Jun 10, 2020 | Features, Medical Billing Software Blog
Whether you are an experienced EZClaim user looking to learn a new trick or just starting out with the software, “Find Grids” simplifies medical billing within the EZClaim software.
For the average biller, customizing grids is as important as adjusting your mirrors to face in the proper direction before driving your car. At a basic level, grids allow you to sort, filter, and customize your workflow and search needs. However, there is more flexibility available with grouping panels, flexible filtering rows, custom columns, and the ability to create and share widgets within the software—all of which will simplify your billing. (To learn more details, view the “Working with Grids” tutorial below).
CLICK FOR VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ikUIM2AVURQ
The grids feature in EZClaim is a very powerful tool since the grids are highly customizable (they function like a spreadsheet). At the click of a button—or the stroke of a key—you can search for data and align your columns in your find claims field. If sorting to a specific set of claims is important to you, a simple click organizes your data to be queried for rendering. Sorting data has never been easier!
To simplify your workload even further, you can create an “established” find grid (i.e. find patient grids, find claim grids, find disbursement grids, etc.). You then can make bulk changes to the status of each claim without dealing with individual touches. Then, once you have created the filtered columns, you can go deeper and create reports that show you exactly what you want by using the filter editor. This is just one more way that EZClaim makes billing simpler and quicker. “Find grids” simplifies medical billing for all who use EZclaim’s software.
So, here’s a few questions to ask yourself. Is it important for you to customize your grids so that you can find what you need when you’re looking for it? Would you find it helpful to have auto-filters in place and be able to populate your search at the click of a button? Would it be helpful to be able to create a “widget” that you can share with your team?
Well, if you answered “Yes” to any or all of the above questions, then our tutorial on “Find Grids” (click here to view) will guide you through, step-by-step, the most efficient use of the feature. In addition to that, you can also reach out to our customer service team for more details.
If you are new to medical billing, EZClaim can help with your evaluation. You can either schedule a one-on-one consultation with our sales team, view a recorded demo, or download a FREE 30-day trial right now.
For detailed product features or general information about EZClaim, visit our website at ezclaim.com/
May 12, 2020 | Electronic Billing, EZClaim Premier, Features
A recent medical billing webinar on Telehealth that EZclaim hosted is now available to review.
On April 30th, EZClaim hosted a Telehealth Updates Webinar for our clients with guest speaker Sandy Giangreco Brown – Director of Coding and Revenue Integrity Health Care at CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP
We had one of the largest viewing audiences 101 active attendees in the session. Sandy shared informative billing codes and direct links to update hands-on information for billers actively coding Telehealth sessions. For those of you who missed it, we have provided on our website the recorded session ezclaim.com/webinars and can provide the presentation slides too! Just send a request to sales@ezclaim.com
We continue to get views of this presentation and look forward to hosting more hot topics with the CLA Team.
With the onset of COVID-19 came a great opportunity for clinics and hospitals to offer Telehealth and Communication Technology Based (CTSB) services. The Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS, have provided many updates to the available services that can be provided and billed to the patients to help practices not only stay afloat financially but also and most importantly, to keep their staff safe and provide excellent care to their patients!
There were new guidelines released even after this webinar on 4/30/2020 (which can be found here – https://www.cms.gov/files/document/se20016.pdf, and now includes audio-only Telehealth for services such as psychotherapy, tobacco cessation and medical nutrition counseling as well as diabetes self-management training. CMS is also increasing the payments for the Audio Only services from $14-$41 nationally to $46-$110.
As of April 30, 2020, in order to bill Telehealth, RHCs are now required to bill the G2025–CG–95 from January 27, 2020, to June 30, 2020. Then from July 1, 2020, to the end of the PHE, they will be billing the G2025 with an optional 95 modifier, per CMS SE20016 Medicare Learning Network Transmittal.
FQHCs will need to report three (3) codes for their Telehealth Services:
- G0467 (or other appropriate FQHC specific payment code)
- 99214–95 (or other FQHC PPS Qualifying Payment Code)
- G2025–95
CLA is on the frontlines and closely monitoring and analyzing activities related to Telehealth and other virtual health regulations
CMS Telehealth fact sheet, Frequently Ask Questions:
As your practice adjusts to Telehealth going forward, EZclaim’s medical billing solution can help you simplify patient billing and help you get paid for Telehealth visits. (Our recent medical billing webinar on Telehealth may just help you better understand the current situation).
