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1. Quicker Reimbursements and Reduced Number of Denied Claims. Unless you are experienced at billing physical and occupational therapy claims, it can be difficult knowing what information needs to be submitted to get paid for the claim. Using a reputable and experience physical and occupational therapy billing company can drastically reduce the number of non-pays due to submitting incorrect and/or incomplete claims. And when claims are submitted electronically they are entered into the claims process quicker than when they are submitted using standard mail, thus the claim is paid faster. 2. Reduce Accounts Receivables and Improve Cash Flow. When a physical and occupational therapy claim is submitted with the correct information, the number of days a claim goes unpaid is drastically reduced, therefore reducing your accounts receivables. This shortens the period of time from when the treatment was provided to the time you get paid, thus your cash flow position improves. 3. Increase Amount Paid Per Treatment Provided. Physical and occupational therapy billing software will maximize the number of codes billed per session, ensuring you are billing for all treatment conducted. And the software should be able to prevent you from billing for a procedure that the patient's insurance company will not pay. 4. Minimize Disruption Due to Employee Turnover, Reduce Your Staff and/or Make Your Staff More Efficient. One of the most disruptive events in any business is the loss of a key employee(s), especially one with the skill set to handle physical and occupational therapy billing and collections. Finding an experienced replacement can be costly and time-consuming. And hiring someone that is inexperienced means they will be learning on the job. Using an experienced physical and occupational therapy billing company eliminates the problems that come with employee turnover. 5. Standardize Documentation and Mitigate the Impact of Audits. Software provided by the physical and occupational therapy billing company will ensure your documentation is standardized, consistent and compliant. You can mandate that each therapist document treatment in the same way. This eliminates inconsistent or poorly written notes and makes it much easier to defend yourself in case of an audit. #physical #occupational #therapy #billing #company

Too often, Leah Stanley shows up at a doctor’s office or hospital feeling lousy. And she must, yet again, detail the 17 medicines she takes. Sometimes she gives up and directs attention to where she has stored the tally of drugs in her iPhone.“It’s like, ‘I’m sick,” said the 50-year-old nursing instructor. “I don’t want to have to tell my story again.” She pines for the day when records collected at one place will, in a flash, be shipped electronically wherever they’re needed. That would certainly make her life easier and avoid the odds of error that increase every time her medical history is re-entered into a computer or on a paper chart. We’re getting there. Government and industry are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar electronic medical records spending spree. Click to read the rest of the article about the gradual change to digital recordkeeping.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear signed legislation March 16 that limits copays for physical therapy and occupational therapy visits. Senate Bill 112 was sponsored by State Senator Tom Buford (R) and supported by the Kentucky Physical Therapy Association (KPTA) and the Kentucky Occupational Therapy Association. SB 112 limits a copayment or coinsurance amount for a physical therapist or occupational therapist visit to no greater than the copayment or coinsurance amount charged to a patient for a physician or osteopath office visit. SB 112 also requires insurers to clearly state the availability of therapies under their plans, and all related limitations. Click to read the rest of the article about the Kentucky co-pay law victory.

Two to three in every 1,000 children are born with a hearing loss that is likely to impact development. Research of the auditory system at its early developmental stages, and efforts to identify hearing loss and initiate appropriate rehabilitation strategies, can be crucial to the healthy development of a child. Laurie Eisenberg, Ph.D., is a House Ear Institute investigator on two multicenter projects involved in understanding the effects of hearing loss on young children as they mature; both studies are funded by the National Institutes of Health. The first project is a 10-year, multicenter study entitled "Childhood Development After Cochlear Implantation, (CDaCI)," in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, and University of Miami. In this study, Dr. Eisenberg and her staff are investigating the long-term outcomes in young deaf children fitted with cochlear implants before five years of age. Click to read the rest of the article about the importance of pediatric auditory research. #pediatric #therapy #audio #speech

On September 21, 2011, Justin Moore, APTA vice president, Government and Payment Advocacy testified before Congress on the effect that the Medicare cap for physical, occupational and speech therapy services has on patients and providers. Moore was joined by witnesses from the American Hospital Association, American Ambulance Association, and American Medical Association. Because the baby boomer generation is getting older, the demand for knee and hip replacements is expected to double in the coming years. The Medicare cap will severely limit a patient's ability to receive proper therapy following surgery unless Congress acts. Moore called on Congress to renew exceptions to the cap and to devise a plan to deal with the yearly threat of expiring exceptions. If cap exceptions are not renewed before they expire at the end of the year, physical therapy billing and payments would be severely affected. You can read Moore's statement to Congress on Expiring Medicare Provider Payment Policies. #physical #therapy #billing #cap #medicare

On September 21, 2011, Justin Moore, APTA vice president, Government and Payment Advocacy testified before Congress on the effect that the Medicare cap for physical, occupational and speech therapy services has on patients and providers. Moore was joined by witnesses from the American Hospital Association, American Ambulance Association, and American Medical Association. Because the baby boomer generation is getting older, the demand for knee and hip replacements is expected to double in the coming years. The Medicare cap will severely limit a patient's ability to receive proper therapy following surgery unless Congress acts. Moore called on Congress to renew exceptions to the cap and to devise a plan to deal with the yearly threat of expiring exceptions. If cap exceptions are not renewed before they expire at the end of the year, physical therapy billing and payments would be severely affected. You can read Moore's statement to Congress on Expiring Medicare Provider Payment Policies.

