Apr 13, 2020 | BillFlash, Partner
Medical billing managing collections during COVID-19 will be different than it was in the past. It has already changed a lot about how medical practices operate, and in a short amount of time. One thing that hasn’t changed, however, is that practices need to get paid in order to continue operating. This includes sending patients to collections when necessary.
Managing late or unpaid bills during economic uncertainty may require a different approach than you’re used to. Before you send patients to collections, make sure you take these steps first.
- Be upfront about payment expectations from the beginning
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- You should already have a strategy in place regarding informing patients how much they owe for services. Stick to it. Many people are hoping for leeway on certain bills due to the economic impact of COVID-19, but gently remind your patients that for essential healthcare services to continue, practices need to keep revenue flowing, and that means billing will continue as usual.
- Set up payment plans
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- If a patient is unable to pay a bill in full, help them set up a payment plan. BillFlash PlanPay lets you set up scheduled, automatic payments to be paid over a set period of time. This is the best option for both you and the patient because:
- The patient has a more manageable bill
- Your practice is more likely to be paid in full
- Setting up a payment plan shows your patients you’re willing to work with them. That’s usually all they need to be assured that you care.
- Send out multiple reminders
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- Use whatever resources you have—email, phone, text, mail—to contact patients about balances they owe. Be courteous in your reminders, but firm. Most patients want to pay their medical bills. Often all they need is a simple reminder and an easy way to make the payment.
- BillFlash helps you manage all of this during the pre-collections phase to help ensure you are paid as quickly and completely as possible.
If none of these steps work, then it’s time to get collections involved.
What to Include in a Collections Letter
Include all the facts of the visit. This includes:
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- Date of service
- Service provided
- Amount patient owes
- Payment options
Tone of the Letter
The right tone in your letter can do more to ensure payment and a continued relationship with the patient than anything else you include. You need to convey a sense of urgency, but without being overbearing and intimidating.
A few tips to keep in mind:
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- Empathize with the patient. Simply saying “We understand you may be experiencing financial difficulties at this time” is more likely to get a response than a curt “final warning” threat.
- Explain why it is important for the patient to pay anyway. Example: Like any other business, our practice relies on revenue to thrive. In order to continue to provide these valuable healthcare services, patients need to pay their bills in full and on time.
- Offer a payment plan. Give patients one more opportunity to pay their bills in smaller chunks over a period of time to avoid having their accounts sent to collections.
We’re all experiencing difficulties during this global pandemic. The only way to get through it is to work together. Being upfront with patients about payment expectations and being willing to work with patients who have fallen on hard times will help all of us through this global health crisis.
BillFlash Collections Services can help you in managing collections during COVID-19, and simplify and streamline all your other collection processes for you, saving you the headache of exporting, importing, and working with a disconnected agency.
As an EZclaim ‘preferred’ partner, BillFlash is fully integrated with the EZclaim Premier billing application. For more details, view this informational video: https://www.rcm.billflash.com/ezclaim For more information about the EZclaim billing solution, view our website: https://ezclaim.com/
Mar 10, 2020 | Live Compliance, Medical Billing Customer Service
Whether you are a person new to medical billing or someone who’s been in the business for years, launching a new medical billing practice can be hard. Understanding the market, connecting with new clients, and knowing how to master your processes are challenges that you often learn as you go. Despite these challenges, it is rewarding to be out on your own growing a new company. Before you jump, let us help you understand some essential keys that you can research upfront and prepare yourself to get one step closer to being successful.
1. ONE BILLING PLATFORM VERSUS MULTIPLE PLATFORMS: First and foremost you must make a conscious decision to either focus on being an expert on an individual medical billing platform, like EZClaim or tackling multiple platforms. There are pros and cons of both: being an expert can make you extremely efficient in your use of the software’s billing and, scheduling features, however, it can also limit your client base to only one set of software users. Whereas having a basic understanding of multiple platforms can allow you a larger base of medical offices while limiting your ability to truly understand how best to serve each individual client’s needs.
Pro tip: Start and master one trusted billing program, and grow your options as your billing business grows.
