Practice Management Alert

Sick of struggling to get your message across to physicians and staff? We can help

A common complaint among billers is that physicians never have enough time to learn about billing compliance.
  
Solution: Organize a formal compliance education session. But more important, streamline the session by making it direct, engaging and even fun.

Whether you're trying to educate physicians, billing staff or both, chances are a standard boring lecture won't do the trick. Follow these steps to compliance education success:

1. Ask a physician to present. Very frequently, this will help to engage physicians because the message is coming from one of their colleagues, says  Robert A. Pelaia, JD, CPC, director of compliance at the University of Florida. If a certain provider in your office is compliance-savvy, enlist his help. A physician can emphasize the importance of compliance by leading a session, helping you with a presentation, or even simply introducing you as the presenter, Pelaia says.

2. Avoid the "one size fits all" philosophy when planning your education session. If you are a multispecialty practice, offer separate education sessions for each specialty, Pelaia says. This will engage physicians and staff more effectively because they won't have to listen to compliance topics that don't concern them, he adds.

3. Be accommodating. If physicians insist they're busy all day with no time for a compliance education break, offer a session early in the morning, during lunch or after hours. Also, try to keep sessions to a reasonable time limit.

4. Make it interesting! Have someone lead the session who can convey a message effectively and who will engage the audience, Pelaia says. Try to make your session lively and interactive by asking questions, using handouts and slides, or even playing a trivia game with prizes.

5. Don't abuse the scare tactic. Although examples of providers busted for billing fraud can be an attention grabber, physicians get sick of hearing the same old warnings. And focusing on compliance risks, rather than the solutions, is counterproductive to the goals of an education session, Pelaia says. Try to stay positive and offer simple, proactive tips for achieving compliance. For example, offer a checklist to ensure selection of appropriate E/M code levels.

Proof is important: You should be able to prove you're sticking with your compliance plan and conducting the education sessions you say you are. Create a sign-in sheet attendees can sign both when they arrive and when they leave your education session, Pelaia says. This will provide written proof of your session and hopefully discourage attendees from slipping out early.

You should consider asking attendees to sign a statement of understanding when the session ends, and file these statements in your compliance plan folder. The statement can include a box to check if attendees think they need more information. If attendees check the box, make sure you schedule a follow-up education session.