Insurance and government rules and regulations have certainly clouded the healthcare landscape over the past year or so, and with such clouding has come to rise of unclean claims for healthcare providers. Essentially, an unclean claim is one that requires a healthcare provider or patient to jump through extra hoops in order to provide information that backs up a claim. This, in turn, can be tedious and expensive for both patient and provider.
“Clean claims“, on the other hand, can speed along the process of wellbeing for both healthcare providers and patients. A clean claim is often one that is considered to be easy by patients and healthcare providers, and most of these start with getting to know patients needs.
Get to Know Your Patients
One of the best ways to obtain clean claims is to get to know your patients, before they enter your practice and during their time at your practice. Your administrative medical billing staff need to know what a patient is in for prior to services being rendered, and it is imperative for staff to know what a patient has received in terms of services afterward. Failing to secure this information can lead to delayed or rejected claims, thereby costing your practice money.
Neglecting to get the right insurance information upfront might also leave the patient on the hook when he or she is surprised by a medical bill from your practice days, weeks, or months later. This can then culminate in negative brand identity for your practice and its services, leaving you scrambling to fight negative reviews online and in person.
Consider Late Fees and Interest
If you deal with unpaid invoices, maybe it’s time to consider charging late fees and interest. A successful medical practice can only be as good as the revenue it takes in, and while your primary goal is to help people, you need to think about where your practice is going into the future. As such, consider charging late fees and a certain amount of interest on unpaid invoices for vendors and unpaid bills to patients. This will not only help to send a straightforward message to all involved parties, but it will also help your practice to establish itself as the one to turn to for patients and potential patients in your area.
Keep Up With Changing Laws
As 2018 is upon the medical industry, it’s more important than ever to recognize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its impact upon healthcare. The ACA requires insurance companies to provide certain levels of care, but it also forces insurance companies and customers to offer pertinent information in order to allow them to be eligible.
As a business owner, it’s likely that your requirements for patient record retention will change in 2018. If you’re an employer who provides healthcare, PracticeSuite, located aT www.practicesuite.com, is available to help. Whether you want to learn about practice management system or you want to develop a practice management system that includes efficiency guidelines, PracticeSuite can help.
