Allegiance Group Achieves HITRUST CSF® Certification

Allegiance Group Achieves HITRUST CSF Certification to Manage Risk, Improve Security Posture and Meet Compliance Requirements

HITRUST CSF Certification validates Allegiance Group is committed to meeting key regulations and protecting sensitive information.

HITRUST CSF Certified status demonstrates that the organization’s COLLECTPlus application has met key regulations and industry-defined requirements and is appropriately managing risk. This achievement places Allegiance Group in an elite group of organizations worldwide that have earned this certification. By including federal and state regulations, standards and frameworks, and incorporating a risk-based approach, the HITRUST CSF helps organizations address these challenges through a comprehensive and flexible framework of prescriptive and scalable security controls.

“Organizations, like ours, are under great pressure to meet complex compliance requirements that include technical and process elements such as HIPAA, NIST, ISO and COBIT,” said Anne Orrick, COO, Allegiance Group. “HITRUST CSF is the gold-standard that needs to be met. Allegiance Group is pleased to be able to demonstrate its commitment by achieving HITRUST CSF Certification.”

“The HITRUST CSF has become the information protection framework for the health care industry. The CSF Assurance program is bringing a new level of effectiveness and efficiency to third-party assurance,” said Ken Vander Wal, Chief Compliance Officer, HITRUST. “The HITRUST CSF Certification is now the benchmark that organizations required to safeguard PHI are measured against with regards to information protection.”

3 Steps to a Stronger Collection Policy

A written collection policy sets the tone for how you extend credit and collect outstanding balances. It should outline the company’s procedures on a variety of topics such as what information to collect from a patient upfront and how to set up a payment plan. Most importantly, you should publish, train to and abide by the rules that the collection policy sets.

You’ll also want to think about how often you will contact a patient who has an outstanding balance and when to write off if it remains unpaid. The policy should follow the collective culture of your organization and define the workflow of who will complete which tasks throughout the process.

1. Observe the “C’s” of Patient Collections: Clear and Compassionate

Treat every patient the same way – and most importantly, provide clear details so your team can focus on their health and well-being. The conversations can be more about details surrounding co-insurance and payment arrangements.

This isn’t to say that collections of these dollars should be ignored – our goal is to urge you to standardize the way you deal with each patient – and publish the rules. Our experience over the years has shown that these types of actions will both increase your internal team’s confidence in collections and the clarity with which patients work with the organization.

2. Understand the way that Patient AR affects Days Sales Outstanding

We all know that collecting ‘more’ equals greater collections, but all HME providers aren’t affected the same way by their policy. You need to evaluate the type of business you do and the effort involved with chasing down patient balances.

Continue reading 3 Steps to a Stronger Collection Policy →

NikoHealth Announces ISP Business Relationship with Allegiance Group

BBMK Technologies, the company that’s changing the home healthcare industry with its latest cloud-based solution NikoHealth, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Allegiance Group, a firm specializing in strategies to improve private pay collections in the home care and durable medical equipment markets, as an integrated solution provider (ISP). Through this business relationship, NikoHealth will offer the users of its homecare software solutions access to COLLECTPlus^TM, a billing service product offering offered by Allegiance Group. COLLECTPlus will provide NikoHealth customers access to proprietary private pay billing collections solutions. It will enable its users to achieve better financial results.

“This relationship will complement the services offered by NikoHealth in the HME/DME market,” said Michael Kutsak, NikoHealth’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are really excited about the new integration of these products. They will provide our customers additional tools to further improve their financial position,” added Kutsak.

“By integrating COLLECTPlus and NikoHealth’s innovative patient management solutions, both companies agree the collaboration will increase productivity. Our providers can capture more of private pay dollars more efficiently and cost effectively,” said Bruce Gehring. Gehring is SVP, Business Development Manager for Allegiance Group.

