The rising cost of healthcare across the board has made patient collections even more crucial than they already were.
Practices and providers across the country have had to deal with difficulties ensuring all their payments are collected in full and on time. This has resulted in cash flow problems for many, problems that largely can be avoided or mitigated with the right preparation and execution.
To help improve your patient collections, here are three tips your practice can put into place, courtesy of a medical billing agency.
Appeal All Denied Claims
A practice that doesn’t automatically appeal all denied claims is doing itself a disservice.
Often, a provider will simply write off a denied claim, chalking it up to the cost of doing business. Others feel like it’s too much effort to appeal, so they don’t – resulting in money falling through the cracks.
As a medical billing agency, we appeal claims in-house on behalf of our clients. We track these claims on their behalf and learn why certain claims were denied so that an appeal can be filed. Every measure helps to provide continual cash flow, especially when claims weren’t rightfully denied or there was patient error involved.
Create a Clear Financial Policy
Sometimes, payments aren’t made on time (or at all) due to miscommunication when it comes to financial policies at a practice.
That’s where a clear, easy-to-understand financial policy comes in handy. Every practice should be very clear about payment policies, particularly about non-covered services and patient responsibilities. Address everything from coverage to terms and deadlines. Ensure you have a variety of payment methods in place as well.
Have a System for Monitoring and Tracking Payments
It also helps to create a system and put it into place that tracks patient accounts, including what has been paid and what is owed.
This system should integrate seamlessly into your EHR/practice management infrastructure. By keeping track of all accounts, you ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. That is one of the leading causes of incomplete payments – losing track of what is owed and by whom.
Hiring a medical billing agency can, of course, take care of all of these problems. A medical billing agency can track all accounts, including overdue payments, and also take over collections. This saves the practice valuable time that can be dedicated to providing service, rather than tracking down late payments. In this way, physicians can concentrate on the medical side of the practice and let professionals handle the finances.
Contact Medical Billing Management for help with improving your patient collections.