Content about Patient Finance

Since most medical practices depend on insurance reimbursements for a majority of their income, it’s important to view payors as key partners to help you grow your business. In fact, a solid relationship with your payors is essential to the smooth operation and profitability of your practice. While most practices are content with the relationships they have, there are times when it makes sense to add new payor partners to your practice.  Below are three common times during the operation of your practice when you should consider adding new payors. 
 

As a business owner, you need to keep track of how much money your business is bringing in, and in the case of a healthcare provider, that amount is largely dictated by your fee schedule. Since there have been so many changes related to healthcare reform lately, now is the perfect time to review your fee schedule to make sure you’re charging patients the right amount for your services based on the reimbursements you get from insurance companies and other sources.
 

Looking for a more efficient way to improve your revenue cycle? Although it can be expensive, obtaining a lockbox with your local financial institution can save your practice both time and money, while improving your collection rate. It can also reduce fraud, which is a growing problem for medical practices of all sizes.
 
(Read MOT's article "Revenue Reality Check, Part I")  
 

Since healthcare providers rely considerably on insurance reimbursements for their income, it makes sense to develop good relationships with payors. Admittedly, dealing with insurance-company policies can be tricky and even cumbersome for busy medical providers, but there are some surefire methods to create stronger, better payor/payee relationships and make the reimbursement process a smoother, faster one. Read on for expert tips on how to do so.
 
Why bother trying?
 

Whether they are trying to understanding exclusions, co-pays, out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles, authorizations, or referrals, patients often find that navigating their insurance plan can often be a confusing and overwhelming task. Particularly, understanding the difference between preventive services and diagnostic services tends to be the most challenging for patients, according to Ellen Risotti, an AAPC Physician Services member in Indianapolis, Ind., who specializes in billing.
 

By Lauri Berger de Brito and Kathryn Kaycoff-Manos
 
Vacations usually involve relaxation, sunshine, and sightseeing…but growing numbers of people are traveling abroad for something else – to have medical procedures performed.  This growing phenomenon is so new it still doesn’t have one name. Some call it Medical Tourism, while others prefer Cross Border Care. Whatever the name, one thing is for certain, the numbers are on the rise both for Americans traveling overseas for medical care and for international patients traveling to the U.S.

By Joshua Greenberg
 
Your staff is friendly. Your wait times are reasonable. From the parking lot to the back office, you have attended to every detail to ensure that your patients have a good experience. But weeks later, when they sit with a confusing pile of bills, what will be the lasting impression of your office?
 

Every healthcare organization has had to deal with patients who either don’t show up for appointments or are more than 30 minutes late. Missed appointments mean missed revenue for practices and other healthcare organizations, while significantly late patients can throw off your entire day’s schedule and force your other patients to wait for you – something that could potentially anger them enough to consider leaving your practice.

If finances, design, staff, facilities or operations didn’t meet your expectations last year, a brand-new calendar year can help you start with a clean slate and set goals for greater success. Remember that you’re not necessarily out to change everything, just the aspects that could use some help.
 
Here, MOT offers you a systematic way to approach the New Year, figure out what’s working and what isn’t, and set a course for future prosperity.
 
Look at the big picture
 

By Chaim Indig
 
From check-in to billing to office policy to HIPAA, medical practices are inundated with paperwork. Patients get aggravated by the sheer quantity of it, while practice staff are so bogged down in managing paperwork that they have difficulty delivering the quality of care that they strive for.
 

In an ideal world, all of your patients would pay on time and in full for every service you provide. Instead, you eventually have to deal with late payments and even delinquent accounts which can severely impact cash flow. When dealing with patients who are unable to pay, healthcare providers must walk a fine line in order to collect that debt and still maintain a positive relationship with patients.
 
Collecting on overdue accounts
 

Ah, the good old days… when it was possible to fill up at the gas station for $20 or less. Today, we’re lucky to leave the pump with our retirement funds intact. 
 
This week, the price of regular-grade gasoline averaged more than $3.87 per gallon across the country, according to the Energy Information Administration. Residents in some states (including Alaska and California) already are paying more than $4 a gallon. That’s a far cry from the $1.41 per gallon Americans were paying in April 2000.