Podiatry Billing: Top 5 Pain-Points Of Physicians
Podiatry
is a medical specialty that works on the diagnosis and treatment of the human
ankles and feet. The cost of the services offered by podiatrists is paid by the
insurance companies, patients, or both.
The
most challenging aspect of Podiatry billing for physicians. Many physicians who
work for independently owned clinics and those with small staff have difficulty
managing billing. There are many aspects to the billing process in podiatry
that are complicated, from determining and proving the need for a treatment to
coding nuances. Furthermore, podiatric practices treat primarily the elderly,
necessitating additional billing & coding efforts, since Medicare covers
those patients.
Below are some of the most common billing challenges in podiatry
practices:
- The
frequent changing rules
The
billing as well as coding rules keep on changing and for inexperienced billing
staff, it is different to remain updated with all the changes and adapt to
changes. They need to be trained frequently to ensure clean claims are sent to
payers for reimbursement so there is no delay in the payments. Also, there is a
lot of compliance and audits that happen in podiatry billing, you have to
ensure that all new compliances are met.
- Different
medical billing rules with a different insurer
Not
only you have to ensure changing rules are met, but you also have to have a
system in place which can cope up with different claim procedure different
insurer follows. To ensure all the claims are getting approved on time, you
have to ensure they meet the guidelines of the insurer and there are no errors
in your claims.
- Missing
out on revenue
If you
want to collect money from the payer, you have to ensure you are submitting
clean claims. If there are any denials or rejections, you have to start an
immediate follow-up. The window for this follow-up is small and requires the
team to be well versed with rules and regulations. If the podiatry billing team
is understaffed or inexperienced, they may miss the deadlines or not respond to
denials. In such cases you will have to bill the patient to make the complete
payment or write-off the amount as a bad debt which is harmful to your
practice.
- Collection
of money
Wherever
applicable, your billing staff has to ensure the customers pay their co-pays
for insurance-covered visits upfront. In most cases, the billing team does not
take the payment upfront and wait for the patient to get discharged or even
worse they assume they can collect the due amount post-discharge. Collecting
small amounts after the patient has left costs you a lot of time and effort –
following up, reissuing bills, etc. Even the chances of collecting the money
after the patient has left are reduced.
- Cross-checking
between the claimed filed and reimbursements received
This is
one of the important things to do in Podiatry Medical
Billing and if you don’t do it in time, you will have to
incur huge losses. You have to regularly monitor the claims that are going from
your end and if the reimbursement is coming on time. If they are not, you will
have to take the required action.
Conclusion
Managing
a podiatry practice isn’t an easy undertaking. Whether it’s the day-to-day
stresses of keeping your business running smoothly or integrating new marketing
strategies into your current operations, there’s always too much here. However,
you cannot afford to overlook billing as one of the essential aspects of your
business. It is mandatory for podiatry medical billing to use the technology and
upgrade their billing expertise to ensure no claims are denied or underpaid. If
they lack time and focus on the medical billing
service, they can look to outsource their podiatry billing
services. 24/7 Medical Billing Services is one such billing service provider
that can help you manage end-to-end podiatric billing processes.
About
24/7 Medical Billing Services:
We are
a medical billing company that offers ‘24/7
Medical Billing Services’ and support physicians, hospitals, medical
institutions and group practices with our end to end medical billing solutions.
We help you earn more revenue with our quick and affordable services. Our
customized Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions allow physicians to attract
additional revenue and reduce administrative burden or losses.
Contact:
24/7
Medical Billing Services
Tel: +1
888-502-0537
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