Happy New Year!
Our team is excited about all the success this year will bring for our clients. We have some new processes that we will roll out this year to ensure your success. Please take time to comment on our blog page and link up with us on facebook and twitter. We plan to be very active this year so look for more to come.
As you know, the beginning of the year is deductible time for most patients and deductibles can really deduct your cash flow. The good news is, there are measures to ensure that deductibles don’t cause a disaster to your bank account.
1. Be sure your front desk administrator is checking benefits each and every time a patient is seen. Verify which patients have deductibles, the deductible amount, and how much if any of the deductible has been met.
2. Consider adopting a policy for patients with deductibles. I suggest requiring patients with unmet deductibles to pay a $50 deposit. This will help towards the balance the patient will owe and offset the decrease in collected revenue. Some practices may choose to collect their self pay rate. This is also a good suggestion as long as the rate is not too high. If the rate is too high, it could lead to an abundance of patient credits and refunds.
3. Check patient balances at check in. Identify patients that have outstanding balances at the time of check in. This will help to increase the practice revenue and offset the decrease due to deductible season. Also, this will help identify patients with deductibles that might have been missed.
We realize that medical billing and coding is always changing. Unfortunately, it usual is not in our favor. As savvy business people, we know the power of being proactive. We can overcome many challenges by simply foreseeing and planning.
We wish you an abundance of success during this deductible season and throughout the entire year!
Until next time,
Mylikia T. Ross, Certified Medical Billing Specialist
