Welcome to TMA Practice Help

  • Practice Help welcome image

    Looking for seamless solutions to your most puzzling practice problems?

    Operating a medical practice in today’s environment creates challenges every day. TMA Practice Help is here to provide practical solutions. You can get hands-on, customized consulting services including practice set-ups, billing assessments, coding audits, and more from TMA Practice Consulting. Whether you are a solo practitioner or a member of a group, our team of consultants can show you how to improve the business side of your practice operations. Read More

Practice Help Articles

  • Incentive Program
    Making Meaningful Use MeaningfulTurn to TMA's Meaningful Use Achievement Toolkit for detailed instructions about what you must do, specific to your EHR product, to meet any one of the 25 meaningful-use criteria defined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The tool explains each objective and includes screenshots or video demonstrations of four popular EHR products – e-MDs, GE/Centricity, Greenway Medical, and NextGen. 
  • Payment Advocacy
    United UCR Lawsuit Payments ComingPhysicians who filed claims against UnitedHealthcare in the lawsuit over its usual, customary, and reasonable (UCR) claims payment system will soon receive payments. A federal judge has approved the release of payments from the 2009 settlement of the case. Physicians are expected to receive $200 million of the $250 million settlement fund.  
  • ICD-10
    CMS Delays ICD-10Texas Medical Association advocacy paid off again as U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Feb. 16 that physicians will not have to begin using the new ICD-10 coding system next year. ICD-10 codes were to take effect Oct 1. 2013, but Secretary Sebelius said that is delayed until an unspecified date. 
  • Medical Records
    Document Supervision of NPPsWhen delegating prescriptive authority to a nonphysician practitioner (NPP) in your practice, keep in mind that supervision and billing requirements vary depending on where the NPP practices. Failing to document the required physician activities, including record reviews and quality assurance activities, is a common compliance shortfall.  
  • Claims
    Are Your Claims Being Rejected?The Texas Medical Association and the American Medical Association report that many medical practices are seeing more of their claims rejected in recent weeks. The conversion to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 transaction standards on Jan. 1 could be the culprit.
  • E-Prescribing
    Penalized for Not E-Prescribing in 2011?TMA is getting calls from physicians who were penalized 1 percent for not e-prescribing in 2011, even though they thought they did everything correctly.

Education

Using an NPP in Your Practice? Do It Right.

Do you employ a nonphysician practitioner (NPP)?  Thinking about hiring one?  Attend our Nonphysician Practitioners: Fundamentals of Billing and Supervision half-day seminar. Read More