Our Background

Originally founded as a Management Services Organization (MSO), we divested our private practice support infrastructure in the early 1990's and became The Horizon Group, a management consulting firm.  Initially, we provided operational improvement, contract management, and governance support to private medical practices in the mid-Atlantic region.

Before the end of the decade, hospitals that had acquired primary care physicians began to report substantial losses from practice operations.  We were asked to apply our private practice background, and help reduce those losses.  By 2000, our work was exclusively with hospital-affiliated practice networks and involved performance improvement, physician compensation, contract and turnaround management, coding audit, and educational programs.

More recently, the growing challenges of private medical practice have brought us full circle.  Many of our new clients are medium and large medical groups that need to build their bottom line performance, or which are wrestling with strategic options and need an independent voice.  We have rebuilt the infrastructure services we divested and, again, can serve clients with their staffing, billing, and payer contracting needs.

Drawing on the decades of experience with physician practices we have assisted hospitals in building and improving their relationships with community physicians.  With services such as Liaison Program Management, affiliation strategy development, educational programs for physician practice staff, and the ability to intervene in trouble practices we have brought new tools to hospitals as they work with key referring physicians.

As the physician market continues to evolve, our services are changing as well.  We offer all of our clients a unique blend of our current operational qualifications, experience, and our strategic view of the future.

Our Services

Physician Practice Operations
We use a highly structured approach to assessing practice operations so that we can identify operational areas that can benefit from restructuring. Clients receive a detailed report that covers every operational area and contains specific and prioritized recommendations for action. When possible, each action recommendation is quantified to reflect the potential beneficial impact on the practice bottom line.

Even practices that are successful can benefit from this objective look at current operations. Our audit teams are skilled in workflow analysis and process redesign.

These programs are easily scalable so that it meets the needs of a solo practitioner or large hospital-affiliated network.  

Medical Staff Planning
Unless a hospital maintains an active and stable medical staff, its ability to sustain operations will be challenged. We provide clients with a thorough assessment of the current staff, including age/location/admissions profiles; projections of immediate and near-term recruitment priorities resulting from loyalty shifts, slowdowns, and retirements; and strategies for attracting/retaining key physician support.

A growing number of physicians are finding the business of medicine too challenging and are seeking to redefine their relationship with the hospital. Small practices are faced with growing costs and stable, or declining revenues. This instability can create serious problems for hospital referral patterns.  We can assist in the development of strategic affiliation strategies and models.

Clients use the information developed in this process to refocus physician relations programs, provide innovative recruitment support for critical need specialties, and when appropriate, MSO support for smaller practices trying to survive in difficult times.

Physician Compensation Plan Design
We have worked with medical groups in varied specialties, both in the private arena and hospital owned, to create compensation plans that provide incentives for physician effort, while maintaining the necessary group cohesion. Our view is that each plan must be uniquely crafted to meet the needs and realities of the organization. As a result, we work closely with client management and physicians to find the most acceptable and viable model for the organization.

Practice Governance
Practice mergers, strategic planning retreats, management needs assessment, and governance development are all part of our comprehensive program to build stability in private medical practices. This program is also a critical part of our support to hospitals that have elected to divest their affiliated-networks.

Contract/Outsourced Management
On an ongoing, full-time basis, as well as in turnaround situations, we have the capability to provide seasoned professional management support for affiliated and private medical practices.

These services draw on our team of management, coding, and reimbursement specialists so clients enjoy the benefits of skills that are often deeper than a manager alone, could provide.

Reimbursement Services
 Improving the performance of Central Business Office operations, creating fee schedules, negotiating fee increases with key payers, and providing a billing solution for affiliated and private practices are all a part of our comprehensive support program.  We can also offer interim support for AR workout situations or in times of shortages.

Managed Care Revenue Recovery
Our audit team has found that most hospitals will leave 3% to 5% of their revenue on the table when dealing with major managed care plans.  This results from acceptance of lower than expected payments and inappropriate denials and discounts. Our professionals can work with your existing Patient Account staff to develop an in-house audit capability and will help you monitor the results to assure that you collect every dollar that is due.

Technology Adoption
Our team of professionals has spent many hours in learning how major software packages work, which have a proven record of success, and which have been problematic in actual practice use.

This knowledge base includes both Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and practice management software. This team has conducted return on investment studies, matched operational needs with software capabilities, produced RFPs and managed the bid process, and has helped clients select the most appropriate technology solution and negotiate the best possible price. We have also managed the implementation process.

Our unique blend of practice operations knowledge and our continuous monitoring of the technology environment provide our clients with perspectives often unavailable from traditional technology consultants.

Our Team

We have assembled an experienced group of practice managers, physician billers, coders, and senior executives that have worked in private practice settings, as well as with hospital-affiliated programs. Every member of our organization has hands-on experience in physician settings.

Each engagement is unique and we assemble a team designed to draw on the skills and abilities of each member, and match those with the needs of the client. Our results have been impressive and we assure each client of their total satisfaction with the quality and impact of the service, in fact we guarantee it.

Our Approach 

Before any engagement, we provide each prospective client with 1) a detailed outline of our understanding of their situation and needs, 2) a description of the tasks that we propose to address their concerns, and 3) a firm estimate of the costs involved. We never exceed our estimates, unless the client increases the scope of the project, and this is at their election only.

Contact Us
Please allow us the opportunity to describe how we can be of service to you, and to provide you with our growing list of satisfied clients. Our principle office is in Virginia Beach, VA. All contacts should be directed to:  

The Horizon Group, Ltd.
780 Lynnhaven Parkway, Suite 160
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
Phone: 757.689.2225
Fax: 757.689.2662
Email: clientservices@thehorizongroup.com