INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Zotec Partners, a national firm providing billing and practice management services to emergency medicine practices and hospital-based physicians, announces that its Chief Compliance Officer in Emergency Medicine, Ed Gaines, JD, CCP has been appointed by ACEP President Dr. Michael Gerardi to Chair a newly created Task Force of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and the Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDPMA) to deal with Out of Network, Balance Billing and Medicaid Payment issues.
The ACEP EDPMA joint task force is tasked with developing recommendations on two important areas: (i) a strategy to work at the state level on out-of-network reimbursement and balance billing; and (ii) a comprehensive strategy and potential broad coalition to protect and enhance Medicaid reimbursement and patient access, especially in light of the recent Supreme Court Armstrong vs. Exceptional Child decision, which held that providers (and, by implication, beneficiaries as well) may not turn to the courts for help in requiring that states live up to the minimum legal terms of the Medicaid statute.
According to the Ed Gaines, JD, CCP, “These are high priority issues facing both organizations and I am honored to be among a group of highly respected peers in the specialty and appointed to the task force to develop strategies that will best serve the emergency medicine community.” He adds, “We hope to determine the feasibility of preserving balance billing for out-of-network services in states that still allow it. It is also the goal of the task force to develop recommendations and model legislation on cost-effective strategies to protect patient access to Medicaid and improve Medicaid reimbursement, among other initiatives.”
T. Scott Law, founder and CEO of Zotec Partners states, “We are thrilled that Ed will chair a task force that addresses these critical issues in emergency medicine. He possesses the experience and knowledge to contribute to these initiatives, and Zotec Partners will support his efforts to effectively serve on this task force, as we continue to keep a finger on the pulse of health care policy matters that shape the specialty for years to come.”
Ed Gaines, JD, CCP has more than 21 years’ experience specializing in emergency medicine. He and his colleagues established the first voluntary corporate compliance program in the ED coding and billing industry in 1994. Mr. Gaines is responsible for compliance and coding quality assurance and training for Zotec’s emergency medicine clients. He is actively involved with Zotec’s clients in the areas of Medicare fee schedule, CPT coding, balance billing issues at the state and federal levels. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree with Honors from Alma College and graduated from Wake Forest University School of Law with a Juris Doctor.
Ed is a member of the ACEP Reimbursement Committee and is a co-founder, past chairman, current Board of Directors and Executive Committee member of the EDPMA. His honors and awards include: ACEP Honorary Membership Award 2012; EDPMA’s Founder’s Award 2008; ACEP’s Outstanding Speaker of the Year Award 2008; NC ACEP’s Emergency Medicine Outstanding Advocate Award 2006 and he was named a Fellow in the Health Ethics Trust in 2000. He is a member of the North Carolina State Bar, North Carolina Bar Association’s Health Law Section and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court. Mr. Gaines currently works out of Zotec’s Greensboro, North Carolina offices.
About Zotec Partners
Founded in 1998 by CEO T. Scott Law, Zotec Partners is the Indianapolis-based industry leader in specialized medical billing and practice management services for the hospital-based specialty market. Zotec Partners is committed to the continual pursuit of excellence in the physician revenue cycle and practice management industry by delivering effective solutions through its innovative software, personalized service and measurable client results. Currently, the company serves more than 8,000 physicians in all 50 states. For more information about Zotec Partners, visit http://www.zotecpartners.com.
