I Was Injured On A Break At Work - Can I Make A Work Accident Compensation Claim?

People injured on a break at work, sounds crazy, but it happens much more then you think. Are they still able to make a work accident compensation claim? That is the question.

You would really need to know a lot more facts. Here are some of the questions you should ask.

For the record, I am not an attorney and this if for informational purposes only. If you are injured at work, no matter where, report it immediately.

Questions You Might Be Asked Or Ask Yourself

Company policies in these situations, in the area of the world you live and their laws regarding workplace injuries will have much to do with how something like this turns out.

Pertinent Questions

Is there a designated area for your breaks and were you in that area when the accident happened? What were you involved in doing when the injury took place? Was there a hazard like water that caused you to slip and fall or was there an uneven floor that caused you to trip? Were you and one of your friends involved in a little horse-play and was that the cause of your injury? Exactly how were you injured and what is the injury? This question is a little like the previous one, but this will probably be what it gets down to, the crux of the situation. Were you in violation of any other company policies such as smoking somewhere it is prohibited and were you injured by trying to avoid being caught? Is there anyone that can vouch for the fact that you were not violating any company policies, one that isn't a close friend? When did you report the injury, right away, if not, why not?

As I stated earlier, in many places it just won't matter what the circumstances surrounding the injury are because they take a broad view of the work place compensation laws and the claim would be paid. But there are other jurisdictions that look at this type of thing very differently and require accountability from workers to follow the company rules much more stringently. You are probably aware of how this would be viewed where you live.

If you have an injury at work always make it known and report it to the person responsible for such things such as a human resource person or your supervisor.

You could possibly be eligible for a work accident compensation claim.

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What Is Covered by Workers Compensation?

You probably already know that workers compensation covers injuries and diseases that might result from your job, but, when it comes time to claim, you will want to ensure that you know exactly what this type of insurance covers so that you do not get a nasty surprise once you have taken sick leave or paid off your medical expenses.

Injuries Caused "On the Job"

It is a well known fact that this insurance covers injuries that are obtained while you are at work, but did you know that it does not cover all injuries. According to the law in certain states, this compensation commission will only pay out when the injuries that were obtained were a result of the job itself. If you work in an auto shop and you got hit by a car on your lunch break, you might not get compensated for your injuries and this is why you need to know exactly what you are covered for and what you are not.

To find out what you are covered for, you can speak to the workers compensation branch in your area. You will need to describe your work environment and the type of job you are responsible for so that you can get an accurate description of the injuries that are covered and those that are not.

Occupational Diseases in the Work Place

Occupational diseases refer to those illnesses that are contracted as a direct result of your job. Asbestosis, an illness resulting from asbestos, is common among those that clean homes where this chemical is prevalent. In these instances, you can claim from your workers compensation for the work time lost and the medical expenses that were incurred as a direct result of your contact with this chemical. If you find that you have contracted an occupational disease and you would like to claim from the compensation commission, you will need to remember that you will have to prove that you have a disease that could have resulted from your work place.

Educating Yourself on Workers Compensation

It is important to take note of the injuries and illnesses that are covered by workers compensation so that you can claim, without any difficulties, in the event that you are injured or contract an illness as a direct result of your job. In order to claim successfully, you will need to ensure that you understand exactly what criteria needs to be met in order for an injury to be deemed as an "accident" within the work place, or you might end up losing work hours and paying for your medical bills yourself. Information regarding this type of insurance is available online and through a range of public forums to ensure that every employee is able to get their hands on the relevant information and use it to their advantage when the time comes to claim.

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How Long Do I Have To File A Work Accident Compensation Claim?

What if you were in an accident at work but you seemed okay at the time, but a few days later experienced medical problems? How long do you have to file a work accident compensation claim?

The Way It Should Be Done

In an idea world, whether you seemed okay or not at the time, you should be examined by a company or your own doctor after you have been involved in any mishap that could potentially harm you. This doesn't always happen, but it should.

The Way It Probably Will Be Done

If you start feeling things that you know aren't right and you think they are tied to your workplace accident:

Notify your supervisor as soon as possible. They will probably send you to see the company doctor to get an opinion as to the extent of your injuries and if they are related to the accident. Make sure that this incident is recorded in the companies accident book. Write down all that you remember about the accident if you didn't do this the day of the mishap. You need to get this down as you remember it before your memory fades.

