…..Every service on Earth, including those found in the healthcare industry, runs on one main thing – money. Naturally, one would think that having a competent billing department would be a priority for every physician and/or medical practice, but you may be surprised just how many mistakes are made everyday while billing for medical services. A mindblowing 80% of all medical bills contain errors according to a deduction made by Boston healthcare advocacy organization Access Project. Furthermore, it is estimated that over 20% of doctor revenues are lost because of errors made in the medical billing process – a staggering amount that can be minimized by holding staff training or delegating billing tasks to a strategic partner, like TukkoMed.

…..Following are five quick tips that can improve transaction workflow and help mitigate unnecessary revenue loss:

  • Train Billing Staff & Encoders – Leaving inept billing/encoding personnel alone to do their best (and probably worst) is a financial disaster waiting to happen. Insurance companies may deny claims that are improperly recorded, which can build up into a massive headache for doctors and patients alike. Train your personnel, introduce the latest guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and put your employees in the best possible position to succeed at what they do.
  • Do Things Immediately – If Not Sooner – While it is true that billing staff have plenty to handle and often need to multitask in order to keep up with the stream of work – it is absolutely vital that they manage time satisfactorily by trying to accomplish everything as early as possible. Any delays in procedure have a direct effect on when a physician gets paid and may cause insurance providers to deny claims that have lapsed during process time or have been deemed late – regardless of validity. 
  • Keep List Of Services Provided – The best way to lose money is to not have an accurate listing of services provided for each and every client. Without one, you run the risk of losing money by forgetting to charge for work you have already put in. Keep an updated report of services performed at all times so that your billing personnel can easily ensure that they don’t miss anything. 
  • Make Sure Payments Are Correct – Always double check to make sure payments are being paid properly and on time. It is not uncommon for patients and/or insurance companies to forget to pay – so it is in a physician’s best interest to stay on top of them. Other times, underpayment may happen – in which case billing personnel must inform the payer and get them to pay the proper amount.
  • Act On Denied Claims – Make sure that your billing staff doesn’t ignore denied claims just because they were denied. Sometimes claims are rejected even when encoded and formatted properly, so your employees should check into denied claims with the intention of challenging them and trying to claim payments if possible. 

…..Making sure you are getting paid right can take a lot of time and effort – but it doesn’t have to be like that. Take the pain of billing away – contact TukkoMed today!

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