Optometry includes curing vision-related problems, fitting of lenses, diagnosing and treating certain ailments of the eye, sight testing, and correction by the initiation of diagnosis, treatment and the supervision of vision changes. Having its own set of issues with billing and reimbursement, Optometry must focus on receiving the entire payment for treatment provided.
The following points illustrate how you can get full reimbursement in optometry billing:
USE THE CORRECT CODE
As a busy optometrist, you need to be thorough with the current procedural terminology (CPT) codes that are used for reimbursement in Medicaid and Medicare. A successful optometrist you will need to be conversant with codes falling under 92 and 99 series so that problems with reimbursement are avoided.
ENHANCING OPTOMETRY BILLING
Choosing the right service for billing in optometry is critical to ensuring continuous cash flow for your practice. How well your insurance claims are processed determines how financially strong your practice will be. Your billing specialist should be able to submit all claims timely. An optometrist makes optimum use of advanced instrumentation for high-tech diagnosing. Consequently, billing has to be accurate for clean and swift reimbursements.
AVOID COMMON OPTOMETRIC BILLING AND CODING ERRORS
There are three common billing and coding errors every optometrist should know and avoid. These common errors are:
- Over-coding an examination occurs when you bill a level of service higher than the normal value.
- Under-Coding is the most common error in optometry. It involves billing a problem-focused evaluation and management office; at a lower level than the examination, decision-making support, and the patient’s history.
- Billable Procedures happens when you don’t finish the coding process by billing the patient’s medical insurance for the examination
INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT
“Choosing the right insurance panels to be a provider for is extremely important for increasing your practice profitability.”
When it comes to insurance reimbursement, the first step is to ensure that you have proper documentation of your exam. If you fail to document any test conducted at all, it implies that you didn’t carry it out. If you want to have a continuous cash flow for your practice, you have to take the step of choosing the right service for optometry billing and coding. The right service ensures that your insurance claims are well processed, and your practice is strong money-wise.
FASTER ON YOUR CLAIM REIMBURSEMENTS
Maximizing your revenue from insurance claims in the optometry industry is complex. Multiple coding standards, filing guidelines, and payers can complicate the claim management process. And, not having the right people, processes, or software in place can keep your practice from capitalizing on both vision and medical claims revenue.
An optometrist makes optimum use of advanced instrumentation for high-tech diagnosing. Consequently, billing has to be accurate for clean and swift reimbursements.
