“I’ve never met a company with so much energy. They’re so innovative! We all become motivated just being around them.”

Andrea Fay, Medical and Business Manager
Women for Women, Women’s Healthcare Group of Pennsylvania

Letter from Jonathan

Photo of Jonathan Bush Ready for National Provider Identifiers (NPIs)? This month we talk to Chris Bassolino, athenahealth’s NPI expert, about what athenahealth is doing to prepare clients for the May 23rd deadline – and what he thinks will happen in the industry after that date. We also feature the Client Insight Tool, an important behind-the-scenes database we regularly use to quickly diagnose problems in your practice and pinpoint the course of action. And speaking of action, this issue highlights athenahealth’s partnership with Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists (VCS). Like many of our clients, they provide valuable feedback and ideas on how to enhance our services and products. Finally, in the Compliance Corner, we clear up some confusion about the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), which involves updating compliance plans and employee handbooks on how employees are notified about false claims laws and whistleblower protection provisions. Read on!

New, Expanded PayerView Rankings On The Way!

On May 2nd, athenahealth and Physicians Practice Magazine will release the 2007 PayerView Rankings! The rankings look at how national, regional and local governments perform in paying claims with medical groups based on a set of detailed metrics. We have expanded this year’s ranking to look at an entire year’s worth of data and the results are quite interesting. Stay tuned for more information and don’t forget to check out www.athenapayerview.com for the complete rankings on May 2nd.

How Do We Know So Much About Your Practice? The Client Insight Tool!

Is your practice’s days in accounts receivable (DAR) suddenly spiking? Payment rates not what they used to be? Wonder how you measure up to other practices in your region or specialty? To help clients investigate and resolve questions like these, athenahealth uses the Client Insight Tool. Learn more here.

Client Spotlight on Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists

Many of our clients are movers and shakers in their field. So we’re not surprised when you come to us with suggestions for tweaking, improving, and adding to athenahealth’s revenue cycle solution. This month, we’re proud to highlight our partnership with Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists. Read more here.

athenaMailbox: Welcome to the Fastest-Growing Segment of athenahealth

What if you could stop paying for a lockbox and still have the same financial control? And what if that reduced your days in AR? What if it also reduced posting and bank errors? And what if you could reconcile athenaNet to your bank account, line by line, with a mouse click? athenaMailbox does all this, and more.

Ann & Natalie’s Compliance Corner

This month, we clear up some confusion about the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), which requires many healthcare providers to update their compliance plans and employee handbooks about notifying their employees about false claims laws and whistleblower protection provisions. More here.

athenista spotlight: Meet Chris Bassolino

He coordinates athenahealth’s NPI project to ensure clients make a smooth transition on the compliance deadline. How does he have time for this and cooking at his desk, too? Find out in this month’s interview with Chris Bassolino.

Performance Stats

National Provider Identifiers (NPIs): How Well Prepared Are Our Clients?
athenahealth’s NPI workgroup has been working for two years to ensure that all our clients make the transition to NPIs as seamlessly as possible (see our story last month). But we depend on our clients to provide accurate NPI data! athenahealth clients are in the process of getting their NPIs but still have some work to do.

According to athenahealth reports:

  • 91% of billable providers have Type-1 NPIs entered into athenaNet
  • 74% of clients have completed Type-1 enumeration and entry
  • 68% of active medical-groups/departments have Type-2 NPIs in athenaNet
  • 57% of clients have completed Type-2 enumeration and entry

What can athenahealth clients do to prepare?

There are a few key actions you must take.

  • Get your NPIs! If you still haven’t applied, click here.
  • Enter your NPIs into athenaNet
  • Send us your NPPES welcome letters
  • Email additional questions to NPI@athenahealth.com

Best wishes,

Johnathan Bush

Try the athenahealth online demo today! Click for demo.

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Know a practice that hasn’t discovered athenahealth?

athenahealth will be hosting two free, educational webinars on the advantages of a service-based approach to billing and practice management including NPI readiness, claims process efficiencies and more realized cash flow. We hope you’ll join us to learn how a results driven service model can significantly improve the financial and operational performance of your practice.

1) Are You Ready for NPI?

Thursday, April 19, 2007
12:15-1:15 PM ET

  • Gain a clear understanding of what you need to do to prepare for NPI
  • Understand where the industry stands on NPI – who’s ready and who’s not
  • Learn how athenahealth is proactively helping its clients prepare for the NPI transition for FREE
  • To register and for more information, click here.
2) A New Approach to Practice Management

Thursday, April 26, 2007
12:15-1:15 PM ET

  • Learn where you should be focusing attention to manage and improve performance
  • Identify ways to improve and optimize performance
  • Participate in a forum of your peers to share best practices and experiences
  • To register and for more information, click here.
Save the Date for the 2007 User Conference

athenahealth’s 2007 User Conference will be held on Sunday, September 30 – Wednesday, October 3 at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. Look for more details in future issues. For highlights from the 2006 conference, click here.

Last Month's Poll Results

Last month, we asked you whether you've made the switch to a National Provider Identifier (NPI). The results are below.

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