Table of content
Train for setting up payment plans
Bill and reconcile daily
Evaluate and reduce insurance denials
Daily A/R Follow Ups
Analyze patient flow regularly
Appoint someone to monitor patient accounts
Professional guidance on transforming your back-office personnel into billing and collections superstars. The front desk employees do check in patients, collect copays, and verify insurance. But there’s more to the story, and being out of sight isn’t the same as being out of mind. Much of the heavy lifting for billing and collections is done in the back office, so having a deep pool of people is even more crucial.
1). Train for setting up payment plans
The front desk frequently finds that a payment plan must be established with self-pay patients or individuals with an unpaid amount. But the back-office crew is the one who makes the arrangements. These programs must be uniform and equitable for all patients.
In your back office, you should have one or two individuals with knowledge of the proper plan set up. In addition, training back office workers will reduce the strain on the front desk to decide whether to waive payments or let their emotions influence their decision-making.
2). Bill and reconcile daily
Ask the provider if you have any queries about their services. Your billers should know the proper modifiers to employ and when to do so. Verify that the billers are submitting accurate claims. Clean claims are paid out right away and can withstand an audit.
3). Evaluate and reduce insurance denials
Is there an overuse of modifiers? Is there a link between denials and medical necessity? Codes that are outdated? If you put in the work to track denials and figure out where you’re going wrong, you’ll be rewarded with higher and faster payments.
Similarly, mechanisms are in place for timely amending and refiling denied claims.
4). Daily A/R Follow Ups
Run insurance aging reports and look through anything older than 60 days. In rare situations, you may need to contact the payer, but most claims are paid within 21 to 30 days of submission. If this is not the case, you must consider what is happening.
5). Analyze patient flow regularly
Every time there is a patient flow issue, the practice pays the price since time equals money. Therefore, the practice manager or office manager should evaluate the patient flow for all services offered, identify any issues, and suggest improvements.
You may perform a patient flow ready, for instance. This will show how long patients can finish checking in and entering the exam room. Keep track of processes at the front desk and streamline them using this. A quicker check-in procedure can increase patient satisfaction and prevent physicians from running late.
6). Appoint someone to monitor patient accounts
Patients’ accounts are kept current by your front office. It needs to be assigned to someone in the back to phone the patients and request payment.
Many businesses contract out this duty. As long as follow-ups are made on an ongoing and frequent basis, it doesn’t matter who calls.
Conclusion
Effective billing strategies are vital for maintaining a healthy cash flow. You can significantly enhance your cash flow by implementing electronic invoicing, offering multiple payment options, establishing clear payment terms, sending invoices promptly, following up on overdue invoices, and offering incentives for early payments. Adopting these strategies will improve your financial stability and contribute to your business’s overall success.