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    Will You Add? - 10 Ways to Improve Your Healthcare Practice's A/R

    Customer Loyalty: Investing In Relationships
    Most businesses are like African baboons – these furry fellows race through the cornfields, picking corn and stuffing it under their arm. As fast as they stuff the corn under their arm, it falls out the back, but they keep on picking and stuffing! By the time they get to the edge of the cornfield, they are carrying one corncob and they’ve left a trail of corn on the ground. This is how many entrepreneurs handle customers. They’re so busy getting new ones that they neglect and lose their existing customers out the back door. Attrition spirals out of control and yet they continue to spend more money on finding new customers.We know it’s far more affordable to resell existing customers than to get new ones. We know that it’s better to retain our customers and to encourage referrals through added value service than to spend a lot of mon
    ront to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

  • Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

  • Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information
    Business Funding
    KNOW WHAT YOU NEED Understand how you intend to use business financing, how much funding you need and how you intend to repay the loan. Be able to communicate this clearly and confidently with prospective lenders.UNDERSTAND YOUR CURRENT SITUATION If you are an existing business, are you profitable, and does your balance sheet have positive equity? What does your credit look like? Have a clear understanding of any existing liens and lien priority. Know your credit score and answers to derogatory credit issues (liens, judgments, slow pays, collection actions) before presenting your application. If there have been credit, profitability or equity issues in the past, present a credible argument as to why these issues have been resolved or how this loan will change this situation.KNOW YOUR OPTIONS All lending is critiqued from a ris
    Receiving maximum reimbursement with quick A/R turnaround in any healthcare practice requires careful attention to obtaining, documenting and communicating information. From the time a patient schedules a visit until the charge is closed out, proper management of information to and from your billing representative means the different between fast reimbursement cycles and slow, drawn out A/R. Information about insurance coverage, demographics, diagnosis and status of claims - coming from virtually all areas of your practice - should flow clearly and efficiently to support clean claim submission the first time around. Here are 10 opportunities in the lifecycle of a patient encounter where efficient management of information will improve A/R.
    1. Initial Patient Contact – Front office staff or the patient scheduler should capture ALL pertinent information when a patient calls to schedule an appointment. Capturing general information like name, phone number and reason for appointment is a good start, but make sure you’re catching payor information as well. Does the patient have insurance? If so, who is the carrier, what’s their plan number? If not insured, are they prepared to pay up front and have they been briefed on your payment terms? Either way, answers to these questions will help in the insurance verification step and/or set proper expectations for payment at the time of service.

    2. Insurance Verification – Either the scheduler or billing representative should use the information from initial patient contact to confirm with carriers BEFORE the office visit. This opportunity offers the chance to confirm enrollment, coverage levels, co-pays/deductibles, etc. Traditional verification of benefits over the phone is effective but time consuming; remember that you can usually save a lot of time using on-line interfaces offered by many carriers today. If the result is “no coverage” for this visit, or the carrier is unable to verify coverage, a follow up call to the patient should yield updated coverage information or at least guarantee everyone is aware of payment responsibilities.

    3. Patient Registration – When the patient arrives at the office, the receptionist or a member of the front desk staff should verify ALL registration forms are accurate and complete. If it’s an existing patient, the receptionist should re-confirm that records are up to date. This step is the key to obtaining/confirming the detailed demographic data required for insurance claim submission – if anything is incorrect or missing, reimbursements can be delayed as much as a month or more. It’s also helpful for front desk staff to reiterate co-pay or self pay obligations at this time to confirm the patient is prepared to remit payment once the visit is complete.

    4. Provide Care & Document Services – While the patient is in the exam room, or immediately following the visit, all diagnosis and care should be clearly documented on encounter forms. Patient forms are then forwarded to the front to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

    5. Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

    6. Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information g
      Changing Careers – Ultimate Tips For Success
      Are you thinking about changing your career? Are you worried about how difficult the transition is going to be? Then you are not alone. Many people go through similar anticipation when thinking about attempting a career change. Your career is among the most important things in your life, and changing it is one of the most stressful decisions you will ever make.Be PassionateThe reason why you would even consider a career change in the first place is probably because you feel passionate about something and want to pursue it. There is no sense in making a change if you are not going to be any happier than you already are. You may be earning a five-figure salary, but if it is not making you happy and if you are not content with what you are doing, then it might be a good time to switch. Changing careers should be about passion an
      al Patient Contact – Front office staff or the patient scheduler should capture ALL pertinent information when a patient calls to schedule an appointment. Capturing general information like name, phone number and reason for appointment is a good start, but make sure you’re catching payor information as well. Does the patient have insurance? If so, who is the carrier, what’s their plan number? If not insured, are they prepared to pay up front and have they been briefed on your payment terms? Either way, answers to these questions will help in the insurance verification step and/or set proper expectations for payment at the time of service.

