Member Tools & Checklists

Physician Employment Contracting Toolkit

This member-only toolkit is comprised of various checklists and other resources that are useful to any organization who is looking to contract with or employ a physician.

It contains: 

• Physician employment contract language and term checklist - Know that you have considered and incorporated all of the required and optional language and contract terms within your physician contracts.
• Sample physician employment agreement contract - See a draft of what a sample employment agreement is typically structured like.  The type of contract will vary based on the methodology used to hire a physician. 
• Common methodologies to hire physicians - Define and breakdown the primary contract methodologies that are utilized to hire physicians in both the private practice setting or by small/large organizations.
• Sample tables of four common compensation methodologies (wRVU, tiered wRVU, net revenue, and partnership agreements) - See four sample tables of common compensation methodologies and how those payments to physicians are often calculated.
• List of the best practices for physician employment contracting - This is a list of best practices to consider when you are building a physician contract and/or working to hire a physician regardless of which methodology you will be utilizing to hire them.

In addition to this toolkit, a Physician Contract Guidebook e-book is also available from MGMA for even more insight into physician contracting. Along with the RVU Calculator Tool. Use the Relative Value Unit (RVU) Calculator tool to get the real picture of productivity. This tool can be used for strategic planning as well as for monitoring physician productivity along with compensation.

Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Compensation Model Contract Outline

This resource details 11 key elements of a contract for defining the compensation for an advanced practice provider.

The 2024 MGMA Coding and Billing Toolkit has several downloadable tools to assist with 2024 coding changes:

• 2024 CPT® Medical Coding Updates
• 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Tool (Facility and Non-Facility)
• 2024 Prolonged Services Coding Reference
• ICD-10-CM Coding and reporting Updates for FY2024
• 2022 to 2024 Work RVU (wRVU) Variance Calculator
• Office/outpatient Evaluation and Management (E/M) coding changes for 2024
• E/M Audit Worksheet (2021 to present)
• E/M Documentation Guidelines, 2021 to Present

• Physician Recruitment Checklist - This checklist aids in physician recruitment from pre-interview to post-interview recommendations in a step-by-step format. For more details, please download and review this checklist.
• Benefits Toolkit - Are your benefits aligning with your potential new organization flux? When it comes to being hired, there are many things to consider: the salary, the commute, the organization’s mission, vision and values, and of course, the benefits offered. At the end of the day, just because one company offers a higher salary, doesn’t mean the overall package is worth more. Benefits are an important consideration as they are a vital part of the overall package.
• RVU Calculator Tool - Use the Relative Value Unit (RVU) Calculator tool to get the real picture of productivity. This tool can be used for strategic planning as well as for monitoring physician productivity along with compensation.
• Procedure Profile Tool using DataDive - An intelligent and intuitive tool for viewing CPT coding profiles for any provider specialty.

• Orientation & Onboarding Toolkit - The MGMA Provider Orientation and Onboarding Toolkit is composed of a variety of checklists to help successfully onboard a new provider. There are separate ones to cover HR, HIT, Marketing and job-focused orientation as well as ones to help the clinic manager and medical staff onboard a new provider.
• Physician Recruitment Checklist - This checklist aids in physician recruitment from pre-interview to post-interview recommendations.
• Clinic Manager Checklist for Onboarding a New Provider - This checklist aids the clinic manager in the process of onboarding new providers, covering a variety of key areas.
• HR and HIT Checklists for Onboarding a New Provider - This checklist aids human resources and IT in the process of onboarding new providers, covering a variety of key areas.
• Marketing Checklist for Onboarding a New Provider - This checklist aids marketing in the process of onboarding new providers, covering a variety of key areas.
• Medical Staff Checklist for Onboarding a New Provider - This checklist aids medical staff in the process of onboarding new providers, covering a variety of key areas.
• Onboarding Checklist for a New Provider - This checklist aids in the process of onboarding new providers, covering a variety of key areas.
• Orientation Checklist for a New Provider - This checklist aids in physician recruitment from pre-interview to post-interview recommendations.
• Training for a New Provider Checklist - This checklist aids in the process of training new providers, covering a variety of key areas.

