Legal services for startups at a reduced cost

One of the most expensive costs to startups are the legal services they require from the moment of their inception and through all stages of their development as a company. Legal services do not come cheap and cannot be avoided for long in the startup realm. While these high costs are the reality startups must face, startups should we aware that there is funding from Law Firms which specifically help with the costs of legal services.  We were fortunate to secure a spot within BLG's Growth Catalyst Program, which is further described in the copied article below from Techvibes. If you search diligently I am sure you can help secure some funding for your legal services!

Law Firm's Growth Program Boosts Tech Startups in Canada

Posted by Techvibes NewsDesk on May 23, 2014

Borden Ladner Gervais announced this week that it has selected startups Clear Pod and Figure of Eight, as the first companies to participate in the BLG Growth Catalyst Program.

The two companies are Ottawa-based and members of the Invest Ottawa GrindSpace XL accelerator.

Figure of Eight develops medical billing software permitting physicians to submit claims quickly, efficiently and securely. Clear Pod develops environmentally sustainable solutions for septic system waste water treatment that significantly improves the performance of septic systems.

The BLG Growth Catalyst Program is designed to offset legal fees by providing access to a multi-disciplinary team of tech-savvy lawyers, patent and trade-mark agents specializing in intellectual property protection, corporate, labour and employment law.

For companies who have attracted eligible government funding, BLG’s Growth Catalyst Program will match every dollar that those companies spend on legal services from BLG, up to $10,000 per company. This matching will be provided in the form of additional legal services.

“We are thrilled to offer these first stage Canadian companies access to affordable and high quality legal services without diluting the founders’ equity in the company,” said Curtis Behmann, partner, BLG Information Technology Group in Ottawa. “The BLG Growth Catalyst Program team are experienced legal professionals who provide both strategic and tactical advice to companies at a critical phase in their development.”

“As a startup company BLG has been generous in providing us with an opportunity to access legal services crucial in development of our company," said Suzan Bsat, co-founder of Figure of Eight.

Both companies recently graduated from the winter cohort for GrindSpaceXL. They were two of four GrindSpace companies that received government funding through the SPARC program via IRAP and Invest Ottawa. Pre-acceptance of the two companies into BLG’s Growth Catalyst Program assisted these companies in successfully obtaining the SPARC funding.

Original post: http://www.techvibes.com/blog/law-firms-growth-program-boosts-tech-startups-in-canada-2014-05-23

**Transferring Blog to Mo-Billing Website**

Our blog will be transferred over to our website. For future postings please visit: Mo-Billing Blog.

OHIP billing for Immunizations

Content provided by guest blogger
 Linda Rehmund

A common claim submission error seen usually by general practitioners in an office setting would apply to immunizations. Physicians often leave out G700 ($5.10), the basic fee-per-visit premium, billed when the procedure performed is the sole reason for the visit. This add-on code is eligible for payment in addition to any of the following immunization codes G538, G590, G840, G841, G842, G843, G844, G845, G846, G847 or G848.  These can be found on page J43 under the section Immunizations in the 2014 SOB. All codes in this section marked with a '+' can be billed with G700. 

To avoid rejection the G700 and the immunization codes given above should be submitted on the same day, in the same claim, and only once per patient per day.  Again, remember that G700 applies only when the sole purpose of the claim is for providing immunization.  If there has been a consultation code entered then G700 would no longer apply, and you would only use the immunization code along with your consultation code. 

Additional information about G700 can be found on page J3 in the Preamble.

Guest Blogger: Linda Rehmund

Linda Rehmund is our guest blogger of the week. Linda's experience within the field of medical billing is extensive. She was a Medical Office Manager for 20+ years and is currently the 
Managing Principal of LRR Medical Billing Services.  She, as well as many others believe that medical billing professionals, with their expertise, can find additional money for physicians (not to mention they save the physicians and their staff of any billing headaches!). On her own she has over 25 years of medical billing, bookkeeping and medical transcription experience- therefore there is no doubt that the information she will be sharing with us will be valuable and can hopefully help get you some more money!  

Check out what Linda shares with us about:

• Immunizations

For any medical billing inquiries you can fine Linda's contact information on her website:

www.lrrmedicalbilling.com .

OHIP Billing for Counselling Services

Content by Guest Blogger
 Judy MacAlister

Physicians doing inpatient hospital work often spend a sizable amount of time counselling relatives on inpatients. Physicians run in to a problem when they try to bill for the counselling services they provided because when you bill for any service, generally a counselling component will not be  paid if it is billed in conjunction with any other service.  However, there are some exceptions where counselling codes for time spent with relatives can be billed and paid out with other services . The exception specifically for counselling relatives in an inpatient setting is K002A (See Counselling on Pg. GP39 in SOB 2014). Although K015A is listed as an exception in the SOB as well, in my experience, whenever I have billed K015A with a procedure code, the MOH pays the lesser amount and the rejection I receive is "not permitted with services provided". So, stick with K002A!

K002A is billed for an interview with relatives or a person who is authorized to make treatment decisions.  The fee is $62.75 per 1/2 hour unit.  As the physician you are required to book the appointment, it must last at least 20 minutes and the purpose of the interview should not be solely for obtaining consent and the information obtained cannot be information that is normally obtained in the consultation or assessment of the patient. (Pg. A19 in SOB)

For example, if you are on call and you admit a patient to the ICU if you advise their relatives that you will speak with them in approximately 2 hours then you have now completed the Ministry's requirements by scheduling an appointment.  Then if the appointment lasts at least 20 minutes you can bill K002A.  You can bill this fee more than once per hospital admission if required.

Guest Blogger: Judy MacAlister

Meet our first guest blogger, Mrs. Judy MacAlister. Judy's billing experience began when she first opened up Dr. Richard Wiginton's family practice in 1989.   In 1996 she relocated to Belleville, ON and began working with a cardiologist. In 1999 Judy became the office manager of the Cardiology Services Group and still enjoys the position today. In her full time job she bills for cardiologists, internists, as well as 8 labs.  

Judy's part-time job is her medical billing business. She is excellent with new clients, helping them every step of the way- from setting up their billing to answering all kinds of questions in between. She has experience billing for neurosurgery, internal medicine, general surgery, intensive care, inpatient hospital care, and specialty in infectious diseases. 

To date Judy has 26 years in medical billing experience and counting- proof that she has valuable information to share! 

Check out what Judy shares with us about:

• Counselling Services
• Case Conference Billing 
• Post ICU Billing 

For any medical billing inquiries you can find Judy's contact information on her website: http://www.judysohipmedicalbilling.com/ .

Mo-Billing Guest Bloggers

The best type of person to provide us with insight and knowledge on the most common medical billing mistakes is the person that processes medical billing for a living, also known as a billing agent. Mo-Billing will be starting a series where guests with useful medical billing insights will be invited to blog and share their information.

Our guest bloggers will be introduced and listed on our blog, along with the blogs they have contributed to Mo-Billing.