    7. Insurance Verification – Either the scheduler or billing representative should use the information from initial patient contact to confirm with carriers BEFORE the office visit. This opportunity offers the chance to confirm enrollment, coverage levels, co-pays/deductibles, etc. Traditional verification of benefits over the phone is effective but time consuming; remember that you can usually save a lot of time using on-line interfaces offered by many carriers today. If the result is “no coverage” for this visit, or the carrier is unable to verify coverage, a follow up call to the patient should yield updated coverage information or at least guarantee everyone is aware of payment responsibilities.

    8. Patient Registration – When the patient arrives at the office, the receptionist or a member of the front desk staff should verify ALL registration forms are accurate and complete. If it’s an existing patient, the receptionist should re-confirm that records are up to date. This step is the key to obtaining/confirming the detailed demographic data required for insurance claim submission – if anything is incorrect or missing, reimbursements can be delayed as much as a month or more. It’s also helpful for front desk staff to reiterate co-pay or self pay obligations at this time to confirm the patient is prepared to remit payment once the visit is complete.

    9. Provide Care & Document Services – While the patient is in the exam room, or immediately following the visit, all diagnosis and care should be clearly documented on encounter forms. Patient forms are then forwarded to the front to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

    10. Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

    11. Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information
      Hosting Your Resume Online- A Path to Success
      These days, unless you're an IT engineer the first place you're likely to go to look for job opportunities is the web. Monster is just the biggest example: there are dozens of job listing sites focused on industries, career types and on geographical regions. Many of the general career websites provide an opportunity to file a resume in their database, made available to companies seeking employees. Most have fairly sophisticated search techniques that allow you to search their database of available jobs by area, career type, salary range, industry, company size and so forth.What many job seekers don't recognize is the value of the internet in presenting themselves - an online resume, so to speak. But people who use websites to provide their employment background have found many additional features that will optimize the presentation of
      ion from initial patient contact to confirm with carriers BEFORE the office visit. This opportunity offers the chance to confirm enrollment, coverage levels, co-pays/deductibles, etc. Traditional verification of benefits over the phone is effective but time consuming; remember that you can usually save a lot of time using on-line interfaces offered by many carriers today. If the result is “no coverage” for this visit, or the carrier is unable to verify coverage, a follow up call to the patient should yield updated coverage information or at least guarantee everyone is aware of payment responsibilities.

    12. Patient Registration – When the patient arrives at the office, the receptionist or a member of the front desk staff should verify ALL registration forms are accurate and complete. If it’s an existing patient, the receptionist should re-confirm that records are up to date. This step is the key to obtaining/confirming the detailed demographic data required for insurance claim submission – if anything is incorrect or missing, reimbursements can be delayed as much as a month or more. It’s also helpful for front desk staff to reiterate co-pay or self pay obligations at this time to confirm the patient is prepared to remit payment once the visit is complete.

    13. Provide Care & Document Services – While the patient is in the exam room, or immediately following the visit, all diagnosis and care should be clearly documented on encounter forms. Patient forms are then forwarded to the front to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

    14. Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

    15. Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information
      20 Great Kid Friendly Marketing Ideas for Your Restaurant - Part 2
      It was not very long ago that the only place that thought about kids were the big fast food chains, and even then limited by offering a small toy with the purchase of a hamburger. These days if you don’t create an amazing experience for the twelve and under demographic you will lose their vote!!! So let’s look at a few ideas to get them on side:6. Design a survey especially for themYou already want to get some good feedback to evaluate how satisfied your customers are with your food and service, so the kids will feel special if you do one especially for them. They love an opportunity to tell you what they think and you will get virtually 100% response. The thing that will surprise you most though is the value and the quality of the ideas and suggestions that they will present to you.7. Ask them what they wantDon’t ask
      stration forms are accurate and complete. If it’s an existing patient, the receptionist should re-confirm that records are up to date. This step is the key to obtaining/confirming the detailed demographic data required for insurance claim submission – if anything is incorrect or missing, reimbursements can be delayed as much as a month or more. It’s also helpful for front desk staff to reiterate co-pay or self pay obligations at this time to confirm the patient is prepared to remit payment once the visit is complete.

