claims follow up - healthcare billing services

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Areas Where Your Practice Could be Losing Money

Does it seem like you’re working more hours on your practice yet not making more money? It may be because you’ve got several “leaks” in your practice.

These leaks are areas in your practice that unknown to you do nothing but consume your revenue. From before the actual patient visit to well after the patient leaves the clinic, medical practices can lose a lot of money because of these leaks. Could your practice be among those plagued by these leaks? Read on to find out and plug those leaks before they pull the plug on your practice.

Before the Patient Visit

Even before the actual patient visit, practices can lose a significant amount of income due to negligence in verifying insurance eligibility, which leads to claim denials and delays. According to the American Medical Association (AMA) 25% of private payer denials are directly caused by patients being ineligible for benefits.

July 25, 2016

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Common Billing Mistakes that Can Cost You Money

In the busy billing office of any physical therapy practice, mistakes are bound to happen. With so many details to take care of and information to sift through, it’s literally impossible to be totally error-free. For practices to maintain good cash flow however, it’s not about avoiding mistakes altogether; it’s about avoiding the ones that can cost you the most. Below are some of the most common of these costly errors:

1. Not filing claims in a timely manner

As we’ve pointed out before, the late submission of claims is one of the recurring reasons why claims end up denied or delayed. Many payers set a filing limit that can be as little as a month after the date of service. Go beyond this limit and the claim may be denied.

To avoid denials, it is crucial that claims be filed on time, ideally as close to the service date as possible. This greatly improves your chances of collecting and consequently keeps your cash flow

July 13, 2016

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5 Common Causes of Claim Denials and Delays

It’s now the middle of the year. How are your revenue cycles doing so far?

If you’re shrugging your shoulders or letting out a loaded sigh, chances are your revenue cycles aren’t flowing as smoothly as they should be, and we know the biggest reason why: claim denials and delays.

As much as you’d like to keep your cash moving, there always seems to be a snag when it comes to claims. For some unfortunate physical therapists, waiting for reimbursements can even take up to five months! That’s more of a sinkhole than a cycle, and you need to get out of there fast.

The first step to getting out of that revenue rut is to recognize the biggest causes of claim denials and delays. Only by knowing and understanding these causes can you avoid them and consequently make sure that your revenue cycles keep turning in the right pace.

June 20, 2016

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How to Make Collecting Patient Co-Pays a Lot Easier

Twenty percent. This is approximately how much of a medical practice’s revenue is made up of patient co-pays.

To some physical therapists, this portion may not be very significant. But with the difficulties that medical practices are facing today in terms of revenue and reimbursements, that twenty percent can no longer be ignored. Practices today simply cannot afford to lose any more revenue, which is why collecting co-pays has become vital.

Unfortunately, collecting co-pays can be easier said than done. Sometimes, patients will question the necessity of the co-pay, or claim that they cannot make the payment. Either way, this will make collections difficult and in the long run, affect your revenue cycles.

Thankfully, there are ways you can make collections a lot easier on yourself and your staff. Here are some of them:

June 7, 2016

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6 Smart Steps You Can Take to Improve Your Billing Process

For many physical therapists, billing can be a necessary pain in the neck. It’s complicated and riddled with delays and, in some cases, a cause of under compensation. But there’s simply no way around it- there’s no other way you can get paid for your services. There are, however, steps you can take to make your billing process more efficient and less painful. Here are six of them:

May 16, 2016

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Should You Go Out-of-Network?

Dwindling reimbursements, complicated insurance regulations and limited time with each patient — these are just some of the reasons why many physical therapists are seriously considering going out-of-network. Physical therapists, particularly those who have been practicing for some years, know

April 26, 2016