• Strategic Planning Toolkit - This toolkit will help you assess both where you are and where you want to go. It will give you a start in developing you mission, vision, and values, as well as your long-term goals and the action plans you will use to reach them.
• Business Plan Template for New Business - This business plan template is available to help you put together a written document describing the nature of your business, the sales and marketing strategy, and the financial background along with a projected profit and loss statement. A business plan is your road map that provides directions so a business can plan its future and helps it avoid bumps in the road.
• Priority Decision Matrix - This decision matrix can help you distinguish between what is important and not important and what is urgent and not urgent to help you focus on those items which are important.
• SWOT, TOWS and SWOT Competitor Analyses - SWOT analysis is a strategic planning technique used to help a person or organization identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to business competition or project planning. TOWS analysis will help you make connections between each quadrant of your analysis. You will work around the 2x2 matrix, combining information from two quadrants to create actionable strategies.
• Medical Practice Proforma Template - This template can be used to guide a practice leader in decisions on the viability of new business ventures. 
• Population Growth Analysis Tool - Loaded with U.S. Census data, this tool allows users to select cities and towns to see population trends from 2010 to 2020 and breakdown annual growth percentages compared to counties and states.
• RVU Calculator Tool - Use the Relative Value Unit (RVU) Calculator tool to get the real picture of productivity. This tool can be used for strategic planning as well as for monitoring physician productivity along with compensation.
• Visit Productivity Growth Calculator - MGMA's Visit Productivity Growth Calculator can be used to determine how many additional patient visits per month and/or day a provider needs to see in order to achieve the 50th or 75th percentiles of MGMA productivity based on work RVUs (wRVUs).
• Physician Fee Schedule Calculator - The fee schedule calculator tool assists you in pulling and exporting a CMS physician fee schedule based on a specific calendar year, which allows you to quickly reference the Medicare payment rate for any procedure code performed at your facility.
• Procedure Profile Tool using DataDive - An intelligent and intuitive tool for viewing CPT® coding profiles for any provider specialty.

Leading Change Toolkit - This toolkit is comprised of various checklists that can help an organization move through the change process a little easier.

• Change Management Planning Checklist - The checklist it to help plan your change management project including roles and communication strategies.
• Change Readiness Checklist - Readiness is the ability to continuously initiate and respond to change in ways that create advantage, minimize risk and sustain performance. Download the checklist to help assess how ready your company is for change.
• Managing Culture – Checklist - It is important to assess your culture prior to, during and after the change process. This checklist focuses on the human element of the change process.
• Managing, Monitoring and Reviewing Change Checklists - Use these checklists together to provide a basis for leading, monitoring and reviewing the change process.

 Want employee feedback as you start with changing processes and culture? Annual employee feedback surveys are important to improving culture in your organization.

• Employee Feedback Survey - This five-page employee feedback survey is a great tool to use when collecting employee feedback and includes a variety of question types. For more details, please download and review this checklist.

• Performance Evaluation Toolkit - This evaluation toolkit is intended to provide an employer with several tools/resources to assist the leadership team with providing both ongoing and annual performance evaluations for employees, physicians, and NPPs.  An employee evaluation/self-evaluation, a physician evaluation/self-evaluation, a 360-degree feedback form, and a physician peer review form are included within the toolkit.
• Employee Performance Evaluation/Self-Evaluation Form - The employee evaluation/self-evaluation form is intended to be used for ongoing employee performance evaluations, primarily including an annual evaluation.
• Physician Performance Evaluation/Self-Evaluation Form - The physician evaluation/self-evaluation form is intended to be used for ongoing physician performance evaluations, primarily including an annual evaluation.
• Physician Peer Review Form - The physician peer review document is intended to be utilized by physicians to give clinical feedback to another physician in order to improve the quality and safety of the care being provided.
• 360-Degree Feedback Form - The 360-degree feedback form is intended to be utilized as a development tool in addition to an evaluation form and is based on feedback from a variety of sources.
• Need a job description template, you can find those under Careers/Job Descriptions.
• Annual Compliance Recommended Training Checklist - This checklist is intended to help guide the annual compliance requirements that need to occur at a medical facility.  There may be additional federal or state requirements that apply to your facility depending on the type of facility and the specific services that are offered.
• Clinical Competency Checklist - This checklist is intended to help guide annual competency checks for various clinical roles in a practice. 
• Employee Feedback Survey Not only giving feedback but getting feedback is important. Asking employees annually, if not more often, for their feedback improves employee satisfaction. This five-page employee feedback survey is a great tool to use when collecting employee feedback and includes a variety of question types. For more details, please download and review this checklist.

