Successful payer contracting is one of the many important duties for safeguarding the long-term financial stability of a hospital-based physician practice. Whether contracts are self-renewing year-to-year or contain end dates that force physicians and payers to renegotiate agreements regularly, the payer dictates the terms unless the practice is prepared for negotiations.
There are many factors to a successful negotiation – from the gathering and familiarity with practice data, thoroughly understanding existing payer agreements, to sheer persistence.