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2018 CPC Practice Exam Answer Key 150 Questions With Full Rationale (HCPCS, ICD-9-CM, ICD-10, CPT Codes) Click here for more sample CPC practice exam questions with Full Rationale Answers

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Hospitals Buying Up Physicians and Practices

Physicians and practices are being snatched up by hospitals at an ever increasing rate, according to an advocacy group and as consulting company, and this may have an impact on medical coding in around 80,000 hospital-owned practices. Hospitals Racing to Acquire Data compiled by Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) and consulting company Avalere Health indicates hospitals […]

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Buying in Bulk – Choosing Medical Scrubs For Your Staff

You have been given the task of choosing the new uniform supplier for your entire company.  Where do you even begin?  There are about a million medical scrubs companies from which to choose.  Whether your staff is made up of just a few or a few hundred, deciding upon what they will be wearing to work is not an easy task, nor is it something that should be taken lightly.  First, let’s take into consideration the type of medical practice.  For example, if you are working in a pediatric office or hospital, you might want to find a company that will supply bright, happy colors or offer prints with popular characters.  If you are working in elderly care, that same company is probably not a good choice unless they offer more subtle prints.  Once you have decided which type of apparel is best suited for your practice, you can narrow down your suppliers through the Internet.  The Internet is a wonderful tool for purchasing scrubs online and for researching what each company has to offer.  You can access company information, reviews, prices, quality guarantees, group discounts, shipping estimates, and much more.  To begin, choose five companies from your search.  Be sure to visit each supplier’s website and browse through their selection.

For example purposes only, let’s pretend that you work for an OB/GYN practice and are in charge of purchasing every nurses uniform as well as the doctors, assistance, and front desk.  After evaluating your options and taking the size and style of the staff members into consideration, you have decided that a solid color will be best.  However, so as not to make the office look too drab, you have decided on two colors:  one for the doctors and the other color for the rest of the staff.  Being in an OB office, a solid pink and a solid blue would be appropriate.

Now that you have decided upon the type of scrubs you need, now you can look at the staff.  Like every office, there is a combination of people.  You have a male doctor, a few female doctors – one who is older and thin, one who is young and very tall, and one who is very ‘Plain Jane’ and shows no interest in fashion.  Then, there are the nurses which are likely good combination of skin tones and colors, hair colors, body types, and style preferences.  First, you will obviously need to make sure that the company you consider  offers both men’s and women’s medical wear.  Second, let’s make sure that the uniforms they do offer are not too limited.  For example, not all of us want an elastic waist that’s actually at our waist.  But then, not all of us want our scrubs to sit at our hips, either.   A good variety is best.  However, with variety, you will need to make sure that the same fabric color and thread across the board.  You would not want the women who are wearing, for example,  Urbane tops to be mis-matched if they chose Dickies bottoms. 

After you have verified that your colors will match among styles, you should contact the company to see if they are willing to offer a bulk discount for your office.  If they are not willing, then you may not want to be willing to purchase from them.  While you are communicating with the uniform supplier, you should as questions such as prices on shipping, if they will offer free shipping for a bulk order, if they have any items on backorder, if the scrubs that you want to order will be offered for a long period of time or if they are a limited offer.  If you need to order more uniforms in the future for new employees, how easy will this be?  You should also weigh the benefit of working with a small company versus the benefit of ordering from a larger manufacturer.  Small companies will probably work harder to make you happy, but larger companies may have more of a supply, which makes future orders a little easier. 

Once you establish an account, you should be able to order any item at any time with your initial discount.  Also, if your practice needs embroidery or their logo monogrammed on the scrub tops, you can ask if the company who will be supplying your office’s uniforms if they provide the service or if they can recommend someone.  If not, it should not be too difficult to find a local facility to add the company logo and/or the employee’s names.

For larger companies who are ordering for hundreds or thousands of employees across many cities and/or states, there are a few more thoughts to consider, such as individual shipping, the ability for the employees to order directly from the web and still receive a discount, special orders for those who are oddly proportioned (some people really are 7 ft tall – be sure that this company can accommodate that), etc.  Hopefully, these few tips will make ordering for your office a little less stressful and will help avoid future problems with ordering from the same supplier. 

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Tips For Buying Used Medical Supplies

Buying medical supplies and equipment such as wheelchairs, walkers, oxygen machines, stair lifts, rising beds, and others can be a costly expense when not covered by your health insurance company. However, many of these items are necessary and can greatly help improve your quality of life. For some, one alternative to buying these items new is to purchase them second hand, which can save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

When you are purchasing used medical supplies, you will want to make sure that your safety and well being remains a priority. Following these helpful tips below will help you minimize any potential risks you may encounter when buying something used.

1. Do Your Research: It is important that you carefully research the item you are interested in. Searching online and reading various news reports can help you learn if other consumers have had any experience or problems with that particular make and model as well as if there have been any manufacturer recalls. Doing this will help ensure the item you are choosing has no known defects and it’s durability, which will be important since it is likely it will no longer be covered under warranty.

2. Inspect it Carefully: You should always do a thorough inspection of any item you choose to buy second hand. This will help you determine the condition of the item and overall quality of materials. Checking for rust, loose or missing pieces and parts, and testing it out will help you identify problems. If in doubt, have the item inspected by a qualified technician or consider finding the item elsewhere.

3. Buy From a Reputable Source: There are many authorized dealers who sell refurbished supplies and equipment. These vendors are often required to ensure that the item meets certain quality standards. You can also check online to see if these sellers have ever had any complaints filed against them. If you are purchasing items from an individual, getting as much information about them as possible can help as well.

