claims out the door swiftly and correctly. If you set aside a time to
talk — instead of just haphazardly telling them the next time
they're around — your surgeons will be more receptive.
Shorten the message
Want to explain a new coding or billing process to your
docs? Forgo the standard all-day training session. The recom-
mended time for a lecture on these topics is short — 10 to 20 min-
utes short. For information that you would cover in a daylong
seminar, consider condensing it into hour-long meetings.
Make sure the information is relevant
Let's say the government decides to mandate that all ASCs
must enter their notes into electronic patient records. You call in
your doctors for a meeting to go over the new requirements.
Instead of boring your physicians with the trivial background
knowledge about the new law, focus only on what they need to
know. Explain how the mandate will impact their patient care,
since that's their focus day-in and day-out, and how the EHR will
make claims more accurate and bring in more revenue. Coding
and billing processes can be a dense subject, so give them the
information in a way that's digestible and tangible.
Encourage your doctors to interact with you
Whether you're introducing new demands or clarifying an
existing problem in your revenue cycle, make sure that you allow
for physician interaction. For example, if you're introducing a
new way to record right shoulder arthroscopies in op notes, gath-
er the surgeons for a short meeting, break them into smaller
groups and let them ask questions. Better yet, give them case
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