It’s time to wrap up your 2021 billing and collections and ring in the new year by building out a better billing workflow!
The end of the year is approaching, is your physical therapy billing workflow leaving money on the table? If you don’t have a billing workflow in place, your physical therapy billing process might be missing opportunities to smooth out the experience and make patient billing a daydream instead of a nightmare.
MEG loves helping private practice owners who are seeking billing solutions for physical therapy in order to take the stress out of the end of the year. Check if you’ve implemented these 6 steps in the billing process.
Step One: Pre-Collect Data
Your physical therapy website isn’t just a marketing tool.
It can be an invaluable data collection tool as well. Hosting your patient data collection forms online is convenient for your patients (no one wants to fill out pen and paper forms at the front desk). Plus, it helps you verify benefits ahead of time, so you’re prepared to discuss billing when your patient comes in.
Step Two: Verify Details & Document
Avoid messy issues with chasing down payments when insurance doesn’t cover a service. If you collect patient data before the visit and then verify it before the appointment, you can ensure billing is smooth from the first visit.
Unfortunately, even in 2021, this often requires a phone call. Have your front desk team verify:
- Deductible and benefits caps
- Eligibility and coinsurance or copay
- Where you should send the claim and if there are any special forms or documentation needed for it to be successful
- Whether you need prior authorization
If you use a rule such as a 72-hour rule for verification, it will give the front desk time to talk with the patient about their coverage. If they decide to cancel, you’ll have time to fill the opening with another patient, which is especially important during the end-of-year booking rush.
P.S. Here are more tips to run an effective front desk!
Step 3: Talk Benefits With Your Patient
Your patient probably doesn’t know all the details of their benefits. Be sure to remind them from time to time and about what insurance will cover before the beginning of treatment in order to help your patient avoid any expenses they may not have expected.
You can also include a patient responsibility form in their paperwork explaining that anything not covered by insurance is the patient’s responsibility.
Step 4: Have a Check In Process
At MEG, we train to collect over-the-counter collections pre-visit. Nevertheless, check-outs help the front desk have one more moment to schedule follow-up appointments and ensure they’ve been able to collect any in-person payments they were unable to collect at check-in.
Remember, it’s far easier to collect any due balances while you still have your patient in front of you.
Step 5: Make Following Up on Rejections a Priority
The longer you wait to follow up on a rejected claim, the more likely it is to stay rejected, especially during the end of the year rush. Be sure your back office makes finding these errors and correcting the claims a priority when they happen.
Step 6: Use a Trusted Billing Partner
It should come as no surprise that there’s an easier way to handle your billing. Leave it to the experts!
MEG has a team of highly trained private practice billing specialists who can cover your end-of-the-year billing strain and collection issues so your team can focus on patient care.
Learn more about our private practice billing solutions!
