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Jeff Howard
Jeff Howard has been with Ray Howard & Associates since 1985 and is now President.
During that time Mr. Howard has worked with physicians and other health care providers in numerous aspects of practice development and management.
Mr. Howard has worked extensively with management in medical practices to evaluate and improve office functions. His experience includes extensive time in practice offices evaluating billing, coding and office personnel.
As a senior consultant, he works with solo practitioners, physician groups, clinic practices, independent laboratories and Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities. Mr. Howards work has touched on many aspects of practice management including selection and conversion of billing systems, electronic medical records, negotiation of managed care agreements and insuring that appropriate payment is obtained from the payer, insuring that providers bill the appropriate codes for the services rendered and medical record reviews for charge capture and ensuring there is appropriate documentation.
Mr. Howard has worked to restructure fee schedules to insure the fees charged by physicians are at a fair rate while maximizing the reimbursement available. Additionally, he has worked extensively in structuring charge capture systems to ensure that all eligible charges are billed and that the documentation for hospital and office are documented adequately not only for the CPT code, but also that the diagnosis codes supports the level of billing.
Medical record reviews and compliance plans are fields in which Mr. Howard has years of hands-on experience. Over the years he has written and implemented compliance programs and performed audits evaluating billing office procedures and protocols. Each compliance program is customized for each specific provider, not part of an off-the-shelf package.
Mr. Howard is a specialist in representing providers in pre-payment and post payment audits with Medicare, Medicaid, and private payors. This involves working with providers to ensure appropriate documentation is submitted to the payor on a pre-payment audit or that verification is provided during a post payment audit. He has assisted providers in substantiating the documentation as well as representing them at Fair Hearings and Administrative Law Judge Hearings.
Mr. Howard is frequently called upon for expert testimony and has been qualified as an expert numerous times including being qualified as a coding expert by the First District Court of Appeals. Mr. Howard is qualified concerning billing and coding issues as well as on compliance issues relating to the business of healthcare.
With a broad experience in medical practice management, Mr. Howard has become a popular speaker at seminars and workshops on billing, coding and reimbursement. He is a member of Medical Group Management Association and the Professional Association of Health Care Office Management.
A native of Florida, Mr. Howard holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of North Florida.
Dr. Ray Howard
Dr. Ray Howard formed the management consulting firm Ray Howard & Associates in 1974 to provide qualified professional management services to physicians. His professional background includes public finance in Florida, the administrative staff at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, and practice manager for a large hospital-based physician group.
Dr. Howard has consulted physicians in solo practice and in groups of up to 120 in a clinic environment, a variety of hospital based settings, and teaching institutions. Much of Dr. Howard's work has pertained to CPT coding, charge capture, and third party payment reimbursement, including contract evaluation and negotiation.
With over 35 years experience in the business of healthcare, Dr. Howard has worked on feasibility studies; joint ventures; strategic planning; physician office evaluations; evaluating independent laboratories; representing providers in contract negotiations with hospitals and managed care plans; establishing separate billing for hospital-based physician groups; selection and conversion of computer billing systems; improving billing and collections; chart audits for Medicare and other third party payers; reimbursement for third party payers for new and difficult procedures; and many other general management areas. Over the years, Dr. Howard has developed a specialty in contract negotiations on behalf of his physician clients with extensive experience in negotiating hospital and managed care contracts.
Dr. Howard has served as a reimbursement consultant to the Florida chapter of the American College of Cardiology, the Florida Society of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Florida Society of Pathology, the Florida Association of Independent Diagnostic Suppliers, the National Association of Independent Diagnostic Suppliers, and other specialty associations. He has written articles for numerous professional publications and addressed medical groups in various locations of the United States for the 30 years. Dr. Howard was awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Florida Chapter of the American College of Cardiology in 1993.
Dr. Howard is listed in Who's Who in the South and Southwest, Who's Who in U. S. Executives in 1989, Who's Who in Finance and Industry in 1992/1993, and Who's Who in Executives and Professionals in 1994. He also has served as national president of one of his professional associations.
Dr. Howard is a native of South Carolina and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Jacksonville University.
Dr. Howard received his honorary doctorate degree from the Baptist College of Florida on December 7, 2012. The degree was not earned in the classroom; it was earned through many years of dedication and service with the Baptist College of Florida and various other organizations where Dr. Howard has contributed innumerable hours. Although Dr. Howard is honored to have the doctorate degree bestowed upon him, as has been the practice for years, he still prefers to be called Ray.
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