To grow your practice, you need people, and systems. When it comes to physical therapy billing and medical billing, structure is critical.
In this article, Nitin Chhoda.reveals how an EMR can create structure for your billing systems, and the importance of using an EMR that is completely integrated with billing and payment collections.
Structure is essential for a successful physical therapy billing department. With any financial job, the secret is in creating recurring practices that lead to consistency and success.
The truth is that anyone who works in physical therapy billing is going to have to repeat the same tasks over and over again, with slight differences every time.
Make Physical Therapy Billing A Success
To make sure that each time physical therapy billing happens it is successful, a system of communication, review, and follow-up should be put into place.
For some physical therapy billers, the system will already be in place even without help and cooperation from the rest of the staff. But getting staff members, especially therapists, on board will make the system more efficient and more successful.
Using an EMR to Create Structure
A complete and integrated EMR can help put into place certain structures and workflow standards that might be difficult at first. But getting some structure into the physical therapy billing process is essential, and without an EMR it could be much harder.
The structure that holds up the practice is successful billing and consistent cash flow – that structure relies on a system for physical therapy billing and documentation that is consistent alongside good contracts with payers.
If the problem you are trying to solve is a high denial rate from insurance companies, the first step will be to analyze the most common reasons for denial. Is your physical therapy billing high in errors?
Errors to Avoid Denials
Human error is one of the most common and the most avoidable reasons that insurance claims are denied. An incorrect code, inaccurate diagnosis, or errors related to an insufficient understanding of the terms of the contract between the insurance company and your practice can cause a lot of wasted time and energy. And time and energy in this business are the same as money.
The structure of your physical therapy billing practice should take into account the full process of caring for and billing for a patient.
Starting with the intake process and diagnosis, every aspect of the process should be recordable in a standardized way and using a system that all relevant staff members can access and understand.
The reason that so many physical therapy practices turn to physical therapy billing and documentation software is that with an integrated EMR, everything your practice already does will be integrated into a structured database.
Integrate EMR With Physical Therapy Billing
When the clinician first sees a patient, they will use a standard set of terms and notes to communicate with the billing staff.
The treatment plan can be instantly translated into a billing plan, so that after each appointment, the physical therapy billing staff can simply review the therapist’s notes about the visit and ensure that the weighted procedures that were agreed upon were actually accomplished during the session.
Considerable amounts of time can be cut from the physical therapy billing process when everyone in the practice is on the same page, using the same standard terminology and technology. Physical therapy EMRs are designed to give the structure and framework – literally putting everyone on the same page.eighted procedures that were agreed upon were actually accomplished during the session.
