Your holistic practice’s health insurance denial rates are some of the most significant indicators of your medical billing success. Unfortunately, they’re also one of the most difficult ele
ments of your billing operation to improve. If you’re not paying close attention to Modifier GP usage and insurance claim denials rate, you’re jeopardizing the financial stability of your practice. By following these best practice guidelines, you can avoid insurance claim denials and achieve your holistic practice’s overall revenue potential.
The medical billing process is integral for practices to receive reimbursements from health insurance companies. When patients utilize insurance to pay for treatments, healthcare providers have to submit claims so they can be paid for their specific services from the insurance companies. While medical billing ensures that holistic practices receive their due payments for treatments, it’s also a complex process. 
If claims are missing information or filled out inaccurately, then they can be denied by the insurance companies and stymie the reimbursement process. Insurance claim denials are frustrating to any holistic practice; not only is the payment completely denied or delayed, but the time it takes for reimbursements can extend to weeks or longer. For the most timely and full reimbursements, holistic practices must keep denials in medical billing as minimal as possible.
The five most common procedures denied for holistic practices are:
For strong revenue cycle management, holistic practices should aim for a 95% clean claims rate. Using Modifier GP correctly is key to maintaining a high clean claims rate, as it helps ensure that physical therapy and related services are billed accurately. Proper use of Modifier GP can reduce denials, increasing your practice's efficiency and overall profitability. So, how can your practice avoid insurance claim denials and maintain a strong clean claims rate? Here are some of the top reasons for denials in medical billing:
Especially in the ICD-10-only landscape, claims that aren’t coded to the fullest level of specificity possible are ripe for denial by both public and private payers. That means that all identifiers and modifiers must be included on every claim, every time, covering concerns as granular as possible.
Even in well-organized operations, it’s surprisingly easy for practices to submit claims relating to the same encounter more than once. It may happen when a team member resubmits a claim before hearing back from the insurance company on the initial submission or fails to check on existing documentation as to whether the claim was submitted from the start. Either way, it’s an easy ticket to an unnecessary denial.
Organizations often see unnecessary denials for failing to submit claims within the payer’s filing window. Why do practices wait? While reasons vary, the issue usually comes down to bandwidth and time: If your staff is stretched too thin, it’s impossible to address all of your front-office and back-office responsibilities in a timely manner. Contracting with a medical billing company is a smart way to keep filing deadlines from slipping past you.
Insurance claim denials can be the byproduct of established patients updating their insurance without letting your practice know. Staff members may assume that regular patients have not had any changes to their insurance. However, if there have been changes to their insurance and no one checks their eligibility, then you might be headed straight for denials. Verifying your patient’s insurance at every visit can ensure there are no insurance-related issues during the billing process.
After learning the common reasons for insurance claim denial, try the following denial management tactics!
No claims should ever get “lost” in your practice management system. To prevent this, it’s essential to implement a more comprehensive process for tracking claims across the entire revenue cycle. Many claims slip through the cracks because they are not processed quickly enough. Ensure your coders are coding encounters on the same day as the service, and upgrade to technology that automatically scrubs and submits claims, particularly when handling Modifier GP, to streamline processes and avoid denials. Then upgrade your technology to a system that scrubs, submits, and monitors claims with minimal employee effort.
Simply put, you can’t lower your denial rate if you lack an understanding of why your claims are being denied! Review all of your denial notices from a set period – for example, three or six months – and log the associated reasons for the denial. Look for patterns, then talk it out with pertinent staff members to get back on track.
Most denials, including those involving Modifier GP, can be corrected and resubmitted within a specific time frame that varies by payer. Find out what the window is for each of your major players, and make sure it never slips past you. Better yet, create a window of your own, like five to ten days, during which it is your billing team’s top priority to follow up on every denial and correct or appeal when appropriate.
Unfortunately, many holistic practices handle eligibility checks in an unstructured, unsophisticated way – heavy on last-minute calls to payers in advance of a patient appointment, or sometimes even after services have been rendered. Neglecting eligibility checks - or managing them in an outdated way - is a disservice to your patients and practice!
By using these tips to reduce your holistic practice’s claim denial rate, especially the correct use of Modifier GP, you’re sure to maximize your practice’s revenue in the future. However, implementing these strategies takes time and expertise. If you need professional medical billing services, let Holistic Billing Services be your trusted partner for an error-free billing process.
With decades of experience dealing with a broad range of medical billing issues for all kinds of holistic practices, the team at HBS has seen just about every kind of medical billing error an organization can make. That’s why our clients trust us to help them manage their insurance claims to ensure they’ll be accepted as clean claims on the first attempt, avoiding lengthy back and forth negotiations with the insurance company. And best of all, you’ll avoid the scrutiny of federal and state auditors.
Contact us today to learn about Holistic Billing Services medical insurance billing services and find out how we can help you increase your clean claims rate!
At Holbie, we offer complete and innovative Holistic Billing Services for acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic providers.
At Holbie, we offer complete and innovative Holistic Billing Services for acupuncture, massage therapy, and chiropractic providers.
2024 ©. Holbie, Holistic Billing Services. All Rights Reserved.
