And What You Can Do to Solve Them

With all of the recent changes in the medical billing arena including the introduction of the updated ICD-10 coding system, it has never been more important to the success of your practice to keep up with the frequent changes in billing procedures. Here are 4 important factors you should take into account to avoid these medical billing issues. as you begin updating and maintaining your offices billing procedures to avoid these medical billing issues.

Stay Updated on Code Requirements – As has already been mentioned, the new ICD-10 billing code has already gone into effect as of October 1st. With the addition of over 50 thousand new billing codes, (That’s right – “50 Thousand”!!) if your office hasn’t already made provisions to accommodate these massive changes you stand to lose a substantial amount of time and energy, not to mention income. Make sure your billing department receives the proper training to handle these new additions and requirements for filing claims and avoid an avalanche of problems getting paid by providers.

Develop a System to Auto-Verify Patient Coverage – People are often confused, misinformed, or unsure about what exactly their insurance does, and does not cover. That is why it is imperative that your office employs a system, which automatically verifies that the services you are about to render are actually covered by the patient’s coverage. There are available software programs to aid you in developing these systems.

Take Advantage of EHR Software- If not already in use, consider training your staff in the use of an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system. EHR software will allow your AR department to consistently track patient information over long periods of time. This helps to create an accurate and detailed medical history including information on medications, vital signs, immunizations and much more. An efficient EHR system makes tracking patient data a breeze saving you man-hours and money!

Expedite Claims Follow-Ups – Do yourself a favor; if your AR department only files claims once a week consider changing that policy so that follow-ups are filed every day. It should go without saying that a consistent revenue stream is important to the success of your practice. Avoid long gaps in payments by minimizing the grace period that only filing once a week affords the provider. This will tighten up payment schedules and ultimately be a great benefit to your practices bottom line.

With all of the changes in codes and laws currently taking place the medical billing waters are churning heavily right now; don’t get tossed around like an unmoored dinghy. You have no doubt spent a great deal of energy creating the best practice you can, so, protect it by streamlining your billing procedures and maximize your profits!