Sorting through behavioral health reimbursement regulations can be a time-consuming and costly process. It’s common for small facilities like addiction treatment centers to have limited administrative assistance for billing and collections—some providers even manage billing themselves. This arrangement can be overwhelming and lead to breaks in the revenue cycles and lost income.
Addiction treatment facilities can outsource their behavioral health billing to reduce denial rates and improve cash flow—and Coronis Health can help.
Coronis Health is a healthcare revenue cycle management company that offers specialized solutions using industry-leading technology. When it comes to unique billing for mental health, substance abuse, and eating disorders, we have specially designed services that can help your facility maximize revenue so you can focus on patient care.
What Are the Most Common Causes of Increased Denial Rates?
Behavioral health billing is an extremely complex process that involves numerous variables, making it difficult to standardize your billing guidelines. Not securing authorization for treatment or using the wrong modifier can lead to reimbursement denials.
Insurance plans and benefits can be very specific and widely vary between patients, so it is critical to conduct a verification of benefits (VOB) before any services are received. A VOB ensures that a service or treatment the patient is seeking is covered and determines the amount their insurance will pay for the services.
Though it can be a tedious process, it is better that patients know what they have to cover personally to make timely payments. It is best to collect as much information as you can and make copies of insurance cards to ensure you know how to receive payment for services or treatment provided.
When billing for behavioral health, there are common procedural technology (CPT) codes that insurance providers require to determine reimbursements to facilities. Addiction treatment centers need to understand the types of services they offer and the related CPT codes. Using the incorrect codes can lead to claim denials and lost revenue for your operations.
Filing a claim is more than populating the correct patient demographic information and identifying the valid CPT codes—you also have to consider the place of service, type of bill, rendering provider details and whether to file interim claims or admit to discharge. Behavioral health claims should be submitted in the proper billing format, which varies by insurance company. You can find out the company’s preferred billing format and the timeline allowed by the plan during the VOB. Double-checking your information and billing format can lead to fewer denials and more collections for your facility.
What are the Advantages of Outsourcing Mental Health Billing Services?
Providing a specialized service calls for a specialized billing solution. With a time-consuming and complex process, an expert service that knows the ins and outs of mental health medical billing can be an invaluable addition. Outsourcing your mental and behavioral health billing services can:
Reduce administrative time: The time and cost to hire, train, and keep up with changing policies can create a significant burden for mental health providers. Transferring the responsibility frees up staff to handle in-house tasks for providers and patients.
Increase reimbursements and decrease denials: A qualified vendor can submit claims quickly and efficiently to ensure a higher reimbursement from payers without mistakes, denials, or delayed payments.
Expert billing services can also:
- Create consistency
- Reduce errors
- Improve revenue cycle
- Keep patient data secure
- Handle audit and compliance
Addiction Treatment Medical Billing; How to Stay on Top of Regulatory Changes
Outsourcing behavioral health billing can relieve the burden on providers and administrators, particularly when it comes to decreasing denials and receiving collections. Medical billing vendors can also help facilities understand government regulations and compliance. Billing professionals stay up to date on the latest rules, regulations, and coding requirements so you can focus on patient care. The behavioral health billing landscape is an ever-changing scene that consumes time and resources.
Coronis Health provides medical billing with a personalized touch so that our experts know what regulatory changes are coming, when they will be implemented, and how to prepare your facility.
Medical Billing Audits; What to Know
A medical billing audit examines documents to ensure accuracy, speaks to the reliability of information from your facility, and reviews health records and medical billing data submitted by the payers. Audits seek out and monitor inaccurate, incomplete, or inappropriate billing methods or documentation. Outsourcing billing to a professional vendor like Coronis Health can keep your data organized and accurate. While audits are compliance measures, they can also help ensure that billing practices are beneficial to your facility and help make processes more efficient.
Coronis Health safeguards data and provides professionals who execute billing with perfection from filling out forms and submissions to follow-up. Our team can help your facility cultivate financial success.
Questions about Outsourcing Your Addiction Treatment Center Medical Billing? Contact Coronis Health Today!