About BBMK Technologies

BBMK Technologies is a healthcare technology-focused firm that looks to provide a deep, effective and long-term approach to changing the healthcare industry. Its aim is to create a valuable eco-system of healthcare delivery models built on the backbone of new application development. Its innovations rose from the desire to make life easier for all involved in healthcare including patients and healthcare organizations.

Maximizing DME Cash Collections in 2018

High deductibles, larger copays and HSAs have grown A/R portfolios. How do you slow down the growth? Learn the ratios to track and which processes will help you recover your A/R balances faster, reduce your collection costs and improve staff productivity. Join “Maximizing DME Cash Collections in 2018: 5 Ways to Grow Cash and ROI”

You will learn tips on how to:
• Assess your A/R portfolio’s health
• Establish and introduce financial policies to help your company
• Monitor your progress
• Implement a new culture

Software Companies at Medtrade Spring 2018

Bruce Gehring, svp, was a contributer to the Medtrade article – Software Companies at Medtrade Spring 2018.

“Medtrade Spring attendees already know that ruthlessly efficient billing/reimbursement software (in-house or outsourced) is essential in 2018. Providers looking to upgrade or switch their billing system will have an amazing chance to sample, see and speak with representatives from several companies. Medtrade Spring convenes March 27-29, 2018, at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas.”

“For those…who may be pondering registration, advance rates are still in effect. In part two of its software spotlight, Medtrade Monday again spoke with additional exhibiting software companies to get a feel for what Medtrade Spring attendees can expect when the show starts on March 27 (Expo Floor opens March 28).”
Read full article in Medtrade

See you there! Allegiance Group will be exhibiting in Booth 655!

Choosing your private pay billing partner wisely

(as published in HME News)

Are you struggling trying to collect your private pay balances?

If so, you are not alone. Outstanding private pay balances can create
problems for business small and large. Your staff gets too busy to
mail statements or make collection calls. And in the back of your
mind you know the longer a balance goes unpaid, the harder it will be
to collect. Where can you turn for help?

Read the full article on page 7 in HME News

Live Webinar: Selecting a Private Pay Billing and Collections Partner

Are you struggling trying to collect your private pay balances?
Do you focus your limited staff resources on the higher private pay balances?
Are some of your patient balance not getting the attention they deserve?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may want to consider a billing and collection partner to help you with your outstanding balances.

Join our webinar on December 12 at 10:30 CT to learn the Five Steps to Hiring a Billing & Collections Partner.

Discover questions you can ask in each step as you assess your need and research a partner, so you can make the right choice for your organization.

Learn how a partner can help you accelerate the billing and collection process so you recover your A/R balances faster, educe your collection costs and improve staff productivity.

Register now!

Medtrade17 – Poising for Growth!

Exhibiting at Medtrade17 is an exciting time, especially when it is your first show in Atlanta. Although I heard the show was smaller than in the past, it is an impressive conference. The variety of vendors and products gave me a better understanding of how providers help their patients. By attending some of the sessions, I learned about the impact congress can have on the industry and how competitive bidding has changed the landscape.

Watching the exhibit area, I viewed attendees consulting with experts about industry trends, examining new products, discussing management practices—the list goes on and on. The owners and managers were in a different mindset. They are taking a break from their daily responsibilities to focus on their strategic plans. With their SWOT in the back of their mind, they were pondering topics from the growth projections in the HME industry and the continued impact of high deductible health plans to reimbursement cuts to reducing DSO and increasing staff productivity.

The Experts

Although the attendees were in research mode, they may not have realized they are also experts. They are the best of the best, surviving the volatile environment HME. These experts led their business through some tough times and now they are poising their companies for growth. They are streamlining workflows, expanding their retail floors, meeting with investors, outsourcing processes and fine-tuning their compliance procedures. They are forging the future of the industry by embracing technology and banding together to make an impact at CMS.

