Thanks for the reply. I actually just wanted to do it to help my brother but his partners wanted the contract. Where would I go to find out the HIPPA regulations for that?
Well, you are going to need to establish a "business model" since you have given them a contract. That means you need to define your position which could be a Business Associate in this type of arrangement (most likely) I would strongly suggest research and maybe a class in HIPAA requirements because it's extremely vital in this industry.
I would be working remotely logged on to his server. What kind of tax regulations would I be looking for? I'm guessing google would be able to provide some info?
Well, first you want to define yourself.. are you going to be a business, private contractor, etc. That really should have been done before the contract and I would hesitate to make suggestions w/out knowing how that contract was legally setup.
As for the functions I will be doing, seems like I would be strictly sending claims to insurance companies, posting eobs and taking care of denials. In the long run, I believe that this would change because he wants me to try to restructure his front desk to work more efficiently. Right now, they have a data entry person that inputs their CPT codes and diagnosis into Medisoft. Would you suggest me getting their superbills and inputting myself or will the data entry person still be okay? I don't want to get overwhelmed since I have my own practice to run.
Again, without really seeing what type of contract has been setup, I can't really give advice on what you will offer, hopefully it's outlined in your contract? To me this sounds like you are setting up for a business type arrangement. The data entry person is entering from superbills, I presume?
I believe that my hardest obstacle will to be figuring out which diagnosis to piggy back with which procedures. Is there somewhere that I can go to study this particular topic? Or maybe find he top 50 codes for a family physicians' office?
That's not quite how it goes. Unless you have a CPC on staff, the provider should be coding all visits with both CPT and ICD9 codes. coding is not a matter of putting the right diagnosis with the right CPT, it's about taking and entering the procedures done and the true diagnosis from the actual medical record, again this should be done by the provider unless there is a qualified and experienced coder on staff as this could spell disaster.