Cash flow is the amount of cash a business generates and uses in a given period. Understanding cash flow as part of your business plan is essential to ensure that the practice has enough money to pay its bills and invest in its future growth. Projecting cash flow in a medical practice can be daunting, but it is essential for the practice’s financial success. In this blog post, we will discuss the steps involved in projecting cash flow for a medical practice and provide tips for maintaining a healthy cash flow.
Step 1: Identify your sources of cash
The first step in projecting cash flow is to identify the sources of cash for the practice. These sources include patient payments, insurance reimbursements, and investments. Understanding the timing of these payments and any trends or fluctuations in the amount of cash received is essential. For example, if the practice experiences a spike in patient volume during the summer months, it will likely receive more money during this period.
Step 2: Identify your uses of cash
Once you identify the sources of cash, it is crucial to identify the uses of cash for the practice. These uses include expenses such as rent, salaries, supplies, and equipment. It is important to understand the timing of these expenses and any trends or fluctuations in the amount of cash spent. For example, if the practice plans to purchase new equipment, it will likely spend more money during the month or quarter in which you bought the equipment.
Step 3: Create a cash flow projection
With an understanding of the sources and uses of cash, the next step is to create a cash flow projection. This projection should include an estimate of the amount of cash received and spent in a given period. It is vital to have both expected and unexpected events in the projection and any trends or fluctuations in the amount of cash received or spent.
Step 4: Monitor and adjust your projection
Once you create the cash flow projection, it is essential to monitor it regularly and make adjustments as necessary; this may include adjusting the prediction based on actual results or making changes to the practice’s operations to improve cash flow. For example, if the practice is experiencing a cash flow shortage, it may need to increase its billing and collections efforts, recruit patients or reduce its expenses.
Tips for maintaining a healthy cash flow
- Review your billing and collections process: A poor billing and collections process is one of the most significant contributors to cash flow problems. Regularly reviewing and improving this process can help ensure that the practice receives payment for services promptly.
- Control expenses: Keeping expenses under control is essential for maintaining a healthy cash flow. Reviewing expenses regularly and finding ways to reduce them can help to improve cash flow.
- Communicate with patients: Clear communication regarding their financial responsibilities can help ensure that payments are received promptly.
- Maintain a good relationship with insurance companies: Building a good relationship with insurance companies can help ensure that reimbursements are received promptly.
- Keep an eye on future trends: Monitoring future trends in the healthcare industry can help to anticipate any changes that may impact cash flow.
In conclusion, projecting cash flow in a medical practice is a vital task that requires a thorough understanding of the sources and uses of cash. By following the steps outlined in this blog post and implementing the tips for maintaining a healthy cash flow, medical practices can ensure they have the resources they need to grow and succeed in today’s competitive healthcare landscape.
How does this relate to a billing company focused on acupuncture, chiropractic, and medical-massage billing? While you are busy projecting your cash flow, let us handle your EMR technology needs and the tedious and complicated medical coding, and billing process. By allowing a trusted firm like Holistic Billing Services, to capture your online appointments and SOAP notes, or offloading your medical billing burden, your time, energy, and creativity are freed up to focus on what matters most: your patients. The friendly experts at HBS have decades of experience and are eager to help you succeed! Contact us today to get started building a custom solution that suits your acupuncture practice needs and goals.
When it comes to expanding government coverage of holistic and complementary treatments, the task of getting everyone on board can be tedious and take years for legislative consideration.
Delivering substantial and comprehensive evidence of the benefits of holistic treatments, however, does help streamline the process and make a compelling case for incorporating integrative medicine into government programs and private insurance plans. Performing research and providing results that speak to how effective these treatments are for veterans and patients takes time and money, but is ultimately worth it for encouraging the inclusion of holistic treatments.
One such organization that performs research and reports on the results of various healthcare initiatives is the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative, known as QUERI, which operates under the umbrella of the Veterans Affairs department. This organization is instrumental in leveraging a vast network of researchers and investigators around the country to examine a multitude of healthcare actions.
In January 2014, QUERI presented an evidence map of acupuncture that analyzed the effects of acupuncture on mental health, wellness, and pain, plus elaborated on future research efforts and potential drawbacks to this treatment.