So, to help you investigate how EZclaim’s medical billing solution may work for you, either schedule a one-on-one consultation with our sales team or download a FREE TRIAL to check out the software yourself. For additional information right now, contact EZclaim’s sales team at 877.650.0904 or send an e-mail to sales@ezclaim.com.
[Contributed by Sandy Giangreco Brown – Director of Coding and Revenue Integrity Health Care, CliftonLarsenAllen LLP]
May 12, 2020 | BillFlash, Features, Medical Billing Software Blog
Telemedicine was already growing in popularity prior to the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic. So, as the adoption rate increases, EZClaim clients may have questions about sending telemedicine charges and getting paid for Telehealth visits.
Telehealth challenges can range from issues with technology to getting paid. With Telehealth becoming the norm for many doctor-patient visits, it is important to have a thoughtful approach in place regarding collecting patient payments. To stay in business, you have to get paid for the work you are doing. So, establishing a process for Telehealth consultations is vital to your business, and it should be a top priority to build a successful program from beginning to end.
The answers to the following questions will help set the baseline for how to collect patient payments for
Telehealth visits:
- What is my process for charging for copays?
- How and when do I collect outstanding balances?
For example, if you collect payment before an in-person visit, you should collect payment before a Telehealth visit, too. There is no need to re-create your process completely. Just change what is needed to match your current in-office routine.
Sending Charges Before a Telehealth Visit
A simple way to send pre-visit charges to patients is to provide them with a link that takes them directly to the payment site. EZClaim’s medical billing solution is integrated with BillFlash LinkPay, which enables customers to provide payment for the upcoming visit. So, before the Telehealth session begins, the practice simply sends a link to their patient via an e-mail or text, making the appointment confirmation and the payment processing part of the check-in process. After the payment transaction is complete, it will immediately show up on the practice’s BillFlash report. LinkPay is designed to be easy to use and doesn’t require patients to remember a login or a chart number.
Here’s how EZClaim enables the process through BillFlash:
- Prior to Telehealth visit, the patient is sent a link to pay through LinkPay, and another link to join the Telehealth call
- The patient pays the required amount through LinkPay, which is immediately confirmed and processed
- The patient joins the Telehealth session
- Results and follow-up are completed electronically
- Insurance billing is completed
- The patient receives a paper statement or eBill notification for any remaining balance
- The patient is directed to pay the remaining balance online at MyProviderLink.com
Automate What Can Be Automated
With so many changes taking place in healthcare, a great way to help protect the financial stability of your practice is to automate what can be automated. This saves your staff time and decreases your cost of doing business.
One way to do this is to set up automatic payment plans for patients, particularly for those who have been hit hard by the economic impact of COVID-19. A payment plan is a good way of keeping the revenue flowing in, and it shows your patients that you are compassionate and willing to help them through these unprecedented times.
BillFlash also securely stores payment information, so patients will not need to re-enter their information every time they pay a new bill.
As you continue to adjust to Telehealth going forward, BillFlash can simplify patient billing and payments significantly and help getting paid for Telehealth visits.
So, for a LIMITED TIME (during May 2020), EZClaim customers can try BillFlash statement and eBill services for FREE for 30 days. Click on this link for more details about BillFlash or try it out for the next month.
For additional information, call BillFlash at 435-940-9123, or contact EZclaim’s support team at 877.650.0904 or support@ezclaim.com.
[Contributed by James Easley VP, Marketing NexTrust Inc.]
May 12, 2020 | Live Compliance
Ransomware Targeting Medical Billing Companies
As the number of healthcare providers taking advantage of Telehealth increases during this uncertain time, the number of ransomware attacks continues to increase as well.
Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system until a sum of money is paid. Microsoft says, “Multiple ransomware groups that have been accumulating access and maintaining persistence on target networks for several months activated dozens of ransomware deployments in the first two weeks of April 2020.”
The attacks are targeted towards aid organizations, medical billing companies, manufacturing, transport, government institutions, and educational software providers, however, Microsoft says that it doesn’t stop with critical service groups and suggests all networks are aware of these attacks and taking necessary steps to limit risk. NetWalker ransomware, for example, gained notoriety for targeting hospitals and healthcare providers with e-mails claiming to provide information about COVID-19.
Have you had an Accurate and Thorough Security Risk Assessment and/or penetration testing?