What's Next?

The amount of time that has passed since the accident and your symptoms could be important if the problems that you are experiencing can not be tied directly to the work accident. If too much time intervenes, the employer may claim that something else in your life caused the problems that you are experiencing. And they may be able to make that stick.

The Moral Of The Story

If you have an accident at work, no matter how insignificant it may seem at the time, it is in your best interest to ask to be examined by the company's doctor and have the incident recorded in the company's accident book. Better safe then sorry if in the future you need to make a work accident compensation claim.

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TotalMD - The Advantages Of Using This Affordable Practice Management Software

I have been a medical biller and software trainer for 20 years. My clients want value for their money, so I am always on the lookout for better medical billing software with great features and a low price tag. We use several practice management systems in our billing service including Medisoft, AdvancedMD, and TotalMD. These are all great systems, but that hasn't stopped me from my quest for that perfect software. TotalMD has the same great price and ease of use as Medisoft does, however, it has some other advantages that are not as obvious.

Let's review the features that everyone wants:

Ease Of Use

Time is a precious commodity in a medical office or billing service and easy to use, intuitive software saves time. I like software features that do not require you to walk around the block to get next door. TotalMD foots the bill in this regard. It has all the features you need and is simple to use and requires very little training.

Great Price

TotalMD is very reasonably priced and does not require upgrades in order to obtain support. And just as important, the training and support fees are very reasonable.

Now, let's take a look at some other features that not all software users think of:

Great Technical Support

Everyone needs technical support once in a while and no one wants to spend a lot of time on the phone, on hold, waiting to resolve a problem. TotalMD is very responsive and really delivers in this area.

Remote Access

TotalMD is a desktop solution but it also offers an ASP model. Medical billing services will appreciate this flexibility because many of their clients want to share the data from any location.

Connectivity To Other Software

This is an important requirement that doesn't receive enough consideration and it is where TotalMD excels. The software provides integration on several levels which offers more choices to a practice or billing service.

Electronic Health Records

The connectivity to EHR (electronic health records) systems is really important. Unfortunately, some practices only discover this as a potential problem after they have already made a software purchase. TotalMD has free, built-in HL7 capability that allows it to integrate with or "talk to" popular EHR software like SpringCharts, Praxis, Amazing Charts, and others. What is HL7? It's a function that passes data elements from the practice management system to the EHR system. This important feature offers providers more choices in electronic health records software.

A medical office may like their practice management software, however, it may not integrate or link with the EHR of their choice, in which case, a third party HL7 (linking) software may be needed. Things can get complicated when two to three vendors are involved in coordinating installations and technical support. This may result in added expense and can be time consuming for the user.

Medical Coding Software & Other Add-Ons

TotalMD also intergrates seamlessly with several other well known products. You can look up CPT and diagnosis codes using Encoder Pro medical coding software. There is also credit card processing available by Intuit or X-Charge at very affordable rates. This service is a time saver because it works seamlessly with the software.

Electronic Processing

With TotalMD, electronic billing can be handled using any clearinghouse. The user is not limited in this respect. My favorite is the electronic remittance posting feature. You can download your 835 ERA files from ANY clearinghouse and post them with ease in TotalMD. Insurance verification is also a very valuable feature that can be integrated into the patient scheduler using either Gateway or Apex clearinghouses.

Document Manager

This is another well integrated product. If your electronic records requirements are minimal, TotalMD also has a very reasonably priced document manager. This easy-to-use software allows your office to organize, capture and store:

(1) patient insurance cards, driver's licenses and ID cards (2) patient signatures on your own financial, privacy and patient release forms (3) all printed documents (4) mail merge templates for letters and forms.

TotalMD is an all around great product and the vendor is a pleasure to work with. Affordability and ease of use are critical, however, technical support and product integration are also really high on my priority list, and TotalMD delivers.

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Cover Up the Excesses Through Medicare Supplement Insurance

The high cost of availing medical treatment can be effectively tackled with the benefits provided by medical insurance. But in most of the cases even after 80% coverage of medical expenses, people find it hard to pay off the remaining 20% owing to financial difficulties. In scenarios like these it is important to avail Medicare supplements insurance that can cover the gap that has been created by the medical insurance plans. Medicare supplement or Medigap as it is rightly called is a service that can deliver the right kind of benefits to the people while availing medical treatments.