More than three years later, acupuncture was adopted into coverage for veterans as included in VHA Directive 1137, published in May 2017. Nearly a year after that Directive was announced, a Qualification Standard was published that permitted licensed acupuncturists to be hired to provide acupuncture care at VA Medical Centers (VAMC) in February 2018.
How did the VA come to the decision to promote acupuncture as part of their benefits for veterans? As with most bureaucratic processes, there were a lot of factors; one key player was QUERI’s evidence map of acupuncture. In this article, we’ll expand on QUERI’s research methods and some of the key takeaways from their report on the effects of acupuncture.
History of the Quality Enhancement Research Initiative for the VA
Founded in 1998 with the mission to “accelerate the use of research evidence, tools, and methods into routine care and ensure U.S. Military Veterans benefit from research discoveries,” QUERI plays a pivotal role in analyzing the effects of healthcare treatments with the ultimate goal of improving care quality and access for veterans.
Since its founding, QUERI has implemented numerous programs and leveraged partnerships to continue expanding care for veterans. Just a few notable examples in recent history include the following:
- National implementation with the VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention of the Behavioral Health Interdisciplinary Program of team-based care that reduced mental health hospitalizations for Veterans
- Launching several ongoing studies related to COVID, on topics ranging from racial and ethnic disparities in COVID-19 infection and complications to identifying Veterans’ experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Improving Veterans’ experience and quality of virtual care options in VA and community care venues
QUERI’s Strategic Methodology
QUERI’s initiatives operate under a variety of frameworks or roadmaps depending on which facet of the organization you look at; regarding their overarching strategic methodology of operation, they employ a three-fold approach:
- Implement: Enhance Veteran access to cutting-edge, personalized treatments
- Evaluate: Develop mutually beneficial partnerships and inform the rollout of high-priority initiatives
- Disseminate & Sustain: Drive a culture of learning and knowledge translation across the VA as a whole
Pertaining to their research approaches, QUERI leverages a network of more than 200 investigators who have completed more than 500 peer-reviewed studies addressing VA priorities. This rigorous process ensures that research is performed and data is analyzed by those with a high degree of expertise and demonstrated dedication to improving care for veterans.
Key Takeaways From QUERI’s Evidence Map of Acupuncture
Now that we’ve established QUERI’s authority and importance in terms of gathering evidence for important healthcare initiatives for veterans, let’s review a few key takeaways from their evidence map of acupuncture:
Acupuncture Evidence for Pain
QUERI reports with high confidence that acupuncture has a positive impact—or potential positive impact—on several different ailments:
High confidence in the evidence of positive impact:
- Chronic pain
- Migraines
- Headaches
High confidence in the evidence of potential positive effects:
- Dysmenorrhea, also known as severe menstrual cramping
- Cancer pain
- Labor pain
There is also medium confidence in potential positive effects that acupuncture adequately treats pain related to osteoarthritis, pregnancy pain, Temporomandibular joint dysfunction (also known as TMJ), Plantar heel pain, prostatitis, and more.
Acupuncture Evidence for Mental Health
QUERI’s investigation found that acupuncture had the potential for a positive effect on the following mental health conditions:
- Depression
- Schizophrenia
- Anxiety
- PTSD
Acupuncture Evidence for Wellness
This evidence map of acupuncture found acupuncture had the potential for positive effects on a few ailments, including:
- Insomnia
- Smoking cessation
- Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV)
- Restless legs
But ultimately there was unclear evidence that acupuncture impacts the following ailments and conditions:
- Cancer AE
- IBS
- PMS
- Menopausal symptoms
- Overall quality of life
While there have been significant studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture in more recent years, understanding this fundamental acupuncture evidence map and its relation to providing coverage to veterans can give insight into the process of increasing coverage for holistic treatments.
Is your acupuncture practice ready to start treating the veterans in your community? Worried about how stressful the medical billing process can be—especially in terms of billing the VA for services rendered? Partner with a medical billing firm!
At Holistic Billing Services, we deal exclusively with holistic healthcare practices that deliver acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic treatments to communities around the country. Whether you have questions on acupuncture insurance billing or other methods to enhance your revenue cycle management, feel free to contact our team today and let us know how we can help your acupuncture practice.