Top Ten Year-End Reminders for Chiropractic Physicians

Although the list below is not exhaustive, it does contain many of the critical deadlines and vital tasks for the end of 2018.  Please take a moment to ensure you have all your bases covered.

Medical Corporations, Professional Service Corporations & Limited Liability Companies:

All medical and professional service corporation and LLC IDFPR licenses must be renewed by January 1, 2019.  This is an annual requirement.  The Department has sent out renewal forms in the mail.  If you have not received your renewal, please contact IDFPR.  If you have further questions about registration, please read this article.

Fee Schedule:

Obtain revised fee schedule(s) from insurance carriers and update reimbursement changes in your billing systems.

Medicare Participation:

Any changes to your Medicare participation must be made by December 31, 2018.  Physicians who want to change their status from participating to non-participating must do so by that date.  Here is the link to PECOS, which is the best way to modify your participation status. If you are not changing your participation status, then do nothing.

ABN Form:

The ICS believes this is a good time for our members to verify they are utilizing the correct ABN form.  Offices should have implemented and begun utilizing the new ABN form for Medicare patients beginning no later than June 21, 2017.  Here is an article pertaining to the new form: https://ilchiro.org/news/news.asp?id=348980. Additionally, here is a video that discusses the proper timing for issuing an ABN form.

Non-participating Medicare providers must make changes to the form. Those changes are explained here: https://www.chirocode.com/blog/224

Business Expenses:

Pay your Illinois Chiropractic Society dues for 2019 in 2018, if you have not already mailed your payment.  ICS dues are not deductible as a charitable contribution for federal income tax purposes, but your dues are partially deductible as a business expense.  ICS estimates that 90% of your dues may be deductible, as the 10% reduction is due to ICS’ direct lobbying activities on behalf of its members.

Contract Review:

Review your PPO contracts and insurance company medical policies.  This is a great time to take an inventory of the specific provisions in the contracts that you have signed which affect your everyday office operations.  Additionally, the ICS encourages our members to regularly review insurance company medical policies.  Many of these policies are available online and are searchable by CPT code and diagnosis code.  Knowing exactly the terms to which you have agreed is paramount to a successful practice.

Medicare Fee Schedule:

The 2019 Medicare fee schedule is now available and can be accessed here (if the site requires sign in, simply choose sign in as a guest and re-click the link above). The ICS has prepared a video to walk you through finding your Medicare fees for 2019 – click here for that video. 
Additionally, here is an article that gives you your Medicare locality.

Charitable Contributions:

If you are determining where to make your last-minute charitable donations for 2017, the American Chiropractic Foundation and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education (501c3 sister of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress) are both worth considering.

Health Insurance Quote:

Don’t simply accept the rate increase you may have received from your health insurance carrier. Talk to your agent to determine if there is a similar plan or a different health insurer with more competitive rates. 
This may also be the time to find out if there are significant savings available through the ICS’ member plan. Find out more here.

Office Posters:

Take the time to update the posters in your office.  Although you may rely on posters purchased from your favorite office supply store, the mandatory posters are available at no charge.  The Illinois Chiropractic Society has developed a checklist for your office that includes links to the necessary posters and related requirements.  For a full listing, please see our FAQ titled “What posters/information am I required to hang in my office? Do I have to pay for them?”

There were important updates and additions to this list in 2018.