Top Ten Year-End Reminders for Chiropractic Physicians

The list below contains many critical deadlines and important tasks for the end of 2021.  Please take a moment to ensure you have all your bases covered.

Office Posters for Employers:

Take the time to update the required 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,”Required Employment posters and information.”

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Employee Sexual Harassment Prevention Training:

Do NOT confuse this with the license requirement for physician sexual harassment prevention training, which is provided by approved CME sponsors and required once every 3 years to renew a physician license. Employee training is a separate requirement for all Illinois employees, including those in your office. 

Employers are responsible to ensure that each employee completes the training each year by December 31.  It is available free online through the Illinois Department of Human Rights. More information about the course and a link to the free course can be found here. 

New ABN Form:

HHS has released new ABN form rules that began in October of this year for Medicare Part B. You should verify you are 1) utilizing the correct ABN, 2) using it appropriately, and 3) making the appropriate ABN form changes if you are a non-participating provider. 

Here is a 30-minute video that covers the 2021 ABN form changes (free for ICS Members).

Here is a 4-minute video that discusses the proper timing for issuing an ABN form.

Medical Corporations, Professional Service Corporations & Professional Limited Liability Companies:

When was the last time that you renewed your entity registration? If you are not certain, you should check to ensure that it is not expired. MANY chiropractic physicians have missed this step (both the original registration and the renewal) with their business entities and are out of compliance.

Significant problems could arise for those entities that have not been properly registered or renewed in the past.  Any entity that has not been registered is not legally authorized to operate, and any corporate or PLLC license that was registered but has not been renewed remains in nonrenewed status, making it also not authorized to do business.  Both situations risk challenges to your reimbursements and payments based on the billing entity being out of compliance.

If you are not certain that your entity is registered or inactive status, you should verify at IDFPR.illinois.gov (Select Medical Corporation or Professional Service Corporation and enter your entity name; then ensure that it does not say “NOT RENEWED”). If you have further questions about registration, please read this article.

Do not skip this simple verification!

Need to register or renew your business? Here is a video walk-through of the process.

Fee Schedules:

Obtain revised fee schedules from insurance carriers and review the current business impact on your practice.

Business Expenses:

Pay your Illinois Chiropractic Society dues for 2022 in 2021, 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’s direct lobbying activities on behalf of its members. You can pay those dues online here.

Medicare Participation:

Any changes to your Medicare participation must be made by December 31, 2021. 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.

Contract Review:

Review your PPO contracts and insurance company medical policies.  Now is a great time to take an inventory of the specific provisions in the contracts you have signed that affect your everyday office operations.  Additionally, the ICS encourages our members to review insurance company medical policies regularly.  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.

Health Insurance Quotes:

Don’t simply accept the premium 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.

Now may also be the time to find out if there are significant savings available through the ICS’ member plan. Find out more here about how many ICS members are saving between $3,000 and $12,000 a year in health plan premiums.

Charitable Contributions:

If you are determining where to make your last-minute charitable donations for 2020, ChiroCongress Cares and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education (501(c)(3) sister of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress) are both worth considering.

Additionally, you can make contributions to the Future of Chiropractic Strategic Plan through ChiroCongress Cares at www.chiropracticfuture.com – make sure you select the Illinois Chiropractic Society matching funds (you can also see the full plan on that website, as well).