How to reduce AR days for Cardiology Billing?
Outstanding Accounts Receivable
(AR) in healthcare are one of the most pressing issues confronting the practices.
In fact, healthcare providers are frequently looking for the best solutions to
reduce their receivables for more than 30 days, as well as ways to prevent them
from happening in the first place. Accounts
receivable (AR)
that is more than 90 days old is a key industry metric for determining the
health of your cardio practice.
According to healthcare
data, AR over 90 days is in the average 15-20% range.
If you have a greater
percentage of AR that is more than 90 days outstanding, you obviously have a
severe cardiology billing problem on your hands.
Lesser the number of
days in A/R means greater efficiency and faster payments. That’s why the
majority of cardiologists want to strive for an average A/R cycle of 30 days
for smooth cash flows.
Reasons
for Increased AR Days:
·
Delays
in filing claims
·
Ineffective
eligibility determination
·
Enhanced
claim rejections
·
Increased
denials and a clumsy appeals process
·
Inaccurate
coding
·
Errors
in data entry
·
Delays
in credentialing
·
Inadequate
posting procedure
As you can see, the
majority of these issues can be easily addressed.
Focus
on Front-End
By separating
administrative work from your cardiology settings, you can concentrate on your
front end. When a patient is scheduled, a staff member can be notified and can
begin verifying insurance information and eligibility, requesting
pre-authorization, and estimating patient liability. Obtaining
pre-authorization in advance helps you to avoid rejected claims and keeps AR
days under control. You won't have to worry about patient collections if your
front-end team works efficiently.
Collect
at the Service Time
You can also follow the
policy of insisting each patient to pay their co-pay before leaving your place.
This will reduce aged receivables and bad debt. Also, ask your staff to submit
a report of co-pays collected so that you can quickly identify delinquent
payments. Some cardiologists are also instituting a 'card on file policy,'
which requires patients to keep their insurance cards on file.
Accuracy
is The Key
The key to quality
cardiology billing and coding is accuracy. Accurate documentation of Medical
Reports, correct usage of Codes, accuracy in Demo entry, Charge Entry, and
Payment Posting are critical for the overall quality of Revenue Cycle Management
(RCM). Inadvertent errors and omissions in any of the RCM scope can result in
claim denials. Therefore, adequate process knowledge and experience in handling
the scope efficiently are required to keep accounts receivable under control.
Tracking
and Analysing
A streamlined and
systematic process can help you to reduce the likelihood of denials. However, a
monthly tracking system will help you gain better control over paid vs.
low-paid and denied claims and aid in taking immediate and necessary reimbursement
steps. Also, analyzing the denial reasons ensures your cardiology practice that
the appropriate billing team is notified in order to avoid repetition.
Management
of Denials
A timely and efficient
Denial Management Process ensures that collection
opportunities are maximized. Because claims with higher AR days have a lower
chance of being paid, identifying claim denials and working towards appeal and
resubmission within the timely
filing/appeal limit (TFL) should be part of revenue cycle
management.
Follow-up
on Accounts Receivable
It is critical to follow
up on resubmitted claims on a regular basis in order to get them paid and
revenue collected. When it comes to processing new claims, any payor
prioritizes denials and appeals over denials and appeals. Therefore, the AR follow-up
team should be well-versed in the nuances of following up on claims on a
regular and efficient basis until they are fully resolved.
Streamlined
and Contemporary Process
Undoubtedly, cardiology
billing and coding guidelines and regulations are constantly changing. Such
changes make it necessary for every cardiology
billing company
to keep their process current by updating their policies, protocols, work
process, and training their staff at any time to meet the current demand.
Keeping atop is required at all times to ensure that you do not encounter
denials for any unknown reason.
Outsourcing
Accounts Receivable to 24/7 Medical Billing Services
Reducing accounts
receivable demands a follow-up of a systematic approach to cardiology billing
for your practice. But most of the providers are preoccupied with patient care
and cannot devote much time to improving their cardiology billing and
collections.
Outsourcing may be the
best way to improve your Accounts Receivable. A cardiology billing company like
24/7 Medical Billing Services is a need of an hour that can handle the RCM
process efficiently and effectively. 24/7 Medical Billing Services is an experienced
billing and coding company that has the expertise and connections with the
payor to expedite your AR and Denial Management process.
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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