Covid-19 has impacted billing departments for healthcare organizations regardless of size. We’re keenly aware of the frustrations so we previously provided little-known ways to improve collections during staffing gaps.
This post takes the topic even further with strategies to achieve timely filing around Covid fluctuations. You know the scenario—long work lists of accounts with no follow-ups. That means either no responses from commercial insurance companies on claims or responses that are too generic. In the past we could call to clarify payment information on a long list of accounts. Now we’re lucky if insurance companies give us the time to handle even one or two accounts.
All of this makes for dwindling accounts receivable and a frustrated billing team. But there’s hope yet as we enter a new year!
Here are three strategies to restructure your collections around Covid-19:
- Create workarounds for timely filing.
Time constraints can cause frustration and many more steps for your billing team. We’ve learned the best path to timely filing is to create projects and lists of accounts you want to focus on. Don’t tackle individual bills, but rather treat billables as a group or set. This allows you run an inventory report to get an idea of where money is and serves as a starting point. It lets you monitor progress by staying focused on the account activity and helps measure collection success. We also make sure an insurance company has everything they need—clean claims, additional documentation and more. If anything is missing, we have the details saved as a group in a spreadsheet for easy reference along with a paper trail of previously requested and fulfilled information. - Send demand letters and create good rapport with insurance companies.
These letters take time to create, including specifically who should receive them, especially considering the various insurance companies across the country. For example, Blue Cross Blue Shield has different products and branches that you need to work around. While demand letters alone don’t produce great results, consistency with follow-through does. Some of the relationships we’ve created with insurance companies have taken years to cultivate. But this good rapport expedites responses, proof of payment and more that would not be possible without good relationships. This effort can be hard for large billing companies that have a lot of customers and billables. At First Coast Billing Group (FCBG), we focus on quality over quantity in many areas and our client size is no exception. - Consider a billing partner that will take old accounts receivable.
We’ve worked with clients who had thousands of bills that were never sent or were billed incorrectly because their large billing vendor wouldn’t take on old business, only new. Unfortunately, some billing companies collect what they can but don’t have time to spend on the details. There is a lot of money to be collected from your legacy inventory so it’s time well spent if you look for a reliable partner to own the process.
FCBG has handled staffing and insurance inquiries for billing clients for over 40 years. We interface directly with hospital and practice databases, allowing our team of professionals to submit claims in bulk on behalf of billing companies, hospitals and medical practices. More than 300 providers trust FCBG with their old accounts receivable. To learn more about our services and technology, visit FirstCoastBillingGroup.com/ar.