• Résumé Writing Best Practices - Ensure that your résumé grabs the attention of potential employers. Use this best practices guide for résumé writing to help you tailor your résumé for each job application.
• Lean Leadership Project Toolkit - This toolkit contains a powerful and comprehensive set of resources, including templates, guides and checklists for planning, executing and sustaining improvement and organizational change activities. Each tool is specifically designed to help practice administrators, managers and front-line staff successfully manage change and Lean process-improvement activities.
• ACMPE Board Certification - Demonstrate a commitment to your profession, physicians and patients. For more than 60 years, the American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE) has been elevating exceptional medical practice managers to the role of Certified Medical Practice Executive (CMPE) and Fellow (FACMPE). 
• ACMPE Certificates - As an important aspect of professional development for structured education, MGMA continuously curates relevant and accessible resources via live and on-demand formats and allow participants a format to demonstrate their knowledge of specific topics and skills for their professional development and benefit of the organizations they serve.  

Upon completion of the resource and evaluation, certificate recipients showcase the completion of learning set knowledge areas or skills that can supplement resumes or be shared with employers. Certificate programs provide you with timely opportunity and proof of your commitment to excellence.

• Professional Development and Succession Planning Toolkit - This toolkit has three forms that can be used to help assess and develop those staff that have a potential for leadership roles or other roles within your organization. There is a tool to help plan a development strategy and two other tools that help with succession planning. Leadership development is key to succession planning.
• Professional Development Dashboard - A tool that allows one to track current skills as well as needed skills for a particular area of development along with training and timelines.
• Succession Planning Template - A tool used to help identify employees who have current skills – or the potential to develop skills- that can help them move up in an organization or into other positions.
• Talent Grid Profile - A tool used to evaluate an employee’s current and potential level of contribution to the organization. It is commonly used in succession planning to help identify potential leaders.
• Employee Feedback Survey - This five-page employee feedback survey is a great tool to use when collecting employee feedback and includes a variety of question types. For more details, please download and review this checklist.

• Annual Compliance Recommended Training Checklist - This checklist is intended to help guide the annual compliance requirements that need to occur at a medical facility.  There may be additional federal or state requirements that apply to your facility depending on the type of facility and the specific services that are offered.
• Clinical Competency Checklist - This checklist is intended to help guide annual competency checks for various clinical roles in a practice.

• Medical Group Interview Toolkit - This collection of member resources will help you ask the right questions and provide a framework for better understanding your workforce.

• Denial Management Toolkit - The MGMA Denial Management toolkit can be used to help assess your current process and walk you through steps to prevent future denials.
• Assessing denials management systems for a physician practice - This member-benefit tool outlines ideal features and functionalities of a robust denials management system for a physician practice.
• The 6 best practices to prevent denials - This six-step guide to preventing denials provides best practices for record keeping and updating the staff and doctors on their role in operations.

• Closing a Practice/ Physician Retiring or Leaving Toolkit - This toolkit includes a checklist to help guide you through closing a practice, a letter that you can use to inform your patients of the closure and a form that patients can fill out to request their medical records. When closing a practice, you will need to plan on what to do with your medical records and there are state laws on length of retention that you will need to check into.
• Closing a Practice Checklist - This checklist will guide you through different areas to consider when planning on closing a provider practice either due to a merger/acquisition or due to a provider retirement.
• Notification to Patient Form Letter - This form letter is a suggested template you can use when needing to inform your patients of a physician retirement and/or transfer of care.
• Consent for Release of Medical Records Form - This form can be used when patients need to get a copy of their medical records for any reason.
• Sample Patient Letter- Physician Transfer of Care - This form letter is a suggested template you can use when needing to inform your patients of a physician retirement and/or transfer of care.

