If you are a super good administrator or multi taking physician who's got the Midas touch this article is obviously not for you. But if you belong to the multitudes of healthcare professionals who are struggling to handle healthcare billing reforms, medical billing regulations, a hectic practice and uncooperative patients, here is help at hand.
Medical billing is not rocket science but can come a close second!
They say the truth lies in the details. When it comes to medical billing the truth lies in painfully excruciating closely documented details. The fact of the matter is that medical billing being referred to as medical billing is in itself oversimplifying and diluting the complexities that are a part of the field. The whole process depends on a long drawn list of medical codes. But take heart if you code the medical bills that are to be sent to the insurer right you've covered a lot of ground.
The secret code to quicker insurance receivables
There is no magic code unfortunately but if you pay attention to your medical coding process it can fasten the pace at which the insurer processes the claims. Though CPT codes and HCPCS codes are usually the medical codes that pop to your mind, there are other lesser known codes you'd be better of knowing about:
Revenue codes: These are the codes that specify the location or medical department in which the patient received or was administered medical treatment. It is an important code and if you miss out on or assign the wrong revenue code or rev codes as it is usually called, you don't get paid. Make sure that you go through the revenue code manual in your desktop before creating your claims.
Professional and technical component codes: There are some medical fields like radiology that require extensive technical procedures such as scans and x rays and imaging facilities as well as medical practitioners bill separately for the professional medical service rendered and the technical components of it. A little bit of knowledge in what are split billable services can help you make that call to your insurer that much more confidently!
Inpatient vs. outpatient codes: There are a separate set of medical codes that apply for medical services provided to inpatients and medical services for outpatients. Clinics and health centers usually treat out patients and the AHA has laid down several guidelines for billing and coding for outpatients.
Well there are a lot more technicalities and intricacies involved in medical billing and a minor slip up in any one of them can lead to the whole rigmarole of calls to the insurers and documenting billing records, once again. The best advice would be to take it one step at a time and pay close attention to every step!
