In our new blog series, "Your Billing Company & You," we’ll be framing the relationship between providers and billing companies as just that…a relationship. We all have experiences in relationships, whether with friends, family, or romantic partners. Thinking of being in a relationship with your billing company is a useful exercise that can help you see them in a new light. This is relevant to all providers, whether you’re thinking of signing with a new company, maintaining your relationship with your current billing company, or considering “breaking up” and moving on to something new. Regardless of where you're at in your relationship, we’ll have some useful information for you!
"How can I make your life easier?" Easing your partner's stress will likely ease your own in the bargain. This is as true for a marriage as it is for the treatment center/billing company dynamic. A "take, take, take" mentality will only strain the ties that bind; think instead of checking in with your billing company to see what you can do on your end to make their load a little lighter.
Here are three things you can do to make your billing company's job a bit less complicated, which will set you up for greater success in turn.
ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
Consider setting up electronic payments and statements if you haven't already. Receiving this information electronically is more secure than obtaining it via paper checks and statements. If you don’t regularly check your mail or have a disorganized filing system, crucial data needed by your billing company to process your claims can easily fall through the cracks. All too often, I’ve seen both parties pointing fingers when this information gets misplaced. To prevent this from happening, verify if your billing company encourages this practice, or if they have any tips and tricks on how to go about setting up electronic payments and statements.
ACCREDITATION
Accreditation can be useful for speeding up reimbursements, relieving some your credentialing headaches, and for demonstrating compliance to state regulators. Becoming accredited is becoming increasingly more important to payers, and could be a condition for reimbursement. Without it, you might be leaving money on the table, so be sure to check with your billing company to determine the impact accreditation could have on your organization.
CONSIDER MOVING IN-NETWORK
Payers are notorious for being nightmares to work with if your organization is out of network. Being out of network could prevent your organization from enrolling for electronic payments and statements, or from gaining access to a central provider portal - valuable tools your billing company can use to process your claims faster. Ask your billing company if they have any connections with local payers to help you make the move in-network.You'll be glad you did!
Check out "6 Questions You Should Be Asking Your Billing Company," a webinar created by Chris Reilly, Kenneth Throop, and Kaity McCraw from our Implementations team to learn more about how you and your billing company can work together to achieve success.
Further Reading:
- 3 Questions To Determine If A Billing Company's The Right Fit For You
- 3 Ways Electronic VOB & Eligibility Saves Money & Time By Finding The Right Fit