When buying health care items, your safety should be a primary concern. By researching your product, giving it a thorough inspection, and buying from reputable sources you can great minimize your risks as a buyer as well as find the items you need at a fraction of the cost.

B. Lewis is experienced in working with the elderly and disabled. Visit his website for more information about stair lifts and other resources for mobility products.

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Rehabilitation Equipment For Medical Centers Buying Guide

Many folks don’t realize that rehabilitation equipment for medical centers requires some special thought behind the buying decision. Deciding what commercial fitness equipment you are going to use, what programs of rehabilitation you are going to offer.

The average ages of the individuals that will be using the fitness equipment because there is a difference in exercise equipment. For instance there is a fitness machine called the Lamar Stridewell 4450 that is incredibly easy to use from an entry and exit standpoint. Meaning getting in and out of the machine is very easy plus you get a low impact full body workout.

Opting for commercial equipment rather than home gym equipment will be a better decision as well because the commercial equipment is designed to take the rigors of a full professional health club facility, a rehabilitation clinic would most likely demand the same exercise performance. The only difference between a commercial and a home gym piece of equipment is the design of the equipment which the reflects the difference in pricing. A commercial grade fitness machine will run thousands and thousands of dollars while a home gym a few hundred.

Working in a rehabilitation center the equipment will most likely be asked to hold up to the same strenuous regimen of a full scale health club. For a rehabilitation center to save some costs without sacrificing quality they should look to the used exercise equipment market. They will find gym equipment that is as good or better than brand new equipment and save 50% or more on their exercise equipment, just make sure you talk to their customer service department, they have a good reputation, been in the industry for at least 5 years and have their own used exercise equipment repair service.

By looking into the used exercise equipment market the rehabilitation centers can get the rehabilitation equipment they need to add to their center to meet the growing needs of their patients.

Bill Jones is an avid self proclaimed fitness equipment guru. Taking the time to understand the Rehabilitation Equipment market. To see what company he personally recommends visit http://afsfit.com for quality commercial quality fitness equipment plus used exercise equipment repair service and more.

Pros and Cons of Buying Refurbished Medical Equipment

Buying refurbished medical equipment does not necessarily mean sacrificing on quality. In fact, the biggest differences between new and refurbished medical equipment are the price and the amount of work involved in finding a good deal. Buying refurbished equipment can save you sometimes over 50% of what you’d normally pay for brand new equipment. Buying refurbished medical equipment is especially popular among doctors setting up small practices.

Nearly every piece of equipment you can find new, you can also find used and refurbished at a lower price. Everything from IV poles to ultrasound machines. If a medical device has been refurbished it means that a group of highly trained medical technicians have worked on it and restored it to the best possible condition before it was put back on the market. It means it was fixed if it needed fixing, and that old parts that needed replacing were replaced, so that it now works just as well as any new device you can find. Going for refurbished medical equipment means you can find high end, durable devices at sometimes half the price.

So why would someone opt to buy new? Well, for starters, with a new piece of medical equipment, you have more of a certainty that you know what you’re paying for. New equipment has a factory warranty and is guaranteed to work a certain way for a certain amount of time. You don’t have to shop around as much or worry about durability or quality. You just pay the money.

Now, you might be able to find a great warranty on a refurbished device. It’s just a matter of doing some research and checking out different dealers. Each refurbished medical equipment company will have its own warranty policies and guarantees. But if the extra work is worth the savings for you, then there’s no reason not to try buying refurbished medical devices for your practice.

Make sure to check out the refurbished equipment company’s background before you purchase from it. Look at their service and quality standards and look online for customer reviews.

For more information on used medical equipment and medical devices, please visit http://www.akwmedical.com

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Medical Billing Software: Buying Guide For Medical Professionals

The billing department is one important body of any business office. A single wrong billing computation can always lead to financial disaster. So how much more if you are running a huge medical office? Will you dare risk to commit a mistake? Well, the good news is today, medical billing software has already hit the marketplace to help you in this regard. With the advancement of technology, there will no more be time-consuming and tiring manual billing computations nowadays.

However, the fact that there are a lot of billing software coming in different option features makes it hard for many to choose which one is the best for them. Though generally it can truly be such a good option, one should still be aware where to start the purchase for a perfect one. Here is your buying guide to profitable and reliable medical billing software:

Know all features you need. One key to finding the right software for you is to list all necessary billing features needed in your office. For instance, get only the billing software with the best features in addressing most of your office needs that can be adjusted to your current office system. Also, cross out the software with unnecessary extra features.

Evaluate office systems. You may also not want software that will not suit your office current system or something that will not improve your office practices. Doing this will let you know which part of your business requires help from this software and likewise will let you know which software to choose.

Pick one that is comprehensive. To narrow down your list of software, you have to make software comprehensiveness a consideration. Make sure that your choice can do the files electronically and can work the billing to clients directly and fatly without taking too much stress and effort from you. Furthermore, you can add software that has record maintenance, SOAP notes, insurance claims, and the like to your options.

Yes, having medical billing software at your own office is indeed both vital and beneficial in terms of profit and ease of work. However, this can only give you most of its benefits if your pick is right and best for you. So why waste too much time, money, and effort with your old non-high technology billing system if there is a more rewarding software system that will take care of your entire offices billing needs?

Never let yourself be frustrated by buying wrong medical billing software for your office. Be guided by some reliable tips and shop only at Medical Billing Software website. There is a lot of billing software out there but there is only one specific kind that will give you most of what you need. Make sure you only go for the one that will suit best to your office system and surely, you will have the best pick.

Medical Billing Software

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