Stay on top of documentation

Often, when I'm done with a patient visit, a staff member will take the patient's chart to complete referrals or other tasks. Without the chart on my desk, I can easily lose track of the fact that I still need to document the visit. To help me remember, I place a check mark by the patient's name on the schedule before going into the exam room (this indicates that the visit really took place), and then I highlight the name when the note is complete. This has been a fail-safe method for ensuring that my documentation is complete.

Welcome your patients back to your practice

My practice is striving to transform itself into a welcoming medical home for our patients. One way we have done this is by using an electronic database to identify patients with diabetes who have not had an office visit in the past year. Instead of expecting them to call us, we proactively invite them back. To expedite the physician encounter, we perform fasting blood and urine work one week prior to their appointment. I believe these efforts show that our priority is to reach out to our community and patients.

Use a template to improve your documentation

I use a template with standard questions for patients to improve the thoroughness of my documentation. The template reminds me to capture past medical, family and social history. The details I gain from this make it easier to document the code level that is appropriate for the services I provided.

How to handle overpayments from insurers

Show appreciation for other departments

At our multispecialty practice, we created a way for each department to show appreciation for the others. At the end of each month, a specialty is randomly selected to receive a friendship basket from a different department. The basket is usually full of fruit, candy, juice and cookies. A new department is chosen each month as the recipient, and the department that received the basket the month before becomes the provider. This rotation continues throughout the year so that all of the specialties have the opportunity to be both provider and recipient. This unique gift exchange builds camaraderie, demonstrates how we function as a cohesive team and shows that we care about one another.