It was invigorating to collaborate with these owners and managers – the forward thinkers of HME– listening to their visions, hearing them describe the solutions they need to grow and brainstorming the new product features to help them reach their goals. They see the light at the end of the tunnel. They want to be ready to take advantage of the new opportunities. Their enthusiasm is contagious, and I am looking forward to an exciting future in this industry.

Sharon Bock, Marketing Manager

Opportunities Abound at 2017 HME News Business Summit

The 2017 HME News Business Summit prides itself as the premier education event for HME leaders and this year’s Summit certainly lived up to the expectation. The Summit provided countless chances to better understand the trends in the industry from the HME owners’ point of view.

From the Welcome Gathering on Sunday to the Financial Benchmark Survey on Tuesday, there were a variety of educational opportunities — participating in workshops and panel discussions, listening to industry experts and talking with owners one-on-one. Topics ranged from the Affordable Care Act and Medicare to business models focusing on manufacturer- and customer-based relationships to using automation to reduce costs.

Keynote Learnings

Our keynote speaker, Donald Carroll of Cleveland Clinic, explained how 80% of our healthcare determinants were outside of the US healthcare delivery system. Our health behaviors (diet, exercise), our social and economic factors (education, income) and our physical environment (quality of air and water) had a greater impact on our health than our access to care and the quality of care we received. Carroll wondered if healthcare expanded into the other areas, could we create a true public health system.

“Population Health,” which is the process of strategically and proactively managing a patient’s care while reducing costs, is a new buzzword in the industry. Can we achieve population health by coordinating the efforts of pharmacies, fitness centers, imaging centers, surgery centers, hospitals and recovery facilities? The end goal would be improving the patient’s experience of care by treating them at home as much as possible. Carroll proposed that the first step toward Population Health might be shifting reimbursement from a volume-based to a value-based model with the role of the provider receiving payment based on a patient’s outcomes. By managing the care continuum through all of the patient’s touch points, the provider can provide personalized care that transcends time and physical location which may help control the cost of care long term.

2017 HME New/SRA Financial Benchmarking Survey Learnings

The Summit concluded with its state of the industry presented by Rick Glass of Steven Richards & Associates. The HME industry has changed greatly over the last several years, and is continuing to evolve–we have fewer, but larger players. The reason Glass explained, “Profitability shrank from 12% to 10% and growth slowed marginally over last year, as providers continue to focus on improving efficiency of operations.” He does not see this trend reversing since providers continue to struggle with reduced reimbursements. Glass shared that of survey responders, 23% of the providers are focusing on efficiency, productivity and reducing costs.

Reflecting on the summary of the industry overview, I was glad to reaffirm that Allegiance Group is part of the solution. Our signature product, COLLECTPlus^TM, can free your staff from the billing and collection process so they can focus on retail sales and other activities to grow your business.

I look forward to next year’s Summit!

Bruce Gehring, SVP Business Development

More Optimism at Medtrade Spring

According to the organizers of Medtrade Spring, the industry outlook is moving from cautious optimism to optimism. As we were talking to attendees, we could hear the optimism in their voices.

We know the HME/DME industry is continuing to change. Today, HME/DME is a $46.5 billion industry. It is projected to grow to more than $60 billion by 2020 according to Harris Williams & Co. In 2010, one in ten companies only offered High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs) to employees, Last year, one out of three only offered HDHP plans. This means private pay portion in the HME industry will continue to rise. By 2020, the industry expects to nearly 37% of the industry’s A/R to come through private pay. Business owners need to be prepared for this change. We were happy to demonstrate how technology and automation can help them incorporate best practices in their private pay collection process.

Medtrade provided many opportunities for attendees to learn about new products and ideas–the exhibits, the panels, the discussions. We heard both presenters and attendees enjoyed the new panel format for some of the educational sessions. The interaction of the panelists brought a new dimension to the session. Allegiance Group was proud to sponsor Andrea Stark, one of the panel presenters at two of the educational sessions.

We want to thank Medtrade for providing us the opportunity to meet with so many HME providers at this conference.

We look forward to Atlanta!