Practice Management Alert

Web-Based Billing Puts Control of Payers at Your Fingertips

If you haven't yet moved to   an Internet-based billing system, you could be forfeiting faster feedback on your claims and improved cash flow.  

Take advantage of useful features: Typically, such Web-based systems allow providers to sign on to the Internet account of an Application Service Provider (ASP) and input claims into the ASP's HIPAA-compliant forms. Then with a click of a button, you're communicating directly with all the major payers and hundreds of smaller ones. There is no middleman involved.

Part of the beauty of the system is that the technology curve is not very steep, says Curtis Udell, a consultant with Health Care Advisors in Annandale, Va. 

There is no new software or hardware to purchase. Everything is done online. 
 
Common features of Web-based billing systems also include claim tracking within 24 hours of submission and accessing detailed payment reports.

Show me the money: Online systems can improve cash flow and reduce expenses, boosting a practice's bottom line. "The best feature of such systems is the turnaround time in claims processing," says Carole McBride, office manager with Coastal Plastic Surgery in Virginia Beach, Va. "Before, we sometimes had to wait 4-6 weeks to get a check; now it only takes 7-10 days."

With the ASP systems,  you can choose to receive payment  either electronically through   an Automated Clearing House (ACH) or the old-fashioned way - by check.

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The online systems can also improve efficiency. "One of the benefits over mailed paper claims is receiving almost instant notification of rejections due to front-end edit issues, such as violations of NCCI [National Correct Coding Initiative] edit policies and missing information on the submission form," says Frank Cohen, senior analyst, Medical Information Technologies in Clearwater, Fla. You find out the next day if there is a problem, not weeks later. When a claim is rejected, the provider can then quickly make the necessary corrections and resubmit. 

Dragging their feet: The Web-based billing model theoretically reduces the cost of the claims process while subsequently decreasing the time between submission and payment, Cohen says. But some problems with payers never seem to go away, regardless of the kind of billing system in use. 

Cohen believes these are situations created intentionally by payers who may balk at reimbursing for certain services.

"In financial terms, this actually reduces cash flow for the payer, which is not desirable for the payers," Cohen says. "It will take a lot more than technology to solve that problem. In essence, payers can play the same kind of games with electronic claims submissions as they do with paper claims."