Maximizing profitability and practice collections is the main objective for successful medical practices. In a time of this pandemic, however, practice profitability became even more critical. Your practice’s profitability depends on a variety of factors that aren’t always under your control, particularly during times of crisis.
But rather than looking at this pandemic situation as a threat, we can convert it into a great opportunity to improve your practice collections and overall practice profitability. We shared four simple ways which will help you in keeping your practice profitable during this pandemic.
Learning from and implementing these four steps can get you on the road to success with optimal cash flow now and in the coming days.
Get Maximum out of Telehealth
If you have never thought of offering telehealth services, it’s more important than ever before to consider incorporating telehealth as part of your practice. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the needs of patients, and you can make sure you’re filling the gap for them by offering multiple treatment options.
Increasingly everywhere and accessible today, telehealth services have become more valuable than ever. Powerful, efficient, and effective now and beyond the pandemic, limitless options are available when a practice implements a telehealth platform that works for them.
If you have avoided telehealth due to reimbursements doubts, then it‘s a great time to start. During a pandemic, CMS has made so many changes to the telehealth billing rules in providers’ favor. During the pandemic, telehealth bears the same reimbursement rate as an in-office E/M visit.
With convenient, accessible telehealth technology available and a ready willingness from patients to be treated remotely, now is the moment to implement telehealth in your practice.
Focus on Front End Operations
Front-end operations are important for the revenue cycle operations of your practice. If those processes are not as strong as they need to be, the ultimate consequences to practice revenues can be serious.
In pandemic situations to keep your practice profitable, continue to examine your business operations, if required make improvements, evaluate products, and make it more efficient with operations, like: including eligibility and benefits verification; checking prior authorization requirements for every visit; identifying and communicating deductibles to collect patient responsibility prior to service; a maximum collection of co-payments and deductibles at the time of service.
You can use various ways to remind patients of their appointments, offer telehealth if they can’t make it an office visit. Your front-end staff represents not only your practice but also gathers accurate patient and insurance information which directly contributes to practice collections. Any mistakes in gathering accurate information could lead to delayed payments or in the worst cases no payments at all.
Don’t Leave Money on Table
You may be seeing fewer patients now than before, so this circumstance grants you the time and resources to address the weak points within your revenue cycle. This is an ideal time to assess and tackle those tedious tasks that nobody wants to execute but everybody can appreciate it when it’s done.
In this time research on revenue cycle reports like denial reasons and it’s pattern; write-off pattern (patient-wise, procedure-wise, payer-wise, month-wise); payer-wise reimbursements for mostly used CPTs; the cost involved in collecting pending payments (payer-wise, patient wise); cost of rework for denied and rejected claims; bad debts (payer wise, patient wise), bad debts (co-payments, deductibles).
Take Financial Help
Leverage the financial resources that make sense for your practice. The CARES Act appropriated $100 billion in financial support for hospitals, physician practices, and other healthcare providers through the Health and Human Services Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. These funds were made available specifically to eligible providers for lost revenues or healthcare-related expenses due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
It’s important for any provider or practice that’s experienced COVID-19-related difficulties to research and apply for financial resources to lessen any financial pressures. Additionally, there are four separate loan programs the SBA has created or expanded, especially for meeting needs that have arisen due to the pandemic.
These programs include forgivable funding to help practices provide payroll and retain employees, emergency advances to offer economic relief, existing SBA debt relief, and more.
Above mentioned steps will surely help in improving practice collection in times of this crisis. But the big question is do you have a sufficient amount of time to work on improving your revenue cycle processes? Do you have skilled staff to handle front-end as well as back-end revenue cycle operations?
If so, what is the cost of retaining such skilled manpower? There is a simple answer to all these questions: take assistance from reliable medical billing companies like Medical Billers and Coders (MBC).
Whether is handling denials, clean claim submissions, managing accounts receivables, or keeping track of ever-changing payer guidelines and reimbursement policies, we managed it all. To know more about medical billing and coding services, contact us at info@medicalbillersandcoders.com/888-357-3226.
FAQs
1. How can telehealth improve my practice’s profitability?
Telehealth allows you to continue seeing patients remotely, especially during a pandemic. With CMS supporting equal reimbursement for telehealth and in-office visits, you can maintain revenue while offering flexible care options.
2. What are front-end operations, and why are they important for my practice?
Front-end operations include patient registration, eligibility verification, and collecting patient co-pays. Strong front-end processes help prevent delays in payments and improve overall revenue cycle management.
3. How can I avoid leaving money on the table during the pandemic?
Use this time to assess denial patterns, write-off reasons, and reimbursement trends. Address weak points in your revenue cycle, like improving claim submissions and following up on overdue payments.
4. Can I get financial support during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Yes, the CARES Act provides financial support for healthcare providers, including grants for lost revenue and SBA loan programs to help with payroll and operational costs during the crisis.
5. How can Medical Billers and Coders (MBC) assist my practice?
MBC can handle tasks like claims denials, clean claims submissions, and tracking payer guidelines. By outsourcing your billing and coding, you save time and resources, ensuring more focus on patient care and increasing revenue.