• 6 action steps for HIPAA privacy compliance - Six action steps practice leaders can take to improve privacy and security within their organization.
• HIPAA Breach Toolkit - This toolkit is designed to help practice leaders better understand federal data breach policies and requirements.
• Physician Practice Use of Email Toolkit - Email has become one of the primary methods used to communicate information between individuals and organizations. Although widely used today in the healthcare environment, the improper use of email could lead to an inappropriate disclosure of patient information and a possible violation of HIPAA. This toolkit provides guidance for transmitting emails in a safe and secure manner.
• Business Associate Agreement Outline - This outline is intended to help members understand the HIPAA requirements and optional provisions which a medical group practice, as a “covered entity” under HIPAA, may wish to consider when entering into a BAA with a vendor or other business associate having access to Protected Health Information (“PHI”). Members using this outline in the development or negotiation of a BAA should be guided by legal advice from competent counsel of their own choosing.
• Cybersecurity Action Steps - As the threat of a cyberattack against healthcare organizations has escalated in recent years, practice leaders need to be particularly vigilant in taking the steps necessary to protect patient data and protect the practice itself. Steps practices can take to protect their systems are included in this.
• Planning and Deployment of a Mobile Device Management System (MDM) - This 15 step guide assists with the planning and deployment of a mobile device management system from access, security and hardware recommendations of staff devices to determining a Voice Over IP strategy and having a plan for lost or stolen devices.

• Hospital Outpatient Department Practice Startup Checklist - This is a comprehensive list of milestones that should be achieved prior to opening which will promote a successful clinic opening. It is presented in grid format noting the task, the task’s owner, the progress on the task, and the dates when it is scheduled to begin and end. 
• Large group or Organization Practice Startup Checklist - This large group or organization practice startup/acquisition checklist is intended to be used to help guide the steps and timeline associated with having a successful practice opening. Although this list is primarily for large or organization (integrated) practices, it is suitable for practices of all sizes.
• Website Launch Checklist - Creating a new website for your practice requires upfront planning to ensure a successful launch for your staff, existing patients and new patients.
• Urgent Care Start-up checklist - Many complicated moving pieces need orchestration, such as insurance negotiations, clinic construction, staff training, services offered and provider credentialing. This checklist will help guide you.

• MGMA Chart Auditing and Coding Education Services - You must ensure you are correctly reimbursed, and your coding practices not only impact your bottom line but are also subject to documentation and compliance guidelines. Enlisting our coding experts to complete periodic chart audits and provide advice is a best practice that will positively benefit every aspect of operations.
• Medical Record Compliance Audit/Risk Assessment Checklist - Assess the quality of your practice’s medical records by selecting a small-but-representative sample of records to review using this form. For more details, please download and review this document.
• Evaluation and Management Profile Tool - The Evaluation and Management Profile Tool is designed to allow MGMA members the opportunity to create useful reports that compare their providers' and practices' coding experience with claims data found in the most recent Medicare Utilization Dataset.
• ​2023 Medical Coding and Billing Toolkit - These member tools provide a comprehensive understanding of the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule updates, wRVU variance calculators and various medical coding updates, including:
  • Analysis of the Final 2023 Medicare Physician Payment and Quality Reporting Changes.
  • 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Tool (Facility and Non-Facility).
  • 2021, 2022 and 2023 Work RVU (wRVU) Variance Calculator.
  • 2023 CPT® Medical Coding Updates.
  • ICD-10-CM Coding and Reporting Updates for FY 2023.

• Emergency and Disaster Preparedness Checklist - Emergency plans and disaster preparedness are important and are a requirement of groups participating in government payment plans. Here is a checklist to help you get started.
• Screening Patients for Contagious Disease or Possible Exposure - This member-benefit sample script can help practice staff screen at-risk patients who may have or have been exposed to a contagious disease.
• Crisis Management Checklist for Medical Practice Leaders* -This checklist outlines behaviors that help leaders manage a crisis, what leaders should look for in employees and how to reduce stress and anxiety.
• Critical Infrastructure Essential Worker Letter Template - This letter template can be used to designate a practice worker as a Tier 1 Essential Critical Infrastructure Worker as part of the emergency support response to the COVID-19 viral pandemic.

