How to Reduce Medical Billing Errors
If you’re a medical biller, NEMT provider, or if you work at a healthcare facility, you understand how important medical billing is to your practice. Billing ensures that all services have been paid for properly and that you receive reimbursements to earn your profit. But along the way, it’s common to run into errors, including claim rejections and denials. While these are frustrating roadblocks to encounter, they aren’t going to ruin your business. Even better, there are tips you can follow to improve your process and, in turn, reduce and correct medical billing errors.
How to Correct Medical Billing Errors
Medical billing errors aren’t completely unavoidable, so when you do encounter a problem in your claims, it’s important to understand how to fix it. We highlighted ways to reduce billing errors by being both proactive and reactive. Take a look below.
Confirm Correct Patient Information
One of the biggest reasons for rejected and denied claims is incorrect patient information. This is typically information that is collected before an appointment, so it’s crucial that those asking the questions record answers down accurately. Information like correct name, address, social security number, birthday, correct insurance information, and more, all need to be submitted properly on claims to avoid reimbursement delays.
Properly Train All Staff Members
Since medical codes and billing requirements are constantly being updated, having regular training sessions for your staff members is important to keeping everyone on track with the right information.
Invest in Medical Billing Software to Correct Errors
Billing NEMT software is an ideal tool for your business for a variety of different reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason to look into software is to reduce the number of medical billing errors on your claims. We all know errors aren’t completely unavoidable, but software makes them a rare occurrence. This is because a comprehensive billing system scrubs every claim for errors before it’s submitted. If an error does happen to slip by, you can fix the problem in seconds and resubmit without setting back your progress. Beyond that, electronic billing gets reimbursements into your pockets faster and gives you the opportunity to receive custom reports to view your business’s performance. Overall, you’re able to run a smoother, more productive operation with billing software. When will you make the switch?
File All Claims on Time
Most insurance providers request claim submissions be submitted within 60-90 days of the service, and if a claim is rejected or denied, an additional 45 days is usually allowed to appeal the claim. This sounds like a comfortable buffer, but when you start pushing claims off, they pile up close to deadlines. Software makes it easy to complete claims in a timely manner, and if you’re approaching a deadline, you can set reminders to guarantee you’re never late.
Team Collaboration
You hire smart, well-rounded workers to get the best results possible. Your business becomes even more productive when you work as a team. Your medical billing team should split up claim responsibilities in a way that makes the most sense at your practice, and if someone needs assistance or has advice for a better process, that’s what teams are there for. There’s power in numbers, and you’ll get more claims processed faster when you work together.
Pinpoint Your Weaknesses and Refine the Process
Your business is always striving to do the best work possible and provide top-tier services for your customers. Success starts from within, so if you see a need for improvement with your internal process, it’s time to restructure. Talk about what you can all do better as a team, and adjust to move in the right direction. And, if you’re still trying to operate without billing software for non emergency medical transportation, give the team at iSi Technology a shout to find out what your business is missing.