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7 Medical Billing Collections Tips To Improve Your Practice Bottom Line

For a medical practice or billing service is to be financially successful, it is important to implement good medical billing collection procedures. The following tips will significantly reduce your accounts receivable, thus saving time and making the overall job easier. My motto is work smarter, not harder.

This article covers what I call proactive collection tips. These are procedures implemented by the office staff combined with automated processes that can help reduce your collection volume. Be sure to watch for my next article that discusses other insurance and patient collections tips.

Most of the following tips are simple office procedures that seem pretty obvious, but you would be surprised how often they are not utilized in both large and small practices. An invaluable asset to any practice is an office manager or medical biller that can successfully implement these procedures. This requires intensive staff training, encouragement, and repetition because collecting money is not easy.

Notify new patients of the practice's payment policy so that they know what to expect before the first appointment.

The ideal scenario for any practice is to identify the patient's benefits prior to the first visit and collect any co-payments or deductibles due at the time of the visit. Medical offices are busy places so this procedure cannot always be followed consistently but it should be strived for where possible. (read on for checking eligibility).

Due to the complexities of insurance plans, patients may not be aware of their deductibles and co-payments and they tend to place the responsibility to identify the benefits onto the practice. The practice may make the best effort to identify what the benefits are, but patients need to understand that they are ultimately responsible for any balance the insurance company doesn't pay. This must be made clear to the patient both verbally and in writing.

Obtain complete demographic and insurance information from your patient.

Your receptionist should verify that new patient demographic forms are complete. Generally, patients are rushed and will often omit critical information. Checking forms for completeness eliminates having to call the patient later. A copy of the insurance card is a must and a copy of the patient license is also a good idea.

Make it a policy to obtain your patient's social security number.

I have made this a separate tip just because it is so important. Patients are reluctant to give out their social security numbers for obvious security reasons. However, you need to educate the [https://forum.ressourcerie.fr/index.php?qa=user&qa_1=p0giwiv717 insurance credentialing process for therapists] patient that many insurance companies still use the social security number as a means of identification. What if the insurance card is outdated? Explain to the patient that a social security number can expedite the processing of the claim.

Another important reason to obtain this vital information: collection agencies will tell you it is much easier to go after an unpaid patient balance when you have the social security number.

At every encounter with an established patient, ask these two questions:

Are you still living at....?

May I see your insurance card?

This is an important medical billing collection rule and it is not practiced often enough. These days, patients change insurance carriers and plans frequently and not always at the beginning of the calendar year. Implementing this procedure avoids insurance rebilling and denials for lack of timely filing. Also, asking a patient specifically if he is living at the stated address avoids returned patient statements and delays in collecting balances due.

Check your patients' benefits and eligibility.

When medical office staff tell me they don't have time to check eligibility and benefits, my response is, the time you don't take on the front end will be doubled on the back end in the collections process. Who would you rather pay; the lower paid receptionist or the higher paid medical biller?

Some medical billing software offers integrated insurance eligibility verification. While this technology is far from a perfect solution, it can save you time. You can also take advantage of insurance company websites that are available to check benefits and eligibility when you can. For some practices, a phone call is necessary because the benefit information is vague or unavailable.

Naturally, this is easier said than done especially in a busy practice. However, I would do it selectively if the insurance carrier is unfamiliar and the services to be provided are costly.

Collect co-payments and deductibles at the time of service.

If you have to mail a statement to collect a $5.00 copay, you've lost money. Posting a sign saying co-pays are due at the time of service is a good idea, but, your best asset is a receptionist that is cheerful but no nonsense about collecting money. Some patients can be pretty slippery characters.

I've seen some practices that charge a $5-$10 statement fee, in addition to the co-payment, if a statement has to be sent. This may not be allowed with some HMO plans. Check with your local AMA office about any limitations in your state before implementing this practice.

Have patients sign an agreement that permit you to leave voice messages at the phone number on record regarding account billing matters.

If you don't have this agreement in writing, your staff is not free to leave specific collection information on a voice mail without exposure to liability. If the patient account is overdue, you stand a better chance of collecting your fees if you are able to leave a message stating immediate payment is required or the account may be turned over to a collection agency.

Implementing as many of these procedures as possible will go a long way to reducing your collections volume. The goal is to save time and money which will improve your practice bottom line.