Wound care centers can exist from small free-standing clinics to large hospital-based centers. However, so far, most wound care centers, have survived on their inpatient and common outpatient referral sources. But, with the introduction of new healthcare reforms of which the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare is one which has brought a lot of changes, many wound care practices have seen a downward trend. Further, the ICD-10 coding has brought its burden. But wait, all is not lost, and Wound Care practice can still make their professionals earn what they deserve.
Ways to get ball rolling on your wound care billing and coding:
1. Understand the Basics of ICD-10 coding and billing:
Many new wound codes would now have to be identified using anatomic locations, complications, and laterality. For example, ulcer coding should now include the depth of the ulcer when inputting the diagnosis code. Thus, diagnostic codes are very essential to avoid claim denials.
2. Educate your Staff:
Clinical documentation is very essential. Staff members who do documentation need to understand that precise and extensive documentation, especially within the new ICD-10 coding system will only help provide a better explanation of the medical necessity for payment, improved data research and better billing leading to better rate setting and thereby more focus on quality indicators. The new ICD-10 forms now help wound care claim forms to be more precise and help capture every single complication.
3. Be aware of Insurance Coverage Policies:
All wound care professionals should not just keep a copy but also be aware of the more current coverage policies of major insurances that their patients posses. Reviewing these policies in the light of the new ICD-10 coding system should now be a priority as they will inform one of which ICD-10 codes which cover specific therapy and also guide you towards wound care billing documentation, needs to be captured and thus help earn more reimbursement.
4. Patient Education:
Patients too need to be educated about current treatment modalities. Once patients are made aware of the process at wound care centers, the waiting time and increase in anxiety automatically decline. This helps more walk-ins and thus more reimbursements. Wound care centers traditionally get a majority of patients through referrals. Today, appropriately employed social media campaigns can more than triple the number of patients. Branding of your practice using social media is essential to keep the revenue rolling.
5. In-office services:
Last but not the least, practicing in-office dispensing is stated to turnkey your wound care practice’s billing from a five percent loss to a five or greater –percent gain in time to come. Moreover, when certain in-office tests have been conducted, and which are reimbursable with CMS, this can add much to your revenue. Besides, having certain specialty professionals as part of the practice can also help raise the revenue, as long as your groundwork on the geographical location and kind of community that resides around have been researched thoroughly.
Getting the right mix of dosage – improving operations and patient care wound care practice can earn and increase its revenue for all its services seamlessly. Get in touch with us!