Myths and Realities in Oncology Drug Purchasing
The price of oncology drugs is sky rocketing and reimbursement for them has continued to fall. This may be hurting your practice more than you know. What are you paying for your drugs as compared to...
View ArticleConsidering Solutions for Oncology Drug Purchasing
Thank you for your comments on the recent ASP post. Oncologists need to band together and find a solution to this problem.Yes, this is doable. We need to create and engage in a process that suggests...
View ArticleReality is in the Results, and It is No Surprise
In our previous post, “Considering Solutions for Oncology Drug Purchasing”, we asked for you to fill out our short “worksheet” in the News area of our website. We had several responses from...
View ArticleWhere Does the Money Go?
In response to the comment on our post “Considering Solutions for Oncology Drug Purchasing”, we agree and that is why we are pushing into new directions in this area. The key ingredient we need is for...
View ArticlePersistence Pays Off: A Success Story Worth Discussing
On behalf of a client, we have a great success story to report. One of our oncology clients was having continued denials with a large private pay insurance company. Regarding this particular situation,...
View ArticleReimbursement of Administering Chemotherapy is at a Low Level
Unfortunately, professional services for medical oncologists and hematologists administering chemotherapy and other infusables are getting reimbursed at a low level.Oncology infusion codes are still...
View ArticleToday’s Oncology Drug Procurement: Effective or in Crisis?
Is the drug procurement process for the cancer delivery system in crisis or is it working?In Economics 101, the law of supply and demand suggests that as demand increases, supply should follow and...
View ArticleOncology Reimbursement: Where Have the Drug Profits Gone?
A physician called me recently and said, “I am mad as heck and I am not taking this anymore.” He is not making 6%, he is making 2%. He believes the drug distributors are taking too much of a margin on...
View ArticleNew Codes May Be the Answer to Evidence Based Medicine
The challenge of oncology is to recognize and establish incentives for the cognitive skills of physicians that will create both cost savings and superior outcomes for both patients and payers.I...
View ArticleOncology Reimbursement: Where Have the Drug Profits Gone? Part 2
Where is all the money going? In identifying who is making what profit in the oncology drug distribution system, there are four parts to consider in pricing:Manufacturer cost: the technological cost to...
View ArticleReimburse Doctors For Their Brains
Ancillary services are causing a major problem in accomplishing health care savings. In fact, it is so bad that many physicians look to joint ventures with hospitals and other entities in order to...
View ArticleDo Rebates Belong In Healthcare?
Rebates can be a great deal – that is if you’re a retail customer buying a car, a computer or a high-end kitchen gadget. But, if you’re a medical oncologist treating people with serious illnesses,...
View ArticleCan Our Healthcare System Finally be Fixed?
Our government spends a lot of time trying to fix our healthcare system implementing policies and procedures that don’t work, make things worse, or sometimes standing idle and not doing anything. We...
View ArticleAre You Paying Attention to Your Fee Schedules?
Have you reviewed your fee schedules lately to determine if you’re getting proper reimbursement for all your services? Now is a great time to take a look at what you are doing and make appropriate...
View ArticleThe V Coding Trap
We believe there are many flaws in the coding arena and want to discuss one in particular we believe is a trap. Don’t fall into it.Be aware when using the chemotherapy V Codes (V58.11 or V58.12) or you...
View ArticleAre Your Medical Practices Compliant With the “Rules”?
We are reaching out to all our readers in the medical field to alert them about the impending May 1st, 2009 deadline associated with the “Red Flags” Rule enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC),...
View ArticleAre Your Medical Practices Compliant With the “Rules”?
We are reaching out to all our readers in the medical field to alert them about the August 1st, 2009 deadline (recently extended from May 1st) associated with the “Red Flags” Rule enforced by the...
View Article“Red Flags” Rules Deadline Postponed
The deadline for the “Red Flags” Rule has been postponed to November 1, 2009. The FTC decided to delay the deadline in order to give businesses additional time to educate themselves, review their...
View ArticleAMA Rejects Request For New Hem/Onc CPT Codes
Neltner Billing and Consulting recently submitted documents to the AMA suggesting that the infusion coding oncology and hematology rely on for appropriate payment of professional physician work and...
View ArticleFlaws In Medicare Coding Interpretations
We work with medical oncologists/hematologists across the country in both the private practice and hospital settings. Based on our experience, I'd like to point out a couple of key flaws in the current...
View ArticleMedical Oncologists and Meaningful Data
This blog post is Part I in a series on the topic of “meaningful data”.Any of us working in Medical Oncology know that the Evaluation and Management (E&M) guidelines are not specialty specific, and...
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