Medicare supplements have a total of 12 insurance plans that take care of the specific needs of each medical condition. These 12 insurance plans are in addition to the Medicare type A and type B plans that cover the hospital and other after care expenses. Owing to Co-payments and deductibles, people have no other option but to pay the expenses which can leave a large dent in their savings.

Medical supplements insurance can bring the desired financial assistance for the people who seek the services of hospitals in order to restore their health condition back on track. The services of skilled nurses are also taken care through the support of these medical insurance schemes. Medical supplements covered in the plans from C to J can help in overseeing the nursing charges. In cases of foreign travel for medical treatments, insurance companies can oversee the costs so as to assure high quality medical assistance.

The medical supplements can come in handy to cover the expenses that fall under preventive care that is crucial in many serious ailments like cancer, heart diseases and renal failures. The charges for treatment can be covered by signing up for supplement insurance that can provide the necessary cost benefits to the patients.

With several plans that are available under medical supplement insurance schemes, patients can be covered for a large number of situations like home care, emergency ambulance services, deductions on medical services like regular tests and scans that need to be performed on the individual.

There are large numbers of people who still cannot afford the insurance policies and end up without having any basic access to the insurance schemes. Supplement insurance policies are very affordable and can be availed at the cheapest of the rates in order to help the needy to avail the best medical facilities.

Of all the basic services, insurance is surely one of the most desirable benefits that each and every individual should avail. In order to get the cheapest quotes on supplement insurance, individuals can sign up online and get the maximum support to meet the financial expenses incurred on medical treatments.

In the wake of growing significance of availing quality medical treatments, it is important to consider supplement insurance to stay hassle free and avoid financial burden that arises during the process. In order to make the most of the services, it is important to find out the best dealer who can provide the best rates.

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Hospital Plans Vs Medical Aid

When choosing between an entry-level hospital plan and a more comprehensive form of medical aid, cost is likely to be at the forefront of your mind. In an ideal world you wouldn't have to worry about the price of your medical aid, so that you could choose to have the best and most comprehensive plan available. The reality, though, is that you have a set income and other bills to pay, and if you have a family it can be even tougher to stretch your finances to pay for your medical aid coverage. Thus, you have to look into each type of plan and work out what you can afford.

A basic hospital plan will cover most day-to-day expenses incurred while you're in hospital. However, you could find that the plan doesn't cover certain aspects of your hospital stay. You may have to spend extra on receiving rehabilitative care or psychiatric treatment and the trouble is that when you're sick you are not always in a position to choose what kind of care you receive. Consequently, you could find yourself receiving treatment that you will end up having to pay out of your savings. Unfortunately, if you have no savings you could easily end up in debt.

A more comprehensive medical aid plan ensures that all sorts of services, treatments and facilities are open to you without you having to pay extra. Once you have a comprehensive medical aid plan you pay into it and can then claim back any money related to your hospital treatment. Depending on the type of plan you opt for, you could also have other medical expenses paid for that are not necessarily related to a hospital stay, such as trips to see your doctor or dentist and for medication that you have been prescribed.

Thus, the main benefit of choosing a comprehensive medical aid plan is that you don't have to worry about the future of your health, since it will be well taken care of if you were ever to develop a serious health problem, such as cancer, or injure yourself by breaking your leg, for instance, you won't have to worry about the financial side of your treatment. You won't have to rely on state healthcare facilities and you won't be left with mountains of debt after you leave hospital. The only trouble is that you have to pay more in terms of your monthly contributions.

If you have a large family and you want your spouse and children to be covered, as well as yourself, a significant proportion of your salary could end up going towards your healthcare provision. There is a great deal of uncertainty about the future and you never know what is going to happen. For all you know, you and your whole family could remain in perfect health, leading you to question whether a medical aid plan is really worth it. However, there is also a chance that someone could require emergency treatment, in which case it is important to have that protection there.

Ultimately, the chances are that whether you choose a basic hospital plan or a more comprehensive form of medical aid will depend on your financial situation, because if money isn't an issue you may decide to go with the plan that covers everything.

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Medical Coding Education - General Job Description

A medical coding specialist is someone who works in a hospital, clinic or office. They provide support and submit medical claims to insurance companies to make sure the hospital or doctor are paid for the services they provided to patients. This article will give you a breakdown of the overall responsibilities of a medical coder.

