Running a financially stable medical practice is a challenging task. With the added challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in billing guidelines and reimbursement policies, things are getting tougher over time. Medisys Data Solutions is a leading medical billing company providing complete revenue cycle solutions for practices of various medical specialties. As we are working with various practices, we observed key processes that need to be improved for a better collection of practice revenue. In this article, we shared 5 easy steps that will help you in improving practice collections. Even though the below-mentioned list is not inclusive, these 5 easy steps are good points to start with.
Improved Scheduling
Improved patient scheduling plays a key role in improving medical practice revenue. Many practices face high numbers of no-show visits that negatively impact their bottom line. Whatever might be the reason, whether patients are forgetting, or having low levels of patient loyalty it’s clear that the scheduling workflow is not working. By reducing no-shows, providers bill more for completed services, complete more follow-up care with their patients, and are not wasting their time when their patients do not show up. Most billing software offers patient scheduling feature that comes with easy client communication option like text messages, emails, or chats. With improved scheduling, practices can improve their scheduling numbers, reduce no-shows, and positively impact their practice collections.
Improve Front Desk Activities
Your front desk staff handles key revenue cycle processes like patient registration, benefits verification, patient collections, and payment follow-ups. Efficient and well-trained front desk staff ensures the above-mentioned RCM activities are completed as planned and in the most efficient way. They should be trained in collecting payments and explaining the reports of the benefits to patients. Front Staff members should inform patients of any balance they’re carrying and explain the available payment options. Your front desk staff should also make it clear to your patients that they’re expected to pay their balance before their next appointment. You can create a script that staff members exactly what to say can make them more comfortable in dealing with overdue accounts. It’s also vital that your staff always remain courteous and respectful, regardless of the number of times they contact the same patient about an unpaid bill. With the rise in High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP), patient responsibility is increasing exponentially. You can start tracking patient collection reports on a weekly basis to track the performance of the front desk team. As the front desk represents your practice, improving front desk activities will ensure better patient collection and could result in higher patient satisfaction.
Improve Clean Claims
As per standard definition, a clean claim is a medical claim that is submitted correctly the first time, leading to a faster turnaround on payment than when a claim is rejected or denied. Submitting a clean claim directly relates to how quickly a provider receives payment from an insurance provider. By collecting accurate patient demographics and insurance information, the front desk staff lays the groundwork for clean claim submission. Practices can maximize their clean claims rate to protect and optimize timely payments and positively impact their medical practice revenue. A standard deadline should be decided to submit a clean claim after the patient visit. You can submit a claim within 48 hours after the patient visit, try to submit a clean claim within 24 hours of the patient visit.
Transparent Payment Policies
Patients are often blindsided by medical bills they haven’t included in their budget, which is one of the biggest reasons that healthcare providers have such difficulty in collecting payments. It’s especially important for medical practices to inform patients of the exact cost of a procedure so they can determine if they can afford it. Transparency also means that your waiting room needs signs that clearly state your payment policy. Plus, your patients need more payment options if you want them to make more payments. Patients want to pay their medical bills just as they would pay their rent or their electric bill, online or over the phone. Without accessible options like this, patients will forget or even avoid making payments on their medical bills, negatively impacting your medical practice revenue.
Partner with a Medical Billing Company
The biggest challenge in running practice is retaining well-trained and expert staff. When you are focussed on improving practice collections in 5 easy steps, your staff plays a crucial role, because as a practice owner, you can’t do everything on your own. Partnering with a medical billing company ensures that you don’t have to worry about day-to-day billing activities. Medical billing company like Medisys Data Solutions handles complete medical billing and coding activities like benefits verification, prior authorization, charge entry, payment posting, denial management, AR collections, provider credentialing, and enrollment. As a practice owner, you just have to check the billing reports to understand billing status i.e., paid claims, unpaid claims, pending AR (day wise), patient collection, insurance collections (payer wise/procedure code wise/patient wise), clean claim percentage, denied claims, top 5 denial reasons (payer wise, patient wise), and other RCM data. To know more about our medical billing and coding services, contact us at info@medisysdata.com / 302-261-9187
