March 2012 Client Newsletter

COMBATING HIGH DEDUCTIBLE HEALTH PLANS

If you haven’t already noticed, high deductible health plans are here - estimated at 16% in 2011 !

And the news is generally not good. Horizon has at least 1 plan that does not even allow providers to collect payment for the co-pay or deductible on the date of service (DOS)! Some insurers have also applied Well Visits to the deductible. Of course many patients are slow to pay out of their own pocket, don’t pay at all, or want payment plans spaced out over many months – all of which adversely affect your cash flow.

Important components of a strong office financial policy:

1. When making the appointment for new patients obtain their demographics and insurance information (including subscriber name & DOB, policy & group #’s). If it is an existing patient, ask if the insurance has changed.
2. Check eligibility & benefits at least 1 day before the pt will be seen. Verify their co-pay, annual deductible, and the amount of the deductible met.
3. Contact each patient 1-2 days prior to remind them of their appointment.
4. Always collect money at check-in and never at check-out. Make that your policy.
5. If a high dollar procedure for a patient with a high deductible plan is to be performed in the office, determine patient responsibility. Document all of this in the CPB appointment system so money can be collected at check-in. The minimum collected should be the patient’s copay. It is better to refund overpayments than not get paid.
6. Clients using the CPB appointment system can run a report showing all patients with patient balances. That amount also prints on the Charge Form when you print it.
7. Each practice must have a clear policy on collecting co-pays and previous balances on the account at each visit. If the balance is large, how much is an acceptable payment if it cannot be paid in full? The key to this policy is to reschedule the appointment, even when the patient showed up for the visit, if appropriate payment is not made so long as it is medically, ethically and legally permissible.
8. If the practice is not using the CPB Appointment System, it is available at no cost. Even if you do not want to use it for appointments, you can still check patient balances.
9. As part of our Month-end Reports, we include the amount collected on the date of service. We track this each month for each client.

With this increase in high deductible plans, we are searching for a tool that will allow the patient to authorize automatic withdrawals from their checking account each month or from their credit card. This way the patient is committed to payment.

Steps to avoid losing money:• Accept credit & debit cards. Paying 2% to the credit card company is better than losing the other 98%.

We are also working some other options and hope to report a comprehensive solution within 2-3 months.

A FEW HELPFUL HINTS TO GET PAID

It is very important for offices to check each patient’s insurance each time they are seen. Insurance plans are written with anniversary dates of either the 1st or 15th – so insurance can change or be lost – on those dates. Clients using the CPB appointment system and who scan insurance cards into it can simply view the insurance card from the last visit, & scan the new card into the software, if needed. Without correct insurance information, you will not be paid.
NJ Medicaid benefits are month-to-month & should be verified with Medicaid on EVERY visit before the patient is seen. The card they carry is not an insurance card and does not insure benefits. Coverage needs to be verified before seeing the provider. If the Medicaid system says they are not covered, you should seriously consider collecting payment (Cash) before the patient is seen. You may want to begin collecting patient email addresses! Current technology allows patient statements to be handled via secure email and costs about half of the cost to mail a paper statement.

MEDICARE REFUNDS

On Tue Feb 14, CMS proposed that providers and suppliers must report and return self-identified overpayments within 60 days of the incorrect payment being identified.

EHR’s

Good news! If you have not implemented a Complete Certified EHR yet:• 2012 is the last year to receive full funding under the Medicare program. To do so, you must implement soon so you can achieve 90 days of “Meaningful Use” by the end of the year.• If you implement this year, you can also use the current Stage 1 guidelines for 2013 and will not have to meet Stage 2 requirements until 2014Final Stage 2 guidelines are expected to be released later this year.

ICD-10

CMS has now announced that the October 1, 2013 date will be postponed but have not indicated for how long.

Now that 5010 is safely behind us, we will begin focusing on the transition to and implementation of ICD-10 coding which is effective on October 1, 2013. While that sounds like a far off date, the ICD-10 codes are very different – yet also similar – than ICD-9. For all of our clients that only affects diagnosis codes – not CPT codes. Over the next 20 months we will include a brief paragraph each month to help bring you up to speed so we have another smooth transition.

CHECKING MEDICARE PATIENTS FOR PREVIOUS ANNUAL WELL VISITS

I just called Medicare & asked how a provider would know if a new patient had received G0438 services from another provider previously. I was told we can call Medicare’s Representative Dept and ask if patient received G0438 before.

Note -They can only answer yes or no and cannot give any details as to when G0438 was rendered or by which provider.

Medicare’s new phone system was a bit confusing. The prompts are as follows:
Part BClaim-related QuestionsClaim StatusSay “Operator” after listening to claim status
It seems kind of silly to listen to claim status messages such as “claim currently in process” or “no record of claim” before you can opt out to an operator. However, per another rep, this is the only way.