By Reed Tinsley, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC   Tax reform has had a significant impact on the tax deductions you can now claim for business entertainment and meals.  The new tax law also eliminated business deductions for entertainment. As a result, no deduction is allowed with respect to: (1) an activity generally considered to be entertainment, amusement or recreation; (2) membership dues with respect to any club organized for business, pleasure, recreation or other social purposes; or...

By Reed Tinsley, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC   One of the most frequent comments I hear once the identity of an embezzler is confirmed is that he or she is “the last person I could imagine stealing.” Their surprise is understandable. We all have preconceptions about how criminals look, dress, speak, and act. Our mental image of the criminal is shaped by what we see on the news, TV dramas and by direct observation in...

By Reed Tinsley, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC Focus on these hotspots to reduce audit risk. Even if your physician practice puts the strongest policies in place to prevent compliance missteps, a payer audit is always possible. If your practice performs regular self-audits, however, it could reduce anxiety about auditors at your door. Self-audits are one of the most important tasks for practices. Performing self-audits can also help you uncover the reasons behind revenue losses, claim...

By Reed Tinsley, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC Get the most out of patient input by offering feedback options via several methods. Every medical practice wants to know how to serve their patients better, and many use the patient satisfaction survey to see how they’re doing. Though the pencil-and-paper (or digital) patient satisfaction survey is the tried-and-true method, it should only be one way in which you gauge patient satisfaction. My experience with standard patient surveys...

By Reed Tinsley, CPA, CVA, CFP, CHBC Too many practices simply accept every available managed-care plan on the premise that something always beats nothing. Don’t be one of them. Your billing system probably contains some of the tools needed to truly evaluate the value a managed care contract can bring to your practice. Use the information from your billing system and a payer-performance table to evaluate whether a managed care contract is truly worth your...