The Illinois State Medical Society is set to offer practice management services to its more than 12,000 physician members.
ISMS has entered into an agreement with Watertown, Mass.-based athenahealth, Inc., to provide athenaCollector at a discounted rate. athenaCollector is a physician revenue cycle management offering that integrates Web-based practice management software, updated payer knowledge and back-office processing specialists.
"We are thrilled the ISMS has selected athenahealth and they should be applauded for realizing that the number one challenge facing their member physicians is dealing with the tangled web of insurance rules that dictate the format and content - as well as the submission and remittance guidelines - of medical claims," said Nancy Brown, senior vice president of business development and government affairs for athenahealth.
ISMS physicians will be provided with athenahealth's proprietary payer and clinical rules engine, athenaRules, a real-time database of payer rules and regulations with new rules being continuously added.
"One of ISMS' goals is to help our members improve their practices' financial and business operations," said Shastri Swaminathan, MD, president of ISMS. "As we evaluated various healthcare technology vendors, it became clear that athenahealth has taken a leadership role in this endeavor through their unique Web-based service offerings. We are confident in athenahealth's ability to provide accurate, efficient and cost-effective on-demand business services for Illinois physicians."
ISMS officials say the technology will deliver faster reimbursement, increased revenue and improved practice workflow and operations.
"As a solo physician practice, I am confident using athenahealth's billing and collection system, which has improved my collections by about 10 percent over the past two years and reduced my Days in Account Receivable from 60 days down to 30," said Steven Diamond, MD, a family physician based in Rockford, Ill., and an Illinois State Medical Society member.
"I am pleased that athenahealth has alleviated some administrative duties by providing me with a completely transparent Web-based billing and collections process so that I can focus on what is really important for my practice, which is providing quality medical care to my patients," he added.
