Lessons Learned from the Reimbursement Profile of a Mature Private Medical Toxicology Practice: Office-Based Practice Pays

We previously reported the financial data for the first 5 years of one of the author’s medical toxicology practice. The practice has matured; changes have been made. The practice is increasing its focus on office-based encounters and reducing hospital-based acute care encounters. We report the reimbursement rates and other financial metrics of the current practice. Financial records from October 2009 through September 2013 were reviewed. This is a period of 4 fiscal years and represents the currently available financial data. Charges, payments, and reimbursement rates were recorded according to the type and setting of the medical toxicology encounter: forensic consultations, outpatient clinic encounters, nonpsychiatric inpatient consultations, emergency department (ED) consultations, and inpatient psychiatric consultations. All patients were seen regardless of ability to pay or insurance status. The number of billed Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for office-based encounters increased over the study period; the number of billed CPT codes for inpatient and ED consultations reduced. Office-based encounters demonstrate a higher reimbursement rate and higher payments. In the fiscal year (FY) of 2012, office-based revenue exceeded hospital-based acute care revenue by over $140,000 despite a higher number of billed CPT encounters in acute care settings, and outpatient payments were 2.39 times higher than inpatient, inpatient psychiatry, observation unit, and ED payments combined. The average payment per CPT code was higher for outpatient clinic encounters than inpatient encounters for each fiscal year studied. There was an overall reduction in CPT billing volume between FY 2010 and FY 2013. Despite this, there was an increase in total practice revenue. There was no change in payor mix, practice logistics, or billing/collection service company. In this medical toxicology practice, office-based encounters demonstrate higher reimbursement rates and overall payments compared to inpatient and ED consultations. While consistent with our previous studies, these differences have been accentuated. This study demonstrates the results of changes to the practice—reduced inpatient/ED consultations and increased outpatient encounters. These practice changes resulted in higher overall revenue despite a lower patient volume. In this analysis, the office-based practice of medical toxicology has higher reimbursement rates, nearly 2.5 times higher, when compared to hospital-based acute care consultations.     

National Priority Setting of Clinical Practice Guidelines Development for Chronic Disease Management

By November 2013, a total of 125 clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) have been developed in Korea. However, despite the high burden of diseases and the clinical importance of CPGs, most chronic diseases do not have available CPGs. Merely 83 CPGs are related to chronic diseases, and only 40 guidelines had been developed in the last 5 yr. Considering the rate of the production of new evidence in medicine and the worsening burden from chronic diseases, the need for developing CPGs for more chronic diseases is becoming increasingly pressing. Since 2011, the Korean Academy of Medical Sciences and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been jointly developing CPGs for chronic diseases. However, priorities have to be set and resources need to be allocated within the constraint of a limited funding. This study identifies the chronic diseases that should be prioritized for the development of CPGs in Korea. Through an objective assessment by using the analytic hierarchy process and a subjective assessment with a survey of expert opinion, high priorities were placed on ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, Alzheimer''s disease and other dementias, osteoarthritis, neck pain, chronic kidney disease, and cirrhosis of the liver.     

《临证指南医案》痹证用药特点分析

目的探讨《临证指南医案》痹证用药特点。方法 运用数据挖掘技术统计药物使用频次、性味归经并进行关联规则、聚类、复杂网络分析等。结果 筛选出83首处方,共涉及中药125味，使用频次前5位依次为桂枝、茯苓、白术、当归、苦杏仁，功效类别以补虚药为主，性味以甘温最多，归经主要涉及肺、脾、肝、心、肾、胃；关联规则得到10对常见组合，高频中药聚为4类，复杂网络分析得到1个核心组合。结论 叶氏常从络病角度治痹，或通、或补、或通补皆施，重视肺脾，注重调和气血营卫，擅长通补奇经治法。     

探讨创新管理理念下医院管理的方法与实践

目的分析创新管理理念下医院管理的方法与实践工作。方法对创新管理理念组和常规管理组进行回顾性分析,比较两组的医疗服务效果。结果创新管理理念组在医疗质量、医技水平、服务水平、就医环境、医风医德的总体评分以及医护人员满意度上均优于常规管理组。结论切合医院实际创新的内部管理理念,能够提升医院的服务质量,提高医院的竞争力。