Thursday, May 28, 2020

7 Ways to Improve Accounts Receivable and Cash Flow

Could your healthcare facility make use of cash flow sitting stagnant in your Accounts Receivable(AR)?  

Are issues like claim denial, bad debts, needless write-offs, and high staffing turnover hindering your cash flow and efficiency?  


Do you simply want to ensure you are running your medical billing in the most productive and profitable manner? 



Below are 7 ways to make sure your AR is efficient and you improve cash flow! 

1. Create a Routine for Follow-Ups
          Whether you follow up daily, weekly, or once a month- you should have a set routine.  A routine ensures no claim goes without being followed-up and that they are followed-up in the most efficient and correct manner.  Have a system for when you follow-up via email, through online portals, and phone call (phone calls tend to be more successful).  A routine might include which day of the week/month you follow-up, how you initially conduct the follow-up (phone call, portal or email), how far between follow-ups, your secondary follow-up method, and so on.  A routine will ensure claims do not get forgotten or swept under the rug.

2. Have a System with Checks and Balances
          As you are establishing a routine, implementing a system with checks and balances will make certain your claims are proofread, accurate, complete, and ready to be collected.  By putting more than one set of eyes on your claims, you can save valuable time and by not needing to spend labor correcting and resubmitting claims. Yes, you may think the labor of having extra eyes might outweigh the benefit- but, even just a few seconds of review can save hours of having the same person try to figure out what caused the error

3. Increase the Frequency of Collection
          If you are currently submitting and/or only following up monthly on your claims, then you may consider increasing your submissions to bi-monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly.  Increasing your billing cycles means the recipient gets the claim sooner, and in return the claim can be collected sooner.

4. Be Proactive
          This may be a no-brainer and a practice you already adhere to, but before a patient comes in for their appointment or treatment, verify their insurance to make sure they are qualified with your facility.  This can save both you and your patient major headaches when it comes to getting bills paid and collecting AR.  When the patient is aware of their copay and deductibles coming into the appointment, they can be more prepared, and you will be too when it comes time to collect. 

5. Review, Review, Review Write-offs!
          Before writing a claim off, go through all payment options and be sure each have been utilized, plenty of follow-ups have been conducted, and the claim is correct.  Rather than just throwing things at the write-off pile, be thorough and adamant about what gets written off and try hard to collect before resorting to writing off.

6. Run Accounts Receivable Reports
          Examining trends in your collections and accounts receivables will show your team where they need to shift their focus.  REVEX can quickly and efficiently run custom AR reports to help you identify trends and boost your billing team’s efficiency and cash flow.

7.  Outsource!
          Outsourcing your collections on claims, old AR, and AR reports can save you time, money, and increase your cash flow exponentially!  For example, REVEX is an automated medical billing service and software that can be customized to your specific billing needs.  Do you have a high turnover in your billing staff?  Trust REVEX to step in seamlessly with our 20+ experienced billing managers on staff to help with your headaches.  REVEX software helps our teamwork with your team to communicate and delegate your AR collections for optimal collections.  Any billing problems you have, let REVEX help!

Please leave comments, questions, and feel free to expand on our post at the bottom of the page!  We love to hear from other professionals in the industry and to collaborate on how medical billing processes can be improved!  Thanks for reading.


Wednesday, May 13, 2020

How to Avoid the 5 Most Common Medical Billing Denials


Medical claim denials are a problem for your cash flow. You work hard at reviewing the claims, making sure they are correct and submitted on time. Then, a few days later, the remits come through and 10% of the claims are denying. Likewise, the cost of the re-works is approximately $2.30 per claim. 

If you are like us, you will spend a few hours reviewing these denials and realize how easily they can avoided. You may also realize how much time you could have saved by focusing on the front-end of billing.

Whether you have been in medical billing for 1-year or 30-years, you have run across at least one denial each month. Although denials are a part of the billing cycle, there are ways to prevent claims from denying.

Nevertheless, what are the most common denials? We would like to help you by providing the five most common denials as well as how you can prevent them.

Not only will this help improve cash flow but it will also help you save time in your follow-up process.

By being prepared, you can help your organization stay on top of your claims and avoid the common errors in the future.

The five most common denials throughout medical billing are:

1. Coding Errors
2. Duplicate Claims
3. Expired Timely Filing
4. Incorrect/Missing Information 
5. Non-Covered Charges

Coding Errors
One reason your claims may deny or are denying is that the codes are either missing or inaccurate. For example, Medicare Inpatient Part-B claims require both the onset code and the corresponding occurrence codes for your therapy disciplines. Without these codes, Medicare will deny your claims.

