the next edition of The Joint Commission's Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (to be published this spring), The Joint Commission will change the term "disruptive behavior" to "behaviors that undermine a culture of safety." The accrediting agency is making the change to its terminology in LD.03.01.01, elements of performance (EP) 4 and 5, to clear up any ambiguity that the term "disruptive behavior" might cause and to better reflect the intent of the standard.

Of course doctors are stressed, not only from the nature of the job-saving lives-but also due to the evolving nature of healthcare reform, mulling whether to get out of the business, and considering whether to realign themselves with hospitals. In addition, there's a constant worry about malpractice litigation.

Providers and payers now have until June 30 to transition fully to HIPAA 5010 without penalty, so use that time to ensure your claims are paid correctly and on time. Unlike the previous delay announced in November 2011 that required providers to submit a transition plan, this delay has no strings attached. Providers and plans are required only to be 5010-compliant by June 30.

Benchmark your practice’s ratio of new patient visits to established patient visits against the ratio of your specialty, community or yourself in previous years to determine whether you’re missing an opportunity to grow your business. You can ascertain that figure by taking your total service count for E/M initial visit codes (99201-99205) and dividing it by the total number of established visit codes (99211-99215).

When your practice offers payment plans to patients, make sure those plans don’t run afoul of the federal Truth in Lending Act.

You’ve likely been getting more patient requests than ever to set up a payment plan, particularly in the first quarter because of high-deductible health plans. In fact, 54% of 284 respondents to a January Part B News deductibles survey said more patients have asked about payment plans in the last few months. While some practices have opted to outsource the plans to a third-party credit card processing company, you still must take steps to ensure your plan is legal (PBN 2/6/12).