The introduction of new office technologies grants healthcare providers the ability to achieve higher levels of productivity in their back-office’s administrative and billing tasks. Medical practices and other healthcare clinics should fully utilize EFTs and electronic remittance technologies.
More work is capable of being processed almost instantly, or at least at a faster rate when compared to past practices. The old approach of bundling work into a larger batch meant that work was delayed until a certain threshold was reached. However, delaying work is not the best practice if centers and clinics want to maintain a steady cashflow.
A goal is to always try and streamline the back-office process as much as possible. Time is money and substantial office resources are spent on accurately managing administrative and billing tasks. Well-established technological practices such as using EFTs (electronic funds transfers) and electronic remittance advice saves time and will generate less mistakes in the long run.
Here is a brief summary of what actually are EFTs and electronic remittance advices.
What is an EFT?
Electronic funds transfer are used by many health plans in the United States. ETFs is an electronic message that orders financial institutions to electronically transfer funds to a medical provider’s account in order to pay for delivered treatments and procedures. This transfer includes the paid amount, identity of payee and payer, bank account information, routing numbers and the payment date.
What is an Electronic Remittance Advice?
In the case of electronic remittance advice is the transmission of two types of data: explanation of benefits (EOB) and payment information. EOBs are obtained from a health plan to a participating medical practitioner. These are used to explain how health plans have adjusted claims charges. The charges are based on items such as copays/co-insurance, secondary payers, contract agreements and benefit coverage.
More Productive, Less Mistakes:
Electronic remittance allows for the direct posting of payments. Automating this process saves time, increases efficiency and is more secure. Some practice management systems actually have the capability to electronically post payments. Many insurance payers, such as Medicare and Medicaid, utilize electronic remittance technology as part of their reimbursement policies.
Less mistakes are created due to the fact that medical staff are not directly handling the transaction. Manually inputting data is almost always more time-consuming. Human errors are bound to happen. Especially in situations where staff members are inexperienced or trying to work as fast as possible. Automated payment posting processes is possible through the use of electronic remittance.
The Persistence of Mistakes:
If medical office staff are operating under deadlines, are tired or are just trying to do too many things at once – clerical mistakes can occur. However, these errors can generate denied and rejected claims. If these mistakes are not quickly detected as well as corrected, a practice’s cash flow will start to shrink.
Once mistakes are entrenched in a back-office’s billing process, it is more of a challenge to correct. Healthcare providers may successfully appeal the denied claim and received payment, but the root cause of the denial was not addressed. Which means the same mistake may occur in the future. Automatic systems that streamline the process and minimize the amount of direct data entry by employees will also reduce mistakes. Detecting and fixing denial patterns in a practice’s submissions will create a more stable and predictable revenue cycle.
Medical practitioners may not want to expand there use of electronic payment methods if the process is too complex. The use of the service in cases may even generate additional fees and service charges. Healthcare professionals already have to stay abreast regulatory updates and new IT technologies.
Yet, they should embrace these well-established technologies and use them to their full benefit. If medical providers can overcome these barriers to adoption, they will find that their back-office processes operate in a much more efficient manner.
About Us:
ABCS RCM (Advanced Billing & Consulting Services) provides revenue cycle management tools for healthcare practitioners. Professional services include medical billing, insurance enrollment and credentialing monitoring services and digital marketing for healthcare professionals.
Their account management specialist collaborate with clinicians and integrate with their existing office EHR and PM software. This creates a partnership with personalized service with a level of flexible in order to adapt to the needs of every individual healthcare provider’s office.
As an Ohio-based company, they also provide software tools and billing services for agencies that provide supports for the Ohio I-DD community.
To learn more, email or call them at 614-890-9822. Follow and like ABCS RCM on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter:
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