The American Medical Association recently announced the release of the Practice Analysis Tools for Healthcare, a computer program designed to serve as an online consultant to physicians and help their clinical staff track and revise their offices’ fee schedules, American Medical News reports.
Users of PATH will have access to three modules capable of:
Analyzing fees;
Examining their practices’ use of procedure codes; and
Tracking the use of modifier codes.
In addition, PATH allows physicians to:
Compare their practices’ fees with national averages and Medicare rates;
Develop reports on fee adjustments; and
Measure compliance with fee rules.
Users can transfer their fee schedules from a spreadsheet or practice management software or enter it directly into PATH.
Practice management consultants say the tool might appeal to practices that cannot afford to hire a consultant and also help practices monitor national statistics (Berry, American Medical News, 10/6).