Business of Neurology Resident Rotation

Target Audience: Neurology residents in their third or fourth year of study.
Rotation: A five to ten-day rotation arranged and coordinated by the student and participating practice.

This program will place a participate in a practice where they learn about Medicare and Medicaid plans, laws and benefits; coding rules; billing and payment processes for patients; physician payment plans—along with other areas as they relate to a practice. It is a “behind the scenes” look at what it means to run a practice.

Application


Participating Practices:

Yessar Hussain, MD (Austin)
David Evans, CEO- Texas Neurology  (Dallas)
Ann Bass, MD (San Antonio)
Bill Gilmer, MD (Houston)

Goals & Objectives:

1. The resident will learn about Medicare Plans A,B, and D, as well as Medicare Replacement Plans and MACRA. (SBP, MK, PC)
2. The resident will review the Texas Medicaid laws and benefits. (SBP, MK, PC)
3. The resident will review and know what the Stark Law, the Sunshine Act and OSHA requirements are. (SBP, MK, PC, Pro)
4. In addition, the resident will understand what a RVU and Work RVU are, and how these are used in physician payment plans.  (SBP, MK, Pro)
5. The resident will review the CMS Coding Rules for E/M Codes, and how these affect charges and reimbursement.  As part of this, the resident will code some example notes.  The impact of EHRs on this will also be reviewed. (SBP, MK, Pro)
6. The resident will learn about the billing cycle, including how charges are sent, what are fee schedules, what clearing houses are, how payments are received, the use of EOBs to verify that the appropriate payments have been obtained for each charge, and how to protest non-payment or wrong payment of charges. (SBP, IPC, PBL, PC, Pro)
7. The resident will review the most recent AAN Physician Compensation Survey results to learn an overview of different neurology practice data. (SBP, MK, Pro)
8. The resident will understand the difference in MGMA and AAMC compensation surveys. (SBP, MK, Pro)
9. The resident will understand the importance of patient flow in the clinic, including appointments, reception, rooming, collection of co-pays, and other issues. (SBP, MK, Pro, IPC)
10. The resident will review different types of office overhead, including employee salaries, rent, computers/IT, EHRs, and others. (SBP, Pro)
11. The resident will know about different types of malpractice coverage and claim limits, the impact of Texas Tort Reform, as well as cost. (SBP, Pro)

SBP = Systems Based Practice
IPC = Interpersonal and Communications Skills
PBL = Practice Based Learning and Improvement
MK = Medical Knowledge
PC = Patient Care
Pro = Professionalism

Resources

Practice Settings and Contract Negotiations - Eddie Patton, Jr., MD, MBA, MS, FAAN (Download PowerPoint)
CPT Process, Coding, and Reimbursement Resources | AAN
Need coding resources? | American Medical Association (ama-assn.org)
MGMA website: https://www.mgma.com/resources
American College of Physicians
https://www.ama-assn.org/residents-students/transition-practice/physician-employee-partner-or-owner-3-paths-young-doctors
Steps Forward Private Practice Playbook