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A significant amount of healthcare practices still use an outdated medical billing system. This only exasperates one of the most common issues facing medical practices today: getting patients to pay their healthcare bills on time – the key to shortening the payment cycle and ensuring healthy cash flow. Any error and delay will not only hurt your finances but also create a frustrating patient experience that can erode trust and hurt patient retention.

As patients are now responsible for a larger portion of their medical bills, payment collection has become more complex and challenging. You have to cater to consumer expectations and behaviors, which is very different from working with insurance companies.

To streamline your processes, minimize errors or delays, and improve the patient experience, you need to understand the top medical billing mistakes and learn how to prevent them.

Top Medical Billing Mistakes and How to Solve Them

Here are some common medical billing mistakes healthcare professionals make, how they can impact your ability to collect payments, and what you can do about it:

1. Limited Payment Options

Most consumers prefer to pay their bills online using credit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, Amazon Pay, and other methods. If they have to write a check, find an envelope, and hunt for a stamp, they’re less likely to send payments promptly.

If you aren’t offering a variety of patient payment options that are convenient for your patients, they’re more likely to delay paying their bills, which means your cash flow will suffer.

Solution:

Set up an online payment portal that allows you to process various payment methods to make it as easy as possible for patients to pay you. You can also offer payment plans to encourage patients to make an immediate payment.

In fact, medical systems that implemented patient financial engagement solutions like payment portals and text reminders experienced a valuable return on the investment.

Your payment site should be fast and secure (e.g., comply with HIPAA and HITRUST standards) to deliver an outstanding user experience that’ll encourage patients to pay on time while ensuring that you’re adhering to strict industry regulations.

2. Inadequate Patient Communication

Today, most consumers choose to receive invoices and other notices electronically. Patients are expecting medical practices to offer digital communication options like eStatements and text reminders due to the increased clarity and simplicity. Digital communications reach patients faster and help encourage prompt payments.

Patients will hold off paying their bills if they’re hit with surprise charges, which also impact the patient experience and retention rate. They’re also less likely to pay promptly if they don’t understand your billing procedure or their financial responsibilities before receiving treatment.

Solution:

Providing patients with the option to receive eStatements and text message reminders allows them to take control of their healthcare experience and can improve patient satisfaction and loyality.

Make sure patients understand their treatment options and financial responsibilities before any procedure. Having a quick conversation with the patient can prevent costly and time-consuming misunderstandings or disputes down the line.

Provide training to your staff so they have the right knowledge and communication skills to handle these conversations with clarity, empathy, and compassion. Implement financial policies to make communicating estimated costs of services and informing patients about their financial responsibilities part of your standard operating procedure.

3. Avoiding Automation

Imagine juggling countless patient files, deciphering complex insurance codes, and battling endless paperwork, all while facing tight deadlines and shrinking staff. This is the harsh reality for many medical billers today, leaving them burnt out and overwhelmed. Limited resources further exacerbate the strain. Understaffing and outdated technology create a perfect storm for billing errors, delayed claims, and frustrated patients. The consequences are real, impacting both the financial health of healthcare providers and the overall patient experience.

Solution:

By integrating AI-powered solutions, medical billing systems can:

• Streamline repetitive tasks: From claim scrubbing and coding to data entry and payment processing, automation handles the heavy lifting, freeing up precious staff time for more critical tasks.
• Reduce errors and delays: Automation ensures accuracy and compliance with complex regulations, minimizing denied claims and boosting revenue collection.
• Improve patient experience: Faster processing and proactive communication with patients translate to smoother billing interactions and enhanced satisfaction.
• Empower medical staff: Billers equipped with automation tools can focus on patient interaction, resolving complex issues, and providing personalized support

Investing in automation isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about rehumanizing the healthcare billing experience. By taking the burden off overworked staff and ensuring accurate, timely billing, automation allows healthcare providers to focus on what truly matters: delivering quality care to their patients.

4. Fraud Charges and Medical Billing Errors

Did you know that up to 80% of medical bills contain errors? These can be caused by poor documentation, missing explanations of benefits, incorrect patient information, etc. Also, duplicate and wrongful billing can create a frustrating experience and increase your administrative cost.

Medical billing mistakes aren’t just inconvenient—they can trigger investigations and billing audits, which can increase cost, result in penalties, and damage your practice’s reputation.

Solution:

Avoid using non-specific diagnostic codes, incorrect modifiers, or inaccurate billing codes. Automate your billing process to minimize errors and delays associated with having to manually re-key the information from one system to another.

Stay on top of medical billing changes, which can impact how you submit claims, determine patient responsibilities, and more. It’s not easy for providers, especially smaller practices, to make sure that their systems are keeping up with all the requirements. Outsourcing your billing process to a reputable third-party provider can ensure that your procedure adheres to all the requirements while minimizing administrative costs.

5. Patient Data Protection

Medical billing and payment processing is complex and highly-specialized. Without the right tools and expertise, your staff could be spending hours on the processes and still make costly mistakes.

In addition, the IT cost associated with maintaining an up-to-date system has become cost-prohibitive for many practices. However, without the proper infrastructure and security measures, you could run into compliance issues (e.g., HIPAA) that will result in hefty fines.

Solution:

Outsource your medical billing, patient statement mailing, and payment handling to a reputable third-party vendor that meets the highest cybersecurity standards (e.g., HITRUST certification). This will not only reduce your ongoing overhead associated with billing and payment processing but also ensure that you’re staying compliant with the latest security standards to protect your patients’ sensitive information.

6. Confusing Patient Statements

Patients are more likely to pay promptly if they understand what they’re paying for. If your billing statement is hard to read or understand, patients will have to call your office to get clarification before making a payment.

Not only will the delay impact your cash flow, but having to answer queries from individual patients will put a strain on your resources and increase the administrative cost.

Solution:

Use a patient-friendly statement template to minimize confusion. Consolidate line items and make sure the charges are properly explained. Use clear language and include explicit directions (e.g., how to make payments). You can also include a QR code so patients can simply scan it and make payments using their mobile devices.

7. Inefficient Denial Management

Denied claims can be a major revenue drain for providers, with administrative back-and-forth often leading to delayed or lost payments. Manually correcting and resubmitting denials is time-consuming and inefficient.

Solution:

Investing in denial management software can streamline the process of identifying and resolving billing errors, automating tasks like claim verification and resubmission, and optimizing communication with insurers. This can significantly reduce denials and improve revenue collection. Proactive claim scrubbing tools can analyze claims before submission to identify potential errors and prevent denials upfront, further saving time and money.

Final Thoughts

By eliminating the top billing mistakes in your medical practice, you can shorten billing cycles, maintain healthy cash flow, prevent regulatory violations, and deliver a better patient experience that will help you retain more patients and become more profitable.

Want to see how you can streamline your billing and payment processes with a state-of-the-art system? Learn more about our statement printing and payment solutions here.

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