As a professional in the healthcare industry, it is important that you do everything in your power to learn as much about the medical insurance field. By taking courses and getting a medical coding education, you should have no problem grasping the basic knowledge of the field. Medical coding and billing is a pretty straight-forward job and once you learn the basics, the rest will come naturally. This is a field that will have very little change over the years, especially with most of the work now being done by advanced medical billing software.

Medical coders deal directly with private insurance companies and various government agencies who pay medical claims such as Medicare for example. The medical coding department is solely responsible for the collection of co-payments from patients directly by calling them and offering billing options. Responsibilities will also include,administrative duties, verifying signatures, keeping up to date on insurance policies and the latest information. A major benefit of being a medical coder is that you have the ability to work from home or at the very least work on different shifts. This can be very beneficial if you have a family or need to be flexible. However, to work from home, you will have to prove to the company that your are up to par and able to manage yourself. It is easier said than done in most cases. Another skill you may require to do is bookkeeping. Sometimes, especially in offices and private practices, you will have to wear different hats as you are working in a smaller outfit. This line of work is not very different from the medical coding itself but it really helps to know as it makes you more valuable.

Becoming a medical coder is a great career choice and provides you with job stability in a rapidly expanding industry. As mentioned above the salary range can only go higher as the healthcare industry is growing faster as the baby boomers retire. If you are good on the phone and have solid "attention-to-detail" skills, this field is one to consider.

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An Introduction to Medicare in the United States

In the United States, health care can be incredibly expensive and in many cases, only gets more expensive with age and for those who have preexisting conditions. Since the nineteen-sixties, the federal government has been providing assistance for seniors through the Medicare Program, which is a type of socialized health insurance, significantly increasing the number of insured seniors in the U.S.

Medicare is an insurance program that is run by the Federal Government, with the primary goal being providing health insurance to seniors over the age of sixty-five. It is part of the Social Security program and was first established in 1965.

The main requirements for receiving Medicare is that the individual is over sixty-five and has been a United States resident legally for at least five years. Providing the recipient, or their spouse, has paid into the Federal Medicare System for at least ten years, as part of payroll taxes, only a limited monthly premium may be required. Otherwise, if the insured has not paid payroll taxes, they will have a higher monthly premium.

While the main intention is to provide health care to seniors in an affordable manner, some other individuals are also covered by Medicare. For example, those who are disabled may qualify for Medicare, primarily if they have an advanced kidney disease or Lou Gehrigs disease.

Medicare benefits can be rather extensive and can cover a number of conditions and instances. For example, most doctor's visits, as well as emergency care is covered, as well as things like glasses, canes, and wheelchairs, which are considered durable medical equipment. There are, of course, some restrictions on all of these items and in some instances, a co-payment required. As an example, while assisted living is often covered, the nursing home is required to meet federal guidelines and be classified as a skilled facility.

Within the past twenty years, private insurance has also entered the Medicare industry, with alternatives to the federal medicare program being available. These plans, which are called Medicare Advantage Plans, must meet a number of federal regulations and are federally funded, but the actual program is run by private insurance companies.

Medicare Advantage Plans can offer some advantages, but it is important to be careful choosing one and compare their plans to what is provided by traditional Medicare. While they must meet federal guidelines, they are given leeway to choose how to meet it, so might have a higher premium for something like extended nursing care, while offering less expensive prescription medicine.

Another recent change for Medicare is the improved coverage of prescription medicine. Prior to 2006, Medicare's coverage of prescription medicine left something to be desired and, as a result, a bill was passed to expand care. Now, Medicare recipients are able to apply for a privately run prescription medicine plan, designed to cover the cost of most prescription medicine.

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What Is Medicare And How Can Such An Insurance Type Help?

Nowadays, the cost of medical, pharmaceutical and insurance are getting very expensive. By the time you reach the age of 65 and above especially when you are planning to retire at this age, handling the costs for these medical related needs may not be that convenient. In order to address this, the government is advising the senior citizens to enrol in a Medicare Supplement known as Medigap policy.

Medicare is a medical program run by the federal government. If you are covered by Medicare, your medical expenses of with regards to doctor's visit, hospital stays, medicines and other medical treatment. But before you can avail of this, you must be first fit the qualification. If you are an American citizen or at least 5 years residence in the US whose age is 65 or above, you are qualified to avail of this type of insurance. Also, younger people might also be eligible for this type of insurance if one has a qualifying disability such as Lou Gehirg's disease or a permanent kidney failure.