• Practice Relocation Toolkit - The MGMA Practice Relocation Toolkit is composed of a tip sheet, checklist to guide you and a letter template that you can use to notify patients of the practice’s new site.
• Practice Relocation Tip Sheet - This twenty-four-point tip-list highlights best practice items for internal transiting during physical practice relocation.
• Practice Relocation Checklist - This multistep guide starts twelve weeks out and provides week by week instruction for practices who are anticipating physical relocation.
• Practice Relocation Letter Template - This letter template aids in the process of notifying all involved parties when undergoing a physical practice relocation.

• Payer Evaluation Spreadsheet for any type of medical practice - A one-page report to review and compare the performance of your major payers. The tool can be modified to meet the needs of any size or type of medical practice.
• Payer Negotiation Checklist - This member tool offers step-by-step guidance on engaging your payers on contract negotiations for your medical practice.
• Payer Contracting Checklist - This 10-step checklist helps medical practices understand the journey to achieving optimal contracts from payers.

As healthcare workers, we do not like to terminate relationships with patients but sometimes it is necessary either due to non-compliance, no-shows or sometime even due to aggressive behavior. Here are some tools that might be helpful.

Provider-Patient Relationship Termination Toolkit

• Provider-Patient Relationship Termination Checklist - The MGMA provider-patient relationship termination checklist should be utilized whenever you are terminating a relationship with a patient from a medical practice.  This will help to prevent issues relating to abandonment of care.
• Provider-Patient Relationship Termination Sample Letter - This sample letter is intended to be used as an outline for creating a patient notification for the termination of the provider-patient relationship.
• Sample Patient Letter – Physician Transfer of Care - This form letter is a suggested template you can use when needing to inform your patients of a physician retirement and/or transfer of care.

Here are a few resources on CLIA, OSHA and a sample lab specimen labeling policy!

• 7 Steps to Avoid CLIA Violations - This seven-step guide to avoiding CLIA aids in helping the user in a number of key areas including quality controls, establishing a test control schedule, documenting staff orientation, monitoring test kit expirations, keeping a maintenance log, certificate expiration and procedure for unused equipment. For more details, please download and review this checklist.
• Laboratory Specimen Labeling sample policy - Positive patient identification and strict adherence to policies and procedures is imperative throughout the process of collecting and labeling specimens to help assure patient safety. To protect patients from adverse errors made due to improperly labeled specimens, the laboratory policy demands that proper labeling criteria are always met. Every specimen brought to the laboratory must have a label on it. This sample policy can be used to make sure your practice is following proper procedures.
• OSHA Hazard Communication Compliance Checklist - This guide is intended to help small employers comply with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). The guide details recommended steps to an effective hazard communication program from learning the OSHA standards to maintaining a HCS program. For more details, please download and review this document.

• Telehealth Startup Checklist - Adding telehealth to practice operations may alter practice workflows and require physicians to adapt to a shift in how the patient-physician relationship is established. The Telehealth Startup Checklist will get you moving in the right direction.

Vaccine Refusal and Screening Policy Toolkit

This toolkit includes the relevant sample policies and forms to address these specific issues:

•  Sample Vaccine Policy and Statement for Patient Retention - This sample vaccine policy and statement helps address patients who are noncompliant with recommended vaccinations while retaining them with the practice.
• Sample Vaccine Policy and Statement for Patient Termination - Medical practices that might consider terminating patients for being noncompliant with recommended vaccinations can use this sample policy and statement to convey the need for screenings and the consequences for vaccine refusal.
• Screening Patients for Contagious Disease or Possible Exposure - This member-benefit sample script can help practice staff screen at-risk patients who may have or have been exposed to a contagious disease.
• Form: Refusal to Consent to Vaccination (Pediatrics) - This member-benefit sample form is a tool for practices to document refusal to consent to vaccination in a pediatric patient's medical record.
• Form: Refusal to Consent to Vaccination (Adults) - This member-benefit sample form is a tool for practices to document refusal to consent to vaccination in an adult patient's medical record.