Is your claim reimbursement in line with your contracted fees?

This type of analysis is invaluable to any medical practice.  Once you have signed on that dotted line with the payer, you are wise to ensure that you are receiving the proper reimbursement based on the agreed upon contractual rates.  In the daily whirlwind of activity in the medical office, office staff seldom has the time to comb over the detail of every paid line item.  

A monthly report that compares the payments received to the payer’s fee schedule will indicate payments that are below (as well as above) the payers contracted fees.  Payments that are below should immediately prompt a call the Provider Relations Department.  For payments above the contracted fees, research has to be done on the accuracy of the fee schedule you are using, for instance, perhaps the payer has updated its schedule and you have not.  

This type of report could also make you aware of overpayments. If those are pre-emptively refunded to the payer, it will show your practice to be following proper procedures in the eyes of the payer.

These two reports are just a small sampling of the extensive selection of practice management reporting options built into the Report Center module of Iridium Suite Medical Billing Software.

Be sure to watch for the upcoming publication of Part 3:  Temperature.

Check the Vital Signs of Your Medical Practice-Part 1

A Medical Practice is a unique business in many ways, but it is still a business and must be treated as such.  Checking the health of your practice is similar to checking the health of your patients.  In this three part series, we will look at these Vital Signs, pulse, blood pressure and temperature, to help you assess the financial well-being of your medical practice.

We will begin in Part 1 with the Pulse -     

How many new patients are you seeing each month?

By analyzing the trends month over month, you will be able to calculate your current growth rate and estimate the potential need for increased staffing and other infrastructure changes.  If close monitoring of your patient numbers shows a progressive decline or steep increase, it can give you the opportunity to research the reason why.  One reason could lie in the next item on our list, referrals.

Who is referring those patients to you?

With the almighty internet, physicians have been able to reach out much more easily and cost effectively to a wider range of patients.  While many people with basic medical needs may feel comfortable doctor-shopping online, there are many who have complicated issues.  These referrals generally come from colleagues and satisfied patients.  Know which providers in your area are referring patients to your office and always keep the lines of communication open in regards to those mutual patients.  

A happy, well-taken-care-of patient is the best advertising.  Many times less than stellar office staff can scare away patients who “love” their doctor, and those unpleasant episodes can make their way back to the referring colleague.  Watch for trends that would show a reduction in referrals from a particular source and take the time to reach out personally.   

These two reports are just a small sampling of the extensive selection of practice management reporting options built into the Report Center module of Iridium Suite Medical Billing Software.

Be sure to watch for the upcoming publication of Part 2:  Blood Pressure.

Inaccurate or non-specific diagnosis coding can adversely affect your reimbursement of medical claims.

Many categories of the ICD-9 contain codes that represent the non-specified site of a certain neoplasm. The are typically indicated with a “9” as the last digit of the code.

Even though all of these codes are viable, accepted diagnoses, many payers, especially Medicare, highly encourage the use of the more “site specific” codes. Failure to be specific can in some instances cause Medical Necessity denials as the non-specific codes may not be listed as acceptable in the payers' Medical Policies. 

Also, if audited, a discrepancy between the treating diagnosis in the medical chart and the diagnosis submitted on a claim, could cause payment reversals and money due back to the payer. 

In all medical specialties, the patient medical record should dictate what services are billed and the diagnoses used.

One specialty example is Radiation Oncology. The prescriptions for Radiation Therapy Treatment Courses are very site specific, so this information is one of the most helpful tools in proper diagnosis coding when used in conjunction with patient data the medical staff has entered into the medical record.

In any specialty, but quite frequently in Radiation Oncology, a patient can have numerous diagnoses that require treatment. In these instances, it is especially important to indicate the proper diagnosis priority on your services. The priority one diagnosis should always be the current treating diagnosis for the service you are billing.

Another frequent situation in Radiation Oncology billing arises when treating a patient for metastatic disease. The metastatic treatment site will be listed as the priority one diagnosis with the primary original site diagnosis listed as the second.

Other specialties would follow a similar scenario if they were treating a complication diagnosis, billed as priority one, from an initial diagnosis, billed as priority two.

Billing and coding software with comprehensive ICD -9 and ICD-10 code files, as well as an ICD 10 conversion crosswalk, such as Iridium Suite can assist your office in accurately billing the most specific diagnoses for the patients in your practice.