    16. Provide Care & Document Services – While the patient is in the exam room, or immediately following the visit, all diagnosis and care should be clearly documented on encounter forms. Patient forms are then forwarded to the front to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

    17. Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

    18. Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information
      Three Myths Of Customer Service
      At one time or another, all of us have been aggravated by bad customer service. The complaints are familiar: the dry cleaner who refuses to accept responsibility for staining your shirt; the salesperson who talks to a friend on the phone while handling your transaction; the hotel clerk who treats you like a trespasser instead of a guest.The list goes on. And it happens all the time. Poor customer service is so rampant in this country that we’ve come to expect it.Maybe that explains why most disgruntled customers don’t bother to complain to organizations that don’t give them quality service, they simply take their business elsewhere. They’d rather walk than talk.Yes, I know, you’ve heard this before. Just as you’ve heard about the research revealing that unhappy customers do talk to their friends and family. According to custo
      ront to cross reference with information gathered during insurance verification in Step 2, and the bill for co-pays and self-pay patients is generated.

    19. Collect Co-payment – All patients should be required to stop by the cashier or reception desk to remit payment for co-pays, self-pay, etc. BEFORE they leave. If preceding steps are completed properly patients will already be aware of obligations, so there shouldn’t be any surprises. A receipt can also be generated now for the billing representative to document exactly how much was remitted by the patient, should any later balance billing be necessary.

    20. Claim Generation, Submission, and Carrier Review – Clean claim submission is not just dependent on the information gained in steps 1 through 5, but also on processes that manage data efficiently. A good practice management or medical billing software will address this need, but remember that you usually get what you pay for – it’s usually best to not cut corners. The alternative to spending thousands on software is teaming with a professional medical billing company for, usually, a nominal percentage of receivables. Either way, if information is missing at initial claim submission, denial can add several weeks to the reimbursement process. If all moves smoothly, reimbursements can be forthcoming in as little as 1-2 weeks!

    21. Insurance Reimbursement Received/Documented – Hopefully, all of the preceding steps have progressed smoothly and a clean claim was submitted. Our next step in managing claim information is proper documentation of reimbursements in the medical billing record. This step can often be simplified through electronic remittance and EOB notifications. If you’re not able to use electronic EOBs, then it becomes critical the billing representative is thorough in manual entry of all EOBs received. Keeping close eye on your EOBs – timing as well as reimbursement rates – can also identify which carriers are paying quicker and which might require a follow up call.

    22. Patient Invoicing – This step is about communication with patients. Just like carriers, providing patients with thorough information will further help to reduce turnaround time and minimize questions. Be clear and note dates of service, insurance payments, fees collected at time of service, and total amount due. These statements should be sent out as soon as an insurance determination is confirmed. Many statistics have shown the sooner an invoice is sent, the more likely, and faster, it will be paid.

    23. Enter Patient Payment – Upon receipt of the patient payment, the billing representative should enter payment information into the billing system and prepare to close out the charge. If payment is not received within a reasonable amount of time (i.e. 30 days), the practice should have clear policies in place for next steps. Small balances of say, under $5, might be taken as a write off; for larger balances a second invoice might be sent or the patient may be sent to a collections agency for further action. Regardless of your policies, don’t delay in taking action. A/R suffers most when these balances go unaddressed, carrying forward month after month.

    24. Close Out Charge – Once final payment has been received, or a determination has been made to write off or send to collections, the billing representative should waste no time in closing out the charge.
    These steps can generally be applied similarly with any patient visit in almost any specialty. Whether you have a staff of 20 or just one person, keep these opportunities in mind as you consider ways to improve the flow of information and reduce your practice’s A/R turnaround.

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