Home Health & Hospice Week

Is one simple mistake torpedoing your accounts receivable? You may think that you need to invest in an expensive A/R software program or hire pricey consultants to increase your A/R, but there’s one tip that can help you collect more income and won’t cost you a dime, says Manny Oliverez of Capture Billing and Consulting Inc. in South Riding, Va.

“One of the biggest problems I see … is that incorrect patient information was entered into the computer system,” he says. “Misspelled patient names, wrong dates of birth, typos in the insurance ID number and secondary insurance put in as primary all lead to the claims being denied. This causes the accounts receivable to skyrocket and spiral out of control.”

Not only does this issue create denials, it can sometimes have an impact far beyond that one patient encounter. “Often the problem gets so overwhelming the denials are hardly worked leaving thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars on the table,” Oliverez says. “Take care of this one problem and income is sure to rise.”