2. GET CLEAR ON THE CLEARINGHOUSE: A new billing company owner does not want to be held to just one clearinghouse as options are key here. Having the ability to work with any or many would be an essential piece to your billing services, however, you still want to know the best clearinghouses in the business. Understanding which clearinghouses provide the best products and services and being able to recommend those services to your client upfront will make your life easier and their business run smoother. For this very reason, EZClaim has built its software around partnerships and integrations with the best clearinghouses to make working with the one you need easy.
3. COMPLY OR DIE (HIPAA Compliance): The third key to any start-up is first understanding the importance of HIPAA Compliance. Medical billing firms literally can come crashing down with any missteps, mistakes, or misunderstandings of this essential piece of the puzzle. It goes without saying that if you are going to choose a billing software be sure that they have partnerships built around making sure you are protected. You are also responsible to make sure the data is protected so your customer and their patient’s data is safe.
HIPAA Hint: Check out Live Compliance for further details on the topic.
There are many options available out there for your new medical billing practice, and we recommend doing your research. Within that research, you will find that EZClaim ranks very high in performance and comes in at a great price.
To learn about EZClaim go to our about page, sign up for a demo, and/or download a trial for free today!
Mar 10, 2020 | Live Compliance, Partner
An independent physician gastroenterology practice in Utah had to report a breach related to a dispute with a Business Associate to the Office for Civil Rights Department of HHS.
After the investigation into the breach, it was determined that the practice of Steven A. Porter, MD “had failed to complete an accurate and thorough risk analysis, and failed to implement security measures sufficient to reduce risks and vulnerabilities to a reasonable and appropriate level” and therefore, has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine.
In addition to the monetary penalty, the practice is required to implement a Corrective Action Plan (CAP). According to the investigation resolution agreement, the practice agreed to conduct a thorough Risk Analysis, the Practice must develop a complete inventory of all its categories of electronic equipment, data systems, and applications that contain or store ePHI, which will then be incorporated into its Risk Analysis and must complete a Risk Management plan. They must also revise and implement actionable policies and procedures, all of which should have been in place prior to the breach incident.
Have you ever read such headlines and doubted whether a small Billing Company or independent physician practice actually ever face penalties?
According to the Resolution Agreement, the practice must also completely reinvent its Business Associate process, and implement a strict protocol to ensure it’s Business Associates are HIPAA Compliant. In addition to ensuring their Business Associate relationships are accurate, the entire staff must undergo security and privacy training that stresses the use of Business Associate services and applications, disclosures to Business Associates that require a Business Associates agreement, or other reasonable assurances in place to ensure that the Business Associate will and can safeguard the PHI and/or the ePHI. This puts immense pressure on the Business Associates, such as Billing Companies, to ensure that they are HIPAA Compliant, but also independent physician practices to ensure their Business Associates, “down the chain” are also compliant. This is also known as gaining Satisfactory Assurance of vendor HIPAA compliance.
What can you do?
As we have stressed before, it is important for you to understand that every complaint or potential breach must be investigated by HHS/OCR. If you, a billing company, or another vendor, suspect a breach you must inform the covered entity (your client) and have a breach risk assessment completed to determine key factors and take action. Keep in mind, a business associate is a ‘person’ or ‘entity’. This means there is no Billing Company too small or too large to comply with the Federal HIPAA regulations. Again, if you haven’t completed an accurate and thorough security risk assessment prior to that, you could also be penalized under ‘willful neglect’. This category alone is $50,000 per violation!
What we do is keep this from ever being a worry for you! In fact, we have a 100% audit pass rate! For example, Live Compliance has easy to understand HIPAA breach notification training. We perform your security risk assessment and manage all your requirements, including business associates, in a clean, organized cloud-based portal. Don’t risk your company’s future, especially when we are offering a FREE Organization Assessment to help determine your company’s status. It’s easy, call us at (980) 999-1585, email me jim@LiveCompliance.com or visit LiveCompliance.com
[ Contributed by Jim Johnson, President of Live Compliance ].
Mar 10, 2020 | BillFlash, Partner
This article about new patient billing methods was written by Angie Carter with NexTrust.
Communication is easier than it’s ever been, but a lot of practices aren’t taking full advantage of two of today’s most effective mediums of communication: email and texting. Patients, like all other consumers, spend a lot of time on their phones; it’s where they keep in touch with friends and family, as well as businesses they work with regularly.
