Course Overview
The ACR emphasizes the importance of continuing education in practice management and coding as critical elements in effective healthcare management in rheumatology practices. The one-day premeeting practice management course is designed for physicians and administrators to thrive in the new era of healthcare. The sessions cover key areas that physicians, administrators, and practice managers must embrace to evolve their rheumatology practices in the 21st-century healthcare environment. The course will feature top consultants in the field of practice management and cover topics like lean-measuring culture to improvement performance, mastering the revenue cycle, human resources management, new HIPAA guidelines, and preventing fraud and embezzlement. CORC’s goal is to provide rheumatology practices with tools and resources that may be implemented immediately after administrators return to the office and positively impact practices right away.
Coders are instrumental in keeping physician practices compliant by coding documentation accurately, properly reviewing medical records, and staying up to date with code changes. The coding review course is designed to provide coders, medical billing staff, and physicians with an in-depth understanding of coding and billing regulations. The presenters, Antanya Chung, CPC, CPC-I, and Melesia Tillman, CHA, CPC, CPC-I, have more than 15 years of combined experience in coding and are experts in the field. The course will cover human anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology to ensure correct coding of rheumatology services. Additionally, they will share current issues regarding compliance and reimbursements to help attendees understand coding rules and guidelines. The presenters also will discuss best practices for effective claims billing, insurance follow-up, and the appeals processes. “Our volunteers understand the roadblocks that rheumatologists in practice encounter trying to obtain reimbursement from insurance carriers. Hence, offering a coding course that dives into specific rheumatology coding guidelines,” is highly important, says Dr. White.
In addition to the preconference courses, CORC is also offering an array of practice sessions during the regular annual meeting schedule. We are excited to offer our members a session titled, “Disaster Planning: How to prepare for a catastrophe and minimize your liability” with renowned speaker Emily Friedman. With the increase in natural disasters nationwide, CORC felt it was important to provide members a session on how to prepare for unimaginable events. Other sessions include significant topics like ICD-10 implementation, audits management, risk management, the patient-centered medical home model in rheumatology, and physician profiling.
Network, Learn, Discover
The practice management and coding courses go beyond understanding industry standards. Courses offer attendees the opportunity to network, garner information on business standards and trends, and discuss other complex issues affecting rheumatology practices. Administrators, physicians, and coding and billing staff find these sessions to be solid opportunities to build a support system and share best practices. These professional networks can be beneficial once the meeting is over and everyone returns to the daily routine of managing an effective and efficient rheumatology practice.