Planetrehab's Director of Sales and Markeing Ricky Gomez was quoted extensively in this article on cloud computing and physical therapy software. The article, by Judy O'Rourke, appears in the May/June edition of Physical Therapy Products magazine and online. Gomez discussed some of the misconceptions and pitfalls that plague cloud computing for physical and occupational therapy companies. It should be noted that Planetrehab offers installed, web (cloud) and hybrid versions of its software. #physical #therapy #cloud #computing

More balanced shots in basketball. Better jumping. Increased power. Decreased running times. These are just some of the benefits Pilates has brought college athletes. Once a niche exercise, Pilates has gone mainstream and is available at almost every gym. Athletes in numerous sports have discovered its training and rehabilitative powers. Among the younger, college-aged set, this total-body exercise can help increase strength and flexibility. In a survey of 1,477 American College of Sports Medicine members, Pilates was ranked ninth on a list of the top 20 fitness trends for 2010. Several studies have examined the effects of Pilates on fitness. Pilates and Cardiovascular Fitness At the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, Stefanie Spilde and John Porcari, PhD, studied 15 healthy women between the ages of 18 and 26 who self-identified as having intermediate Pilates experience. The women performed two 50-minute Pilates mat routines-one basic and one advanced-following Joseph Pilates' original sequencing method. During the exercises, testers measured their heart rates and oxygen consumption and subjects ranked their perceived efforts using the Borg scale. To read the rest of the article click here.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cloud computing for physical therapy clinics? Cloud computing has been in use for quite some time. Everyone who accesses their email online (webmail) is using a form of cloud computing. In the coming years, there will be an even greater use of cloud computing. Google Apps and MSOffice 365 are poised to centralize word processing and spreadsheet functions. Online backups, such as Mozy, Carbonite and Jungle Disk are becoming the standard as is online picture storage (Shutterfly and Photobucket). Cloud computing is perfect for these functions. Being able to access your data from any computer that has an internet connection allows the user to be more mobile and more productive. However, depending on a working internet connection to access time-critical data is much more worrisome. In a clinic setting, users must be able to access patient data immediately. And if their internet connection is not working, even for a short period, they will not be able to check in or schedule patients, review past documentation or check on the status of a claim until their internet connection is restored. Most businesses can wait 30 minutes to access their email, but cannot wait 30 minutes when they have a waiting room full of patients. Installed software generally offers more security and dependability. It also offers greater speed. Accessing data over a local network as opposed to retrieving data over the internet is much faster. And what happens to your data if your cloud-computing vendor goes out of business? A common misconception is that physical therapy cloud software is easier to use than installed software. Just because software is available over the internet does not mean that is easier to use. In fact, depending on the way the interface is laid out, online software can be more difficult to navigate. Any potential user should fully evaluate a software’s interface before deciding on a particular package. Another misconception is that physical therapy cloud computing is less expensive because a business does not have to maintain costly hardware. But, every user must have a computer that is on a network so they can access their software and patient data. Thus, a business must purchase and maintain hardware and insure the viability of their computer network. In the current software environment, users should expect to have the option of using installed software, a cloud version or a combination of the two. The perfect scenario is to have installed software that is distributed over a local network. And if the computer that contains the clinic’s data or their network were to fail, then users could access their data via the internet until the hardware or network is repaired. Mobile users could also access from any computer that has an internet connection (but, again, understanding the limitations of spotty internet service). Planetrehab offers the installed/cloud hybrid physical therapy software. #physical #therapy #billing #cloud #computing

A great article by Samuel S. Sprague touching on the affect Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) will have on physical therapy practices. ACOs will provide a tangible benefit for physical therapy providers by improving the quality of care and lower the cost of the care. However, there are some concerns that freestanding physical therapy clinics will be squeezed out of the market by large ACOs, but provisions have been created by the Department of Justice to combat anti-trust activities. Sprague points out that it is critical for physical therapy clinics to adopt physical therapy software so they can incorporate EHR into their practice. Although the final rules for ACOs have not been finalized, it is important that physical therapists stay apprised of forthcoming developments. #physical #therapy #billing #company #software #aco

New research provides the first evidence that sensory recalibration — the brain's automatic correcting of errors in our sensory or perceptual systems — can occur instantly. "Until recently, neuroscientists thought of sensory recalibration as a mechanism that is primarily used for coping with long-term changes, such as growth during development, brain injury or stroke," said Ladan Shams, a UCLA assistant professor of psychology and an expert on perception and cognitive neuroscience. "It appeared that extensive time, and thus many repetitions of error, were needed for mechanisms of recalibration to kick in. However, our findings indicate we don't need weeks, days, or even minutes or seconds to adapt. To some degree, we adapt instantaneously. "If recalibration can occur in milliseconds, as we now think, then we can adapt even to transient changes in the environment and in our bodies. "In Shams' study, reported in the March 23 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience, 146 individuals, primarily UCLA undergraduates, performed what is known as a fundamental perceptual task. They looked at the center of a large screen that had eight speakers hidden behind it. Sometimes they heard only a brief burst of sound somewhat like radio static; sometimes they saw only a quick flash of light; and sometimes they both heard a sound and saw a light. They were asked to determine where the sound was and where the light was. They participants, the researchers found, were much more accurate in determining where the light was than where the sound was. Click to read the rest of the article about perceptual errors. #brain #injury #therapy #perceptual #error

New Year's is the time to set goals or resolutions for the coming year. If you are caring for someone with limited mobility, then join with me in setting the 2011 resolution to prevent falls in the home. The 11 tips listed below will help us start working on this resolution today. Add grab bars to their shower or tub. In my opinion this is a must for anyone with even slight balance problems. Bathtub rims are about 15 inches off the floor and can be quite a challenge to step over without a secure hand hold. To read the rest of the article click here. #prevent #falls