Most practices rely heavily on phone calls to contact their patients about appointment reminders, insurance issues, etc. But many adults now prefer to communicate via email or text. Often a quick phone call will do the trick, but email and texting get your foot in the door a lot more often. Furthermore, people are far more likely to respond to a text or email than a voicemail.
Here are a few ways to build your contact list at your practice to improve communication with patients, ensuring greater patient satisfaction and better cash flow.
- Collect cellphone numbers & email addresses during new patient registration.
Consider making these required fields. Allow the option to fill out more than one email address or mobile number as well, since most households have several. It would also be helpful to quickly explain why you need this information. BillFlash allows you to send out regular statements and eBills through email and text, and you can also quickly update your patients on any last-minute changes happening at your practice.
If you have a newsletter or regularly send out practice updates, make sure patients know about these as well. This is another opportunity to ensure you have the information you need to better communicate with your patients.
- Ask for an email address & cellphone number any time you confirm an appointment.
Even if your current patients have already given you this information, use appointment confirmations as an opportunity to verify the information you have on file is current. Email addresses change all the time, so it’s crucial to ensure they’re up to date so you know your messages are being received. And for patients who haven’t yet provided this information, this is a good time to tout the benefits of being digitally connected.
- Encourage mail-only patients to go paperless.
A huge barrier to patients paying their bills on time—or at all—is that it’s often not as simple to pay a medical bill as it is to pay, say, a utility bill. BillFlash simplifies this process tremendously, both for the patients and your practice. By providing an email address and cellphone number, patients can more easily stay current on their medical bills and procedures.
- Ask patients to provide feedback on your website.
Give your patients a space to express their thoughts at their convenience. Include a form on your website for patients to fill out—which would include their email address and phone number—and add the info they provide to your database. You could also post signs throughout your office encouraging patients to visit your website to provide feedback about the care they received that day.
- Add cellphone number/email to check-in sheet.
Most practices require patients to sign in whenever they come in for an appointment. Consider adding a column or two that asks for their email and cellphone number. At the top of the column, you could include a note that says something like “Want to receive appointment reminders via text or email?” to reiterate the benefits patients will receive by providing this information.
- Offer patients an incentive to provide their email address & cellphone number.
People love free stuff—that’s a given. Try running a fishbowl incentive every few months. All patients would need to do is drop their email address and/or cellphone number into a bowl and they’ll be entered into a drawing to win a prize. And why reward just the patients? Incentivize your office staff to collect this information as well.
Everyone has a cellphone number and email address, but it does take some effort to collect them. But it’s an effort that rewards you many times over, as this makes it easier to keep patients in the loop and ensure you get paid. BillFlash makes it easy to automate patient billing and payments—including sending reminders via email or text—to improve the financial health of your practice.
BillFlash is integrated into the EZclaim billing application. Click here to view a video that discusses the details.
For more information about new patient billing methods and sending electronic bill notifications through text and email, contact EZclaim or their statement and payment services partner, BillFlash, at 435-940-9123 or sales@billflash.com
Oct 30, 2019 | Medical Billing Software Blog
Welcome to the latest addition to our website, the EZClaim Medical Billing Software blog. As we begin posting blog articles we hope you will continue to come back to learn more about EZClaim software solutions, our U.S.-based white-glove support, features that make your job easier, expert training, and the latest trends in the medical billing software industry. Be sure to join our user community on LinkedIn as well as our new Facebook page. These channels will allow you to keep up with us and learn from and share information with other EZClaim users.
In addition to giving you the latest news, updates, features, and appearances related to EZClaim and our great people, this Medical Billing Software blog will be host to the latest trends in the field. We have tons of great content lined up to share with you from our internal experts as well as our partners to make this a repository of useful information that you can count on again and again.
EZClaim has been at the forefront of medical billing software since 1997 and is currently in use in all 50 of the United States, including the territories of Guam and Puerto Rico. Every practice works differently and has different needs, that’s why EZClaim is power-packed with features that give you the options to streamline workflow to suit your needs.
If you’re interested in learning more about how EZClaim can streamline your practice’s billing and scheduling needs, sign up for a free demo today! Want to learn more about the features that make EZClaim so simple and powerful? Take a moment to review our upcoming or pre-recorded webinars.
Do you have an idea for a topic or a tip to share with other EZClaim users? We’d love to hear from you! Please send your topics and tips via email to sales@ezclaim.com.