Prevention Tip – Before submitting the claims, review the occurrence codes section to ensure the required codes are present. We recommend having a copy of the therapy report to ensure you use the correct dates and codes. 

Duplicate Claims
A duplicate claim, by definition, is a claim that contains the exact same member identification number, provider number, date of service, type of bill, procedure codes and billed amount of another claim. How does a duplicate claim happen? This happens when you submit or resubmit a claim without the proper adjustment codes or by not reviewing previously submitted claims.

Prevention Tip – Before submitting the claim(s), make sure that an adjustment claim has the corresponding adjustment type of bill and/or references the previous claim. Likewise, you will want to review with the payer if there are any existing claims that will cause a duplicate claim error.

Expired Timely Filing
Perhaps the easiest to avoid but also the easiest to overlook. Most payers have strict guidelines for when you must submit a claim in order for them to process the claim for payment. For example, Medicare’s timely filing limit is one year from the dates of service. 

The process seems simple enough, submit the claims before the time limit and you are set. However, there are some claims which have issues preventing them being processed. Perhaps the member’s coverage was not active yet, you were busy working on another project, or there were larger claims that needed your attention. Whatever the case may be claims can slip through and ultimately become uncollectable due to timely filing.

Prevention Tip – Keep a record of the claims that you need to submit. Likewise, you need to update your report each week to ensure you have submitted all of the claims and that they are on track for processing. 

If you need a quick and easy way to document your notes call or email us to schedule a demo of our AR Note Tracking Software REVEX. This will help prevent your claims from denying for timely filing.

 Incorrect/Missing Information
Another reason claims deny is that the claim is missing or has incorrect information. For example, the claim is missing the patient’s identification number. Once the payer receives the claim, their system will audit the claim information and immediately trigger a denial.

Prevention Tip – Before submitting the claim, make sure you review each demographic field to ensure the resident’s Date of Birth, insurance number, payer ID and/or name is correct. 

Non-Covered Charges
One of the more complex denials is non-covered charges. Non-covered charges require research to ensure you will receive full reimbursement for the services rendered to the patient. This denial occurs when the patient’s plan does not cover the codes on the claim. Likewise, this denial occurs if the claim contains codes that do not match other items on the claim. 

Prevention Tip – If you are dealing with a Medicare Replacement, Medicare Advantage, etc. make sure you call the patient’s plan to confirm if the services are covered. Likewise, make sure as you get ready to bill you review the claim’s revenue codes, modifiers and/or the diagnosis codes.


Summary
Preventing claim denials does not have to be stressful. By focusing on the up front billing (quality checking the claims) and having excellent documentation you can prevent denials on your claims. 

Likewise, as you progress each month you will be able to identify the key fields which caused the denials; and thus, reducing the time it takes you in corrections.




Sources:
https://www.changehealthcare.com/insights/medical-billing-denials-avoidable
https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/top-5-medical-claim-denials 
https://www.m-scribe.com/blog/bid/353875/top-5-medical-claim-denials-in-medical-billing

#1: YOU WAITED TOO LONG
#2: BAD CODING
#3: PATIENT INFORMATION
#4: AUTHORIZATION 
#5: REFERRALS
Tired of having your claims get denied? Hire a medical coding company! Contact MEREM Healthcare Solutions today.

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Monday, May 4, 2020

Meet the REVEX Team!

We're Excited to Work with You & Your Billing Team!


REVEX Team (from left to right); Cory Boyle, Patrick Walker, Molly Crockwell,
Dani Barry, Harrison Cobb, Mary Asher, Jane Hoang
Billing Operations:

