Have your phone answered quickly and politely
One of my major bugbears with medical practice is the ability to answer the phone. Sounds simple. It is! Yet many practices do not answer the phone. Instead, the call goes to an answering machine...
A Guarantee is different from Pre-Authorisation
Consider when the patient has contacted his/her insurance company and been issued with a pre-authorisation number. This does not mean, the insurance company will accept your charge. This happened to...
Hospital Fees Are Different to Your Fees
Ever thought what is the most often quoted reason for non-payment by a self funding patient? The same reason is quoted over and over again. It is not ‘I haven’t got the money” nor is it “I didn’t...
Pay attention when you are raising invoices.
Another day arrives. Its time to Thursday's clinics. Pay attention This is a good example of not paying sufficient attention to the clinic list. It almost cost the consultant £205. The patient was...
The Insurance Company Took My Money Back!
Some insurance companies decline to accept invoices that are sent more than six months after the consultation or surgical episode. Fair enough, they should have been invoiced. BUT… A statement was...
Pre-authorisation number – a life of their own
Have you ever considered how long a pre-authorisation reference is live? Or how many didn’t realise some private medical insurance companies deem pre-auths do have a life span? For example: I was...
Back Up Your Data Before You Have An Accident
It’s amazing how many people don’t back their IT systems up. When they have an accident, they have a serious accident. One guy kept all his correspondence and notes on his laptop and only on his...
Don’t be afraid to ask for the money
Why are you in business? Many times, consultant surgeons have approached MHM because they, as consultant surgeons, don’t like asking patients for the money. And from a certain point of view, this is...
When Time Allows
What a truly awful expression! It was said to me recently by a medical secretary who was struggling to get all her invoicing done. Her belief was that she had only many hours in the day and it was...
Watch Your Costs Please
At a recent on-line presentation, I was asked about the costs and use of accounting software. Bearing in mind the presentation was to consultants who had not yet established a private practice,...
Do Something – show me the money
Anybody ever watched the movie “Jerry Maguire” and the immortal quote – show me the money! Clearly a guy I recently bumped into at a medical conference hadn’t. He was the Practice Manager for a...
Practice management – leave your ego at the door
It takes an amazing amount of determination and resilience to become a consultant surgeon. Years of study, sacrifice and long, long nights. Finally you make it. Then one day decide to start a...