If you haven’t completed an accurate and thorough security risk assessment, you could also be penalized under ‘willful neglect’ (this category alone is $50,000 per violation!) in addition to the higher risk of ransomware attacks. What we do is keep this from ever being a worry for you! We perform your security risk assessment and manage all of your requirements, 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, or email me, Jim Johnson at jim@LiveCompliance.com or visit
www.LiveCompliance.com
Live Compliance has partnered with EZClaim medical billing software to strengthen what they can provide for you. It provides all of your HIPAA Privacy, Security Requirements, and Measures. HIPAA compliance is a requirement for Covered Entities and Business Associates to safeguard personal, private, and protected health information—allowing organizations to relinquish the struggle of compliance requirements.
You can investigate the EZClaim medical billing software by either downloading a FREE DEMO or just contact our knowledgeable sales staff to answer any and all of your questions by phone at (877) 650-0904 or by e-mail at support@ezclaim.com.
[ Contributed by Jim Johnson of Live Compliance ]
Mar 10, 2020 | Health eFilings, Partner
There are many commonly misunderstood aspects and nuances with the MIPS program, particularly in how points are earned. For a healthcare practice, it can be challenging to know exactly what to do to earn points, optimize the score, and protect their Medicare reimbursements. But, at the same time, the stakes have been raised every year and the final ruling of the program is even more complex than it has been in the past, further increasing the stress, burden, and financial risk for a healthcare practice.
The approach a practice takes to report for MIPS will greatly impact the results. Many do not understand or have awareness of, the different reporting methods available to them. Many Providers erroneously still think that a registry is the only reporting option available to them or that they are required to use a registry. Or, they think that their EHR covers their reporting obligation or that an EHR’s reports satisfy the MIPS requirements. These misperceptions and erroneous assumptions are detrimental to the financial interests of any practice.
There is a third reporting methodology that has been established and authorized by CMS, called CEHRT, or Certified EHR Technology (software). The CEHRT methodology assists CMS with their need for more valid data submitted through technology and to refocus Providers from merely using technology towards Providers leveraging technology to improve outcomes. Reporting via a CEHRT using software that has been certified by the ONC is a superior approach because it optimizes the points that could be earned and therefore, maximizes Medicare reimbursements for the practice.
Recently an RCM company CEO approached us at Health eFilings with the decision to use six of her clients to conduct a side-by-side comparison of the registry and Health eFilings (CEHRT) methodologies for reporting. In this manner, she intended to validate for herself whether a CEHRT or registry would generate the greatest ROI for her clients. The results of using Health eFilings’ MIPS Accelerator service, on average earned almost triple the points versus a registry for the same year for the same clients.
“Due to limited understanding and guidance, we weren’t aware of the differences of the reporting methodologies available for my clients. We believed there was greater opportunity, but the current registry methodology we had chosen didn’t demonstrate that for our clients.”
Katy, RCM Company CEO
This side-by-side comparison highlights not only that a CEHRT is a superior method of reporting as Health eFilings was able to leverage technology to facilitate the ease, accuracy, and completeness of tracking and reporting, but it also maximizes a Provider’s MIPS score. Additionally, given the levels of Medicare reimbursements for these practices, the higher score resulted in their earning a positive payment adjustment, which significantly improved their bottom line. And, take note that if the Registry were to perform the reporting for the 2019 reporting period, these practices would not earn enough points to avoid the penalty of negative 7%.
Health eFilings with its proprietary ONC certified software has many advantages over any type of registry:
- Automatically extracts data from any EHR or billing system
- No staff or IT time required to comply
- Benchmarks performance versus peers based on CMS standards
- The proprietary algorithm evaluates 9 million combinations to select the best quality measures to optimize the score
- Earn 10% in bonus points for the Quality category
- eCQM deciles earn more points than registry deciles
- Almost all eCQM’s have a CMS benchmark versus less than 25% of registry measures
- Electronically submits the data to CMS
And, important to note that it’s NOT too late to comply for the 2019 reporting period as Health eFilings is able to support new clients, but time is of the essence. Reach out NOW if you or your client hasn’t reported for 2019—there is NO REASON to accept the 7% revenue hit.
Now EZClaim and Health eFilings want to ensure you can partner with the only complete, end-to-end MIPS compliance solution that saves you significant time and money. To learn more, click the following link: https://healthefilings.com/ezclaim
[ Article was written by Sarah Reiter, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships with Health eFilings ].