In the busy billing office of any physical therapy practice, mistakes are bound to happen. With so many details to take care of and information to sift through, it’s literally impossible to be totally error-free. For practices to maintain good cash-flow however, it’s not about avoiding mistakes altogether; it’s about avoiding the ones that can cost you the most. Below are some of the most common of these costly errors:

1. Not filing claims in a timely manner

As we’ve pointed out before, the late submission of claims is one of the recurring reasons why claims end up denied or delayed. Many payers set a filing limit that can be as little as a month after the date of service. Go beyond this limit and the claim may be denied.

To avoid denials, it is crucial that claims be filed on time, ideally as close to the service date as possible. This greatly improves your chances of collecting and consequently keeps your cash flow steady.

2. Not understanding or checking the EOB

The EOB or explanation of benefits indicates what treatments or services were paid for, why they weren’t paid or whether or not they were paid correctly. It can take some time and experience to properly interpret what is indicated in the EOB, but doing so is absolutely necessary. This is especially true when the received payment is less than expected and there is a need to resubmit the claim.

It’s also necessary to check if all the codes have been reimbursed correctly. You could be losing payments on entire services by simply accepting what the insurance company specifies as full payment without checking.

3. Not following up on claims

Monitoring claims should be a continuous practice. This should be done not only to keep track of claims that don’t come in, but also to keep track of how long it’s been since claims were submitted. By doing this you are able to determine if all claims got to the insurance company, if checks made it to your account or if any of the claims have been denied without notice.

4. Not making billing the priority for the biller

As silly as this may sound, it is a reality for many practices. Billers are often handed numerous tasks and because of this, billing becomes the last thing on their to-do list.

Second to treating patients, billing is the most important job in your practice and should be the most important job for the biller at all times. Billing is a complex task and the only way by which your practice gains revenue. It should never be pushed back by other tasks.

At these times it’s crucial for practices to maximize their profits and minimize losses. Avoiding these costly mistakes can help achieve that, and so can the right billing service and technology.
At Park Medical Billing, you’ll find trusted tools and services proven to help physical therapy practices maximize their revenue. Learn more about what you can achieve with our help. Give us a call now on 1-201-585-7306.