For any urgent care center or practice medical billing is their ‘bread and butter’, but the question is how many really understand the importance of an efficient and error-free billing system. To generate maximum revenue from your urgent care center you need to have an up-to-date and efficient billing procedure in place. And who could be better than an urgent care medical billing service center to cater to your specific needs.
While the famous line “to err is human” is true, mistakes within a billing system can translate into big losses. It is the difference between getting or not getting paid for a service you have provided.
The margin for errors is very narrow and even a slight oversight can lead to a poor revenue cycle. So what kind of errors can cause your center to see a dipping revenue and what can you do about them?
Your goal should be to keep errors on a check and at their lowest. This will help ensure your urgent care center continues to grow and provides top-quality medical services.
Listed below are 3 medical billing mistakes that if avoided can lead to your urgent care center never suffering losses.
1. Untrained Staff Manning Front Desk
Trained resources at the front desk means sound financial processes and this ensures a healthy revenue cycle. How are these interconnected?
Well, your revenue cycle begins the moment a patient walks up to the front desk of your urgent care center. A trained staff manning the front desk can ensure no details are overlooked and everything is taken care of right at the beginning. Even a slight miss can lead to bad debts and revenue loss.
Your front desk needs to ensure they collect co-pays at the time a patient walks in for a checkup. Delays or waiting to collect co-pays at the end of a patient visit can cause payment issues.
A trained front desk staff will verify all patient information at the beginning of a visit. They will need to ensure all patient records are maintained with full safety and security, including making sure all records comply with HIPAA laws.
Urgent care centers must hold regular front desk staff training and workshops to help their resources focus on the front desk processes and how best to use them. Training sessions from time to time keep the team updated and aware of all the various steps of efficiently managing a front desk.
2. Inefficient Use of EMR
The electronic medical records (EMR) system being used in your urgent care center will serve its purpose only if put to optimal use. An EMR system that is inefficiently used is as good as the EMR with the poorest features and technology.
An untrained staff using the EMR or not putting it to its best use can cost your company heavily and affect revenue management. Employ trained people who have the necessary expertise to efficiently use the EMR and who can deliver the best results.
Also, your employees should be able to capture all the patient details accurately. Even minute details matter. If missed they can cause your urgent care clinic to record low revenues.
Hire trained urgent care medical billing and coding experts who know their work well and do not become a liability to your company.
3. Incorrect Filing of Claims
Another major mistake that most urgent care centers make is the incorrect filing of claims. This becomes a big urgent care medical billing and coding ‘headache’ that any urgent care center must avoid at any cost.
While it is true that filling out claims is a complicated task, failure to do so properly will most times result in a complete denial of claim acceptance. Ensure your billing staff fills every detail accurately and clearly in the form.
They will also need to make sure every detail is entered in legible and clear handwriting. All important and necessary details will need to be included along with the diagnosis code. Even a single miss would provide the insurance company an opportunity to deny the claim.
You can save yourself the headache by hiring services of a specialist urgent care medical billing company who will not only prevent claim denials but also stop you from losing money on unaccepted claims.
Let GMB Help You Handle Your Billing Worries
It is understandable that your urgent care center is overwhelmed by the increased amount of work, especially in recent times due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But there is a way out to not burden your already burdened staff.
Opt for the services of efficient and experienced Urgent Care Medical Billing specialists in Florida who will handle your work for you. To know more about slow billing and delayed claims payments, you can speak to a GMB medical billing specialist at (786) 725-2120, (855) 469-1422 today.
