Mine the Gold of High-Reimbursement Preferred Provider Panels Establishing the right contracts with the appropriate payers involves adapting how you think about your business. Business in general has demonstrated that traditional wisdom is no longer a guaranteed way to increase revenues. The following ideas offer opportunities for improving your balance sheet. Improve revenues with effective contracting What payers have you chosen to contract with? Most physicians miss out on significant revenues because of misunderstanding the Preferred Provider contracting game. The average physician contracts with the most popular payers (insurance carriers, HMOs, etc.) in their community. The expectation is that these highly recognizable Preferred Provider panels will generate the most revenue for the practice. These payers often do attract a high number of patients, with one catch—these payers are typically the lowest paying panels in the community. In addition, they may insure only 20% to 30% of the patients in the community. You do have other options. Over 20,000 payers exist in the United States. Matching your location with their customer demographics can really boost your revenues. Included in this group are insurance carriers, HMOs, self-insured employers, union benefit plans and discount programs. Look beyond the best-known payers in your area to improve profitability. Improve revenues with a diverse patient mix What is the perfect mix of patients, payers, and reimbursement rates for your practice? Diversifying investments is a well-known strategy leading to success. The same strategy can march straight to your bottom line. Perhaps you’ve heard the old adage, "I’m loosing money, but I will make it up in volume." In medicine, as in other professions, this method of doing business eventually results in failure. Limited sources of income result in a greater threat of loss. A practice built on only a few payers is vulnerable. The carrier may not renew your contract. You may be forced to accepted renegotiated, lower rates. The carrier may discontinue coverage in your area. Contracting with the well-known providers is comparable to including Blue Chip stocks in a balanced investment plan. Seek diversity in the sources of your income by contracting with as many of the remaining 20,000 payers as possible. Becoming an HNA Preferred Provider—an easier path to a good income mix How can you easily contract with a better mix of payers? The Healthcare Networks of America panel can drastically improve the mix of income sources for your practice. Working independently, a practice might be able to obtain a small number of additional contracts from the 20,000 payers. HNA provides much more. You get access to 6300 payers and 15 million patients nationally. All HNA contracts pay reimbursement rates ranging from 70% to 80% of billed charges. Best of all, HNA takes care of the hard work for you including: locating payers, negotiating contracts on behalf of doctors, credentials physicians and servicing the contracts. HNA is your mutual-fund choice for revenue sources. HNA provides a good income mix that is hassle-free by taking the work out of interfacing with payers and letting you build your practice with high-reimbursement patients. HNA helps build your successful practice.