Doctors’ offices, hospitals, and nursing homes offer an increasing range of services. Patients are required to pay doctors or hospitals a fixed amount each time they receive treatment or service.
Healthcare organisations can easily and promptly recover past-due insurance payments with the use of an efficient insurance model. Follow-ups on accounts receivable (A/R) become important at this point. It ensures that the owing cash is refunded back in as little time as possible while also assisting healthcare service providers in running their businesses successfully and smoothly.
5 Reasons Why A/R Follow-Up
A/R follow-up management is the main difficulty that the majority of businesses have in the medical billing process. Why is it so crucial then? Here are a few of the more well-liked explanations:
- Financial Stability of the Hospital: Any provider of healthcare services must maintain a positive cash flow in order to remain financially stable. The hospital’s A/R department ensures that there is a consistent flow of funds coming in to pay bills and offer patient care services.
- Helps in Recovering Overdue Payments: A/R follow-up enables all hospitals, doctors’ offices, nursing homes, etc. to easily collect past due payments. Healthcare providers are more likely to receive reimbursements on time when a team is actively involved in the claims follow-up process.
- 3. Minimise Time for Outstanding Accounts: The fundamental goal of A/R management is to reduce the length of time that accounts are permitted to remain unpaid. The group monitors unpaid accounts, determines the best course of action to take to secure payment, and puts those methods into practice.
- Claims Never Go Missing: Failure to receive a claim is the primary cause of payment delays. When paper claims are misplaced, this typically occurs. Sending the claims in electronic form will help you prevent this. Sending another request for the claim soon is made simpler if you have followed up on the claim and are aware that it hasn’t been received.
- Claims Denied can be Followed Up: You may actually send a fresh claim request with the necessary modifications made, depending on the reason for the refusal. The A/R department may guarantee that all claims are followed through to completion by calling the insurance companies and asking for the denial reason rather than waiting for the denial reason to arrive by mail.
The 3 Stages of Medical Billing A/R Follow-up
The A/R follow-up is typically carried out in three steps by the majority of medical billing specialists, who do it in a fairly systematic manner:
- Stage 1: Initial Evaluation
At this stage, the claims indicated on the A/R ageing report are identified and analysed. The team examines the provider’s policy and determines which claims should be deducted from the total.
- Stage 2: Analysis and Prioritising
Once the claims that are tagged as uncollectible or for claims where the carrier has not paid in accordance with the rate it has agreed upon with the healthcare provider are identified, this phase is started.
- Stage 3: Collection
After validating all relevant billing information, including the claims processing address and compliance with other medical billing regulations, claims that are determined to be under the filing limit of the carrier are refiled. Patient bills are prepared in accordance with client specifications when posting payment information for outstanding claims is complete, and patients are then followed up with regarding payments.
Roles and Responsibilities of A/R Specialists
Before the doctor can request money from the insurance company, there is a tonne of work to be done. An A/R team should ideally consist of two departments:
- A/R analytics
- A/R follow-up
The team in charge of A/R analytics is in charge of researching and analysing both refused claims and partial payments. Additionally, if a code problem is discovered in any claim, the A/R team fixes it before submitting the claim.
On the other side, the A/R follow up team regularly interacts with patients, healthcare professionals, and insurance companies and takes appropriate action in response to their feedback or responses. The proficiency and calibre of the services provided by the A/R team ultimately aid in deciding the financial stability of a medical practice.
Conclusion
For the time being, Iconic Solutions has been offering medical accounts receivable services. Our A/R specialists are highly certified, have worked with a variety of insurance companies, and are familiar with all of their policies. We make sure that our clients easily receive their payment for the services they have provided.
Feel free to contact us or speak with one of our agents if you have any such needs, and we will respond to you within a day.
