When negotiating contracts, look to the future

At the 12th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven Conference + Future of Spine in Chicago on June 13, speakers from Eveia Health Consulting & Management discussed payer negotiations for high-cost implants.

Advertisement

Amy Coletti, manager at Eveia, said to be sure to look at potential plans for the future when discussing contracts with payers. “If you’re going to approach a payer to renegotiate your contract, you need to look at what you’re doing now and what you’re planning on doing in the next three or six months,” Ms. Coletti said. “A payer doesn’t want to have a provider come and reopen a contract six months later. That’s administratively challenging.”

Additionally, Ms. Coletti said to be aware of high variation between contracts, no matter how similar facilities and arrangements may be. “If you’ve seen one contract, you’ve only really seen one contract.”

When discussing these contracts, Matt Kilton, Principal & COO at Eveia, suggested that providers share with payers as much data as possible when submitting proposals for reimbursement. He confirmed that implant costs, case costs and capital replacement expenditures are all critical to negotiating a good contract with payers. “It’s important to recognize your utilization, both current utilization and costs associated with that,” Mr. Kilton said. “Routinely it’s becoming more and more important to educate Payers with center specific data that support reimbursement proposals.”

More articles on ASC issues:
10 things to know about ophthalmology
8 critical healthcare law issues for ASCs
Supply management optimization: ASC challenges & solutions

At the Becker’s 32nd Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs, taking place October 29-31 in Chicago, ASC leaders, surgeons and healthcare executives will explore strategies to drive growth, enhance operational performance, navigate reimbursement challenges and prepare for the future of ambulatory surgery. Apply for complimentary registration now.

Register to Attend Webinar

Is ambulatory care healthcare’s big margin engine? 4 leaders weigh in

Wednesday, July 29
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM CDT

Presenters: Joe Ganley, athenahealthJeffrey Flynn, CASC, Gramercy Surgery CenterBryan Tsao, Access Center, Loma Linda University HealthJason Zepeda, Northridge Hospital Medical Center, CommonSpirit HealthGreg DeConciliis, PA-C, CASC, Boston Out­Patient Surgical Suites

Advertisement

Next Up in ASC Coding, Billing & Collections

Advertisement

Comments are closed.