By Dave H. Perkins
If your organization is faced with one or more of the following issues then the chances are we can help you, then you should consider outsourcing your billing:
- Need to Focus more on Patients: You find yourself having to divert
time and attention away from your patients to deal with technical issues.
You need to simplify. - Collections are Low: You have a high level of dissatisfaction with the
effectiveness of your current billing and collections process yet can’t seem
to get your hands on what needs improving. Professional certified
coders can make sure all procedures have the correct CPT and ICD codes
and modifiers to ensure maximum reimbursement for the services you
provide. - Not capturing all of your charges? Do you have a good way to know
all of the services you provide are actually billed? Surgery charges?
Outpatient services? Hospital patient visits? In-Hospital consults?
Office Visits and ancillary procedures? We can help by providing the
tools you need to bill EVERY service in a timely manner. - You Need a New Practice Management System or Computer
Upgrade: You know you need to replace your existing practice
automation system(s) however you are losing sleep just thinking of the
time, expense, and risks involved with selecting the right solution and
then successfully implementing that solution. - You are considering going to Electronic Health Records at some
time and you don’t think your current practice management system has a
complimentary EHR/EMR. - You fear the loss of vital practice data: How can you really know
your data is protected from Internet viruses, “hackers”, environmental
disasters or Acts of God? Off-site hosting of your essential computerized
records gives you assurance that it is safe. Secure hosting sites with
hourly automated backups and on-site IT service protects you like you
never could be with an in-house server. - You don’t want to deal with technical issues or problems. “The
server is down AGAIN”. If you had rather spend your time in patient
care rather than computer care, you should consider outsourcing. With a
hosted-managed off-site server solution, all you would have to have in
your office would be workstation terminals, printers for relatively low
volume on-demand printing, and possibly scanners for scanning patient
documents at time of service. - You Have Staffing Issues: You are experiencing issues with either high
staff turnover and/or it is simply taking too much time to manage the
billing office. - Your Billing Costs are Too High: If you are concerned that your billing
and collections related expenses are higher than they ought to be.
Training and support fees, upgrade fees, software license fees are
ongoing. - You are concerned about capital expenditures at a time of
uncertainty: Recent changes in health care, including the ARRA 2009
and the “Health Care Reform” in 2010 have complicated your business to
the point you don’t know what to do and could use the expertise of
experts with knowledge of these changes in legislation and their impact
on your practice. You’re not sure if now is the best time to spend more
money on capital equipment, systems, or staff, when you don’t know
what the future holds. - Are you in “compliance” with CMS, OIG, HIPAA, “Red Flag Rule”?
eHealthTech’s commitment to “compliance” is evident in every aspect of
our operations. While our primary goal is to achieve the highest possible
reimbursement to which our clients are legally and ethically entitled to,
we always work in a manner that fully complies with both the letter and
the spirit of all applicable guidelines and regulations.
The Compliance Program is under the direction of the eHealthTech Compliance Manager, who oversees quality from the original medical record through the coding process and ultimately through billing and collections. This written plan incorporates the guidelines defined by the “Compliance for Third Party Billing Companies” from the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) of the Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”), the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), and specialty organizations . A key component of compliance is correct coding for all services. eHealthTech’s professional coders are all Certified and members of AHIMA. To ensure they are informed regarding the latest changes in coding guidelines, each is required to earn continued medical education (“CME”) credits throughout the year. eHealthTech subscribes to industry newsletters, including Medicare Part B News to stay abreast of upcoming changes in coding and reimbursement. The plan is maintained as needs evolve and management ensures eHealthTech is continually following its own written program.
eHealthTech’s clients may rest assured that their billing is being handled accurately, professionally, ethically, and in complete compliance with the above-referenced regulations and guidelines at all times. Our account managers regularly review accounts with our coders and auditors to improve communications and fine-tune processes to continually improve data quality and integrity and keep our clients fully informed through regularly scheduled meetings and notices.
For more information on how eHealthTech Marketing, LLC can benefit your practice, please contact me.
For another article on this topic, please visit: Software Advice
Dave H. Perkins
President
eHealthTech Marketing, LLC
www.ehealthtech.com
Phone: (601) 573-1826
Fax: (601) 898-4404
