Practice Management Alert

Skipping this step may lead to angry patients and lost reimbursement.You know that you need to have a Medicare patient sign an advance beneficiary notice (ABN) when your carrier won't cover a procedure or service your physician is going to perform. But what about non-Medicare patients -- should you use an ABN? Follow this expert guidance to ensure you get paid for every service your physician performs while avoiding patient problems by sending bills the patient wasn't expecting.Don't Skip ABNs for Private PayersYou should, in fact, use some form of waiver or ABN-inspired document for patients who do not have Medicare coverage but you know the insurance they do have won't cover a service or procedure. Doing so not only increases your chances of collecting from the patient but is also a good patient relations move."I've done this on occasion," says Elizabeth Hollingshead, CPC, CMC, corporate billing/coding manager of Northwest Columbus [...]