If you're like most eyecare practices, you're up to your ears in electronic claim filing work, so it seems like there's no time to take on anything "extra". Unfortunately, a lot of practices treat their electronic billing reports as something extra when it isn't. In fact, we think it's one of the most important parts of the billing cycle. That's right, PART of the billing cycle.
You wouldn't ignore any other step in the billing process, would you? If you did, you would pretty much guarantee claim rejections. But while ignoring reporting doesn't cause rejections on the claims it details, it could cause you to miss something that will result in future rejections or underpayments. Now do we have your attention?!?
Your clearinghouse solution - whether your practice is using OfficeMate or another EHR software - should be generating these reports for you and all you have to do is open them and read them. (You don't have to compile anything yourself!) And, the reports hold all sorts of juicy information about your claims, like:
- How many claims were filed
- How many claims were paid
- How many claims are delayed
- How many claims have been rejected
- Reasons for delays
- Reasons for rejections
- and much more....
Those last two are key! When you look at your reports, you'll quickly be able to identify the reasons that claims are rejected, which means you can correct it! You may be surprised how many practices keep resubmitting claims, over and over, with the same mistake that caused the rejections in the first place. They would have known what to change if they would have just read the electronic billing reports!
We are on a mission to help eyecare practices think of the reports as a part of the billing cycle, not just a summary of it. It's crucial and can help you get paid, and that's what we're all about!
Are you reading your medical electronic billing software reports regularly? What advice do you have for anyone that isn't paying attention to these reports?
Selecting a clearinghouse is an important decision for any practice. You need to make sure you are picking the service that is right for you, so we've put together some important things that we think you shoud consider...
Before committing to a clearinghouse, ask yourself:
- What is the enrollment and set up process going to require?
- Do they offer training for you and your staff?
- What type of commitment is required? Can you do month-to-month service?
- Is their support team knowledgeable about your specialty?
- What do their exisiting customers say about them? (testimonials)
In addition to our questions, we found a great list of things to ask from the Washington State Medical Association. Check a few of them out below:
- How will the clearinghouse affect the current physician practice management system and workflow?
- Does the clearinghouse offer access to payers that represent a significant portion of the physician practice? What is the relationship between the payer and clearinghouse?
- How are the charges to the physician practice assessed (eg, Monthly, per user, per transaction)? What is the typical term for payment (eg, net 10, 15, 30 days)? What method of payment is acceptable?
- What are the system requirements for the physician practice?
- What is the clearinghouse claims transaction process for gathering data from the physician practice and submitting the claim to the payer?
- Does the clearinghouse allow for real-time connection and resubmission of claims to all payers accessed through the clearinghouse?
- What additional services does the clearinghouse offer and, if applicable, what are the charges?
- What types of reports does the clearinghouse provide to the physician practice regarding claims submission and payment?
See the full list of questions here (it's on the second page!)
Also, make sure you ask about any specials, discounts, or referral programs. These are great ways to offset the cost of a clearinghouse!
We think these things are all important things to consider, but we wonder if there is anything else that you would advise a colleague to think about. Did we miss anything? If so, post a comment!