Meet Cory Boyle!
Time with REVEX: Since 2003
Favorite part of working at REVEX: Developing new technology
Job title/main duties: Managing Member
Favorite food: Anything free!
School Attended: K-State Bachelors, KU Med Graduate School
Hobbies: Raising children
Interesting fact about you: I love nutrition and fitness but am overweight and out of shape
Favorite accomplishment: Masters in Health Admin
Hometown: Topeka, KS
Family: Tara (wife), Hudson (12 years old son), Romy (10 years old daughter), Gemma (8 years old daughter)
Favorite sports team(s): K-State Wildcats
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Meet Harrison Cobb!
Time with REVEX: Since August 2014
Favorite part of working at REVEX: The family-centered and relaxed work environment
Job title/main duties: Director of Operations & Sales - I identify major trends, support & align the team with priorities of our customers.  I also meet with customers to discuss collections performance.
Favorite food: Sushi, BBQ
School Attended: Missouri Western State University (Undergrad), Baker University (MBA)
Hobbies: Writing & filmmaking
Interesting fact about you: I played collegiate baseball & have a baseball award named after me at Missouri Western
Favorite accomplishment: Starting a family
Hometown: Olathe, KS
Family: Megan (wife) and Fletcher (son)
Favorite sports team(s): Chiefs, Royals, & Jayhawks
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Meet Patrick Walker!
Time with REVEX: Since January 2019
Favorite part of working at REVEX: Working at a smaller firm means more flexibility.  Also, problem solving involves everyone and everyone's input is valued.
Job title/main duties: Director of IT- I maintain RPA performance as well as the performance and access of our data systems.  I also work on specialized AR projects.
Favorite food: Pizza
School Attended: Grandview HS, University of Kansas
Hobbies: Weightlifting, mountain biking, scale radio control
Interesting fact about you: I spent 14 years in the military.
Favorite accomplishment: Graduating Universiry
Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
Family: My girlfriend & daughter
Favorite sports team(s): KC Royals & KC Chiefs
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Meet Mary Asher!
Time with REVEX: Since July 2013
Favorite part of working at REVEX: The people I work with, both co-workers & clients
Job title/main duties: I'm not even sure anymore.. Medicare billing
Favorite food: Mexican
School Attended: Turner HS (Kansas City, KS)
Hobbies: Reading, puzzles, singing, attending Church
Interesting fact about you: I have two children 20 years apart with the same husband!
Favorite accomplishment: My family
Hometown: Kansas City, KS
Family: Ed (husband), Zee (daughter), Jonathan & Jennifer (my son & his wife); Baylee, Chayse, Kendyl, Landry (granddaughters)
Favorite sports team(s): Whichever my son and grandchildren are on!
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Meet Jacob Sirna!
Time with REVEX: Since February 2020
Favorite part of working at REVEX: My co-workers
Job title/main duties: Office Manager- Printing & mailing claims, running reports, & helping out where I can.
Favorite food: Italian
School Attended: Ottawa University
Hobbies: Reading, working out, sports, hanging out with friends & family
Interesting fact about you: I am currently reading about the economic history of the U.S. 
Favorite accomplishment: Graduating college with a bachelor's degree
Hometown: Overland Park, KS
Family: Mom, Dad, my younger sister, and my dog
Favorite sports team(s): Chiefs, Royals,  Jayhawks, & Sporting KC
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Marketing & Sales Operations:

Meet Dani Barry!
Time with REVEX: Since January 2020
Favorite part of working at REVEX: The fun work environment & flexibility/freedom to be creative
Job title/main duties: Marketing Manager/ I design social media graphics & posts, make product videos, communicate with clients & future clients, as well as come up with fun campaigns.
Favorite food: Chicken Marsala
School Attended: University of Central Missouri (Psychology BS, Sociology MA, MBA-Marketing)
Hobbies: Exploring KC, doing ANYTHING sports related, reading
Interesting fact about you: I played basketball at UCM for 5 years & won a conference championship
Favorite accomplishment: Graduating with 3 degrees
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Family: Mary (mom), Tom (dad),  Angela (older sister), Tommy (older brother), Levi (my pup)
Favorite sports team(s): Chicago Blackhawks, Chicago Cubbies, KC Chiefs, and the Royals (diff. division than my Cubbies;)
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Meet Jane Hoang!
Time with REVEX: Since December 2019
Favorite part of working at REVEX: Friendly & supportive work environment
Job title/main duties: Marketing Manager- Data Science
Favorite food: Seafood (crab is my love), Italian, BBQ
School Attended: Avila University
Hobbies: Photography, cooking, hiking
Interesting fact about you: I can't eat fresh strawberries- but I like strawberry smoothies, cake, and ice cream!
Favorite accomplishment: Conquering Mount Fansipan (10,312 ft; 3,143 m) in 4 days and 3 nights.
Hometown: Vietnam
Family: I am the eldest child with a younger brother and younger sister.  My mom is a biology teacher at the secondary school and my dad is an engineer at a tanker company.
Favorite sports team(s): KC Chiefs!
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Meet Mollie Crockwell!
Time with REVEX: Since January 2020
Favorite part of working at REVEX: My co-workers are amazing and I love learning something new everyday in the medical billing industry.
Job title/main duties: Marketing Manager/ I correspond with prospects daily to inform them of the services REVEX has to offer.  I also assist in creating posts for all of our social media platforms.
Favorite food: Any kind of pasta!
School Attended: Missouri State University
Hobbies: I love to play with my doggies and spend time with family & friends.
Interesting fact about you: I am obsessed with avocados!
Favorite accomplishment: Buying my first house a couple of months ago!
Hometown: St Louis, MO
Family: I am married and have two beautiful puppies!
Favorite sports team(s): KC Chiefs!

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