Simple errors of medical billing in Miami hospital departments cause difficulties for different parties. On the one hand, the patient is confused by the mistake and could fight against making any payments. Conversely, revenue management at the medical center is affected by a loss of profitability and increased inefficiency. Nevertheless, there are billing practices to utilize to stabilize these issues.
Don’t Rely on One Staff Member
Smaller hospitals, emergency clinics, and surgical centers might not have the budget to hire a team of accounting representatives. Instead, they rely on one staff member to handle all payments and receivables. This is bound to lead to errors as the employee is overwhelmed by billing requests.
The best thing to do here is to hire more staff. Either directly bring in additional accounting professionals or outsource your billing to a third party. The latter has an advantage as it tends to hire medical billing experts.
Ensure Coding Is Correct
Another common error that medical billing in Miami hospital departments often see is inaccurate coding. The coders rely on accurate dictation by surgeons and other providers to appropriately bill patients. However, to get information out quickly to financial representatives, they provide the primary codes but not add-ons.
This hurts the institution’s revenue management instead of the patient as it lowers payments. This is best resolved by a regular audit. For instance, accounting representatives should get together with surgeons every quarter to discuss codes they may have missed for certain procedures.
Provide Patients With Upfront Cost Details
Much of the confusion related to billing issues is with upfront costs. These are the amounts patients need to pay before their insurance deductible takes over. This is becoming more frequent as individuals choose policies with lower premiums and higher deductibles.
To avoid issues and decrease the patient’s stress level, it’s always best to provide upfront cost details well ahead of time. For instance, for a surgery scheduled several weeks out, a sheet detailing their upfront costs should be sent. This gives the patient time to review the information and consult with their insurer.
Offer Payment Plans
On top of providing the necessary cost details, billing departments should offer payment plans to patients before services are addressed. This does two things. First, it eases their stress levels. Second, it offers the medical center an opportunity to receive regular payments rather than having the patient default on the bill.
There are plenty of medical billing practices to begin utilizing for stronger management of revenue. If you believe the processes can’t be handled within your staff, then consider outsourcing our billing issues to a third party.
Contact one of our representatives to learn more about the services we offer at J3 Revenue Cycle Management. Our 24/7 operations may be the solution you need to improve your medical billing in Miami hospitals.
