|SYSTEMS|
Recently I overheard a conversation by two team members at one of our offices. My ears perked up when I heard the following comment.
"Ugh! I've been on hold with this insurance company for 30 minutes. Calling our insurance A/R claims can be such a waste of time."
As I thought about that statement, the question came to my mind, "Is it?"
Ultimately, the answer no. If your medical practice is going to have better collections you have to jump through the hoops to get it done. Do you think it is a coincidence that insurance companies underman their claims processing phones and make you wait on hold for minutes or hours?
Here are 5 key steps to consistently getting your A/R (also known as accounts receivable) collected.
Step 1: Divide the A/R amongst the staff. A/R collections isn't a glamour job and like the employee quoted above, it may not be everyone's favorite thing. So share the wealth around the office. For larger offices that may just be spread out around the billing department and for smaller offices it can include front desk and medical assistants.
Step 2: Call on EVERY claim. Was a claim called on just last week or the insurance company said something like "the payment is in process"? Doesn't matter. If the money isn't in the bank, the claim should be called or followed up on. I can't tell you how many times our offices have gotten a claim paid, reprocessed, or magically "found" because we decided to follow up on it again.
Step 3: Set a deadline. In our offices it is the 15th of the month so if an employee is going to be going on vacation or has other tasks to complete, they know they must prioritize what they are doing to make sure their section of the A/R is completed by the deadline.
Step 4: Rotate assignments. Don't make the same employee call the same insurance companies every month. Each month, change up the assignments. Naturally, some insurance companies are harder to deal with than others so this evens out who gets the hard ones and it also gives you a checks and balances of sorts by having a new person call on the claims their teammate called on in the previous month. Less chance of something slipping through the cracks.
Step 5: REPEAT EVERY MONTH. This step is ultimately the most important in that I have worked with many offices that have great intentions but the everyday workload of billing and posting claims gets overwhelming and so the A/R gets pushed off a few days, and then a week, and then before you know it a whole month goes by and no one has called. Someone needs to be assigned to hold the entire team accountable to making sure the task is completed each and every month. The consistency will the be key to greater collections.
Insurances companies are going to do their best to be sure they delay payment on claims for as long as possible and it is your staff's job to be sure you aren't letting those companies off easy.
If you have additional questions, comments, or would like to discuss how Waldo Group can help you manage your practice, shoot me an email at brock@waldocompany.com