This type of insurance is divided into several parts which have different coverage. Part A which is the Hospital Coverage covers inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facilities, hospice care, some home health care. Once you turn 65, you are automatically enrolled in this coverage and you won't have to pay for this. Part B which is the Medical Coverage helps cover reasonable and necessary medical services that are no longer covered by Part A. Such services include doctor's services, physical and occupational therapist services, laboratory and X-ray services, ambulance services, outpatient hospital care, home health care, blood and medical supplies, durable medical equipment as well as wheelchairs and hospital beds. Part C which is the Medicare Advantage covers Medicare health maintenance organization, preferred provider organizations, private fee for service plans, Medicare medical savings account plan and Medicare special needs plans.

To avail this, you need to have Part A and Part B since this includes extra benefits such as prescription drug coverage as well as lower cost of services than Parts A and B. Note that you still need to pay your monthly premium and most likely with extra monthly premium. Moreover, you may require referrals and recommendation from doctors and specialist to avail this. Lastly Part D which is Prescription Drug Coverage covers brand name as well as generic prescription drugs from participating pharmacies. Everyone with Medicare can be eligible for this part regardless of income, health or prescription expenses.

However, there are a lot of things you need to consider before availing Medicare. After all, there are a lot of providers out there who offer Medicare. The only thing left to do is to make sure that the insurance company whom you will purchase this has the reputation and credibility. Moreover, make sure that the policy will best fit for you.

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Medical Billing - Front End Strategies

A recent article in the New York Times by Ann Carrns, Medical Debt Cited More Often in Bankruptcies, discusses the increase to 20 percent from 12 to 13 percent for those citing medical debt as a factor in seeking financial counseling. She also goes on to point out that people do not want to default on medical payments. In fact, instead of not paying their healers, they will pay their medical bills with new credit cards. However, those cards may carry high interest charges especially if patient has poor credit.

In addition to that, co-pays and deductibles will do nothing but increase regardless of any health care reform implementation. All the more reason to develop sound front end strategies designed to make sure the patients understand their payments precisely and to make sure you make it easy and manageable for patients to pay. Here are three ways to do that:

• Use historical payments, insurance payouts and actual treatment data to develop accurate patient responsibility costs. This will increase your point of service collections and reduce days in accounts receivable.

• Verify patient information accuracy. Compare self-reported patient information with data on various financial information databases. This will help avoid potential claim denial errors and improve the efficiency of your registration process.

• Obtain a financial profile on your patient that can be summarized into meaningful healthcare metrics. This will increase your point-of-service collections and also reduce days in accounts receivable. You can probably receive this information by judicious and efficient use of your current system. You may have to add some modules but the technology is available.

For example, on one healthcare system, you can route patient identity information via a standard HL7 feed from your registration system. The patient financial summary compares the registration data against multiple datasets. The patient's credit report is used to calculate financial estimates. They include the probability of financial aid and collection.

You can also establish thresholds such as the Federal Poverty Level percentage cutoffs. This can be used to see if the patient qualifies for Medicaid.

The system can also generate an accurate estimate of patient costs by using historical expenses, contract modeling and insurance verification transactions.

Tap into your system to see what it can do to assist in creating a powerful front-end strategy. It's may be more robust than you think.

If not, or if you want to go in another direction, consider a web-based system that can provide all the information mentioned above. You can receive real-time access to the financial and demographic status of the patient. Predictive modeling can also be used to determine which accounts are the most collectible.

Establish Upfront Payment Plans

Using all of the information developed by your system, have a talk with the patient as soon as possible. Determine eligibility for charity care, accurate co-pay amounts and deductible ceilings. Be aggressive on upfront collection. But if that isn't possible, establish a pay plan.

For example, a person went to a chiropractor for spinal adjustments. The total charge for multiple treatments was $2,000. They patient couldn't pay for that upfront but want to be relieved of her pain.

The chiropractor established a 6 month payment schedule and took a 10% payment at the point of service. He set up a monthly withdrawal from her account that allowed her to pay over six months even though the treatment would be done after four.

You will need to adapt your medical collection strategy to the health care system changes and adjust to the current economic climate to retain a healthy cash flow.

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