Howdy ya'll!

Hope Fall is beautiful wherever you are. I have an exciting group coming up in January I wanted to tell you about.

The Frozen to Focused is a 4 month teleclass/coaching/consulting group for folks who are looking to move their program to the next level (or to just get unstuck!).

In the course of the four months, we meet on the phone one a week for an hour each time, discussing various aspects that every program needs to be successful and sustainable. Topics include:

• Start-up Needs (Insurance, formation, etc)
• Strategic Planning
• Finding your Ideal Client
• Message Development
• Marketing Plans, PR, Advertising
• Websites, Brochures, Newsletters
• Selecting your Ideal Herd
• Grantwriting & Funding

We have special guests each month who are experts in their fields, including Mike Sowinski CPA & CFO, Brenda Dammann (who co-wrote the book with me), who specializes in Marketing, Strategic Planning & Message Development, and Elizabeth Barbour, who knows it all about networking and finding your ideal client.

And of course you'll get MORE THAN YOUR FILL of ME!!! Cool!

In a nutshell, this program combines professional consulting, personal mentoring, inspirational experience, & educational information through powerful (but simple) technology to save you time and money & get you on the road to success.

Click here to visit the information page on the HorseSenseBusiness.com website. It's got all the info you need to join! If that doesn't work, go to Equine Assisted Business Consulting section of HorseSenseBusiness.com website, and click on From Frozen to Focused Masters Group.

There is an application process, and we are accepting applications now for January's group. Download your application by visiting this page!

Look forward to having you there!

Shannon

Shannon@HorseSenseOtc.com

Hey Everyone – Josie here, making my first blog appearance to let you know about this month's Free Monthly Telecall,  coming up next week!

Wednesday,  July 22nd 4:00–5:00 PM EST

Shannon will be joined by insurance expert Mark Fredricksen, Vice President of Peterson, McAnnaly & Tabor Insurance, Co., home to the only EAGALA Equine Liability Insurance Program.

Click here to register!

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Mark D. Fredricksen has held the distinction of being a Certified Insurance Counselor since 1986. The CIC is a designation that represents a commitment to continuous enhancement of one’s knowledge and service. CIC is nationally recognized as a symbol of professional excellence and leadership in the insurance industry.

As an insurance counselor, Mark can act as a third-party consultant to assist in the overview of your insurance programs, giving you an insight into the forms and cost effectiveness of your insurance program. Recommending forms, coverages, and risk management methods to help maintain control over your insurance portfolio.

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Don't worry if you can't make the time – just register now and an email of the recording will be sent to you after the call has been transcoded!!

Click here to see more calls like this that Shannon has held in the past. And you can visit this page to see more upcoming events at Horse Sense Business Sense.

And, as always, please contact me if you have any questions – JosieM@HorseSenseOTC.com or (828) 683-7304, ext. 113.

Take Care!

Josie

Happy Spring and Spring-cleaning!! Tis that time of the year to try and review the basics and straighten up accordingly. For us it is audit time with our insurance friends. So I actually have a motive to get it done. So what does this look like from my position as the Practice Administrator?  Here is a basic list to review and clean or straighten up:

• Personnel Files
• Policies & Procedures
• General Ledger (the books)
• Tax Payment records (state & federal)
• Insurance (review health, worker's comp & liability)
• Internal audit of client records
• Grant paperwork/files
  

Some people are great at keeping up with all these materials on a regular basis. Some people prefer to do periodic cleanings (more my speed). There isn’t necessarily a right or wrong way as long as at least once a year you are going through these things. Call it a self-audit.

April is a very busy month for us, and probably one of the hardest as far as paperwork, premiums, federal and state reports, etc. So May is a great month to re-cap and straighten up. For example, my staff hasn’t seen the wood on the top of my desk in probably a month (I pull everything I am working on and keep it out on my desk), but they will in the very near future. I have done my hoop jumping for the first quarter and now it is time to review all areas, file what needs to be filed and find my desk.

It seems like a lot, but don’t despair! You don’t have to do all the above in one day. Spread this out over the course of the month, and get help if you can. Start simple and work up to the more difficult and arduous. By the way, no, I don’t know what the easiest one is to start with. I will tell you that I will be starting with personnel files because it is always the last one on my list. This year I am making it the first.

So jump in and fear not! You will feel great when it is done and be surprised upon review how organized you are and how much you know.

Greetings and Happy Holidays!

Wanting to bill insurance with your program? Do you know what you need to do to be compliant? This blog talks in brief about compliance surrounding insurance programs you are associated with as a provider.

First, for •profit and non •profit agencies can be on provider panels. So lets ask an obvious question: do you want to accept insurance for service? This is a very individual decision.  It may be based on your mission and whom you want to serve or it may come down to a regional or state preference. For example, we are a Medicaid provider. However, in other states it can be more difficult to be granted "preferred provider" status. In the end you need to decide what works for your business.

When you apply to be a "preferred provider" or to be on a "provider panel" with an insurance company, you will be asked, what I call "demographic questions". These questions center on the "who, what, where, and how" of your business. Some applications are set up as check boxes and are very straightforward. Others may request descriptive information of what you do.  This is the number one stumbling block I hear within the field: the description of what you do. I promise I will cover that on another blog very soon.

From a compliance standpoint, the number one "offense" falls under documentation. You must document thoroughly. To read more about this topic and about some common errors in documentation, click here.

That is it for now. Contact me with questions.

"Til next time,

Lisa
Practice Administrator