It took two decades for private payor contracts to erode the bottom line: plan on a 2+ year comeback--here's how, Part IV.

You've negotiated new rates with your payors and think it is time to celebrate. But wait, there is another step in the renegotiation process that protects the rates and alleviates some of the confusion about administrative issues. Among the contractual provisions discussed in this article are timely payment, timely submission, retroactive eligibility denials, assignment of the agreement to parties that are vaguely defined "affiliates," and offsets on future payments. These changes are essential to protecting your practice against unfavorable provisions that, left unchanged, put the payors in the driver's seat to decide the rules.