Proper billing and coding is vital to the growth and success of any medical practice. When an error is made then someone has to go back and correct it. Worse, the error might be overlooked which will result in lost revenue. If too many billing and coding errors are made, then you will find it difficult to grow your practice.
To understand where you might be losing time and money, let’s look at some of the most common coding errors.
Four Common Coding Errors Costing You Money:
- Not Enough Data – If you do not provide the payer with enough information regarding the service you provided the patient, they are more likely to deny or delay payment.
- Undercoding and Upcoding – These are two of the most common errors when it comes to coding. If you undercode a patient, then you are not getting paid for the full services that you are providing. If you upcode a patient, then you are billing patients for services they did not receive. Whatever the case might be, you are causing yourself problems when it comes to properly collecting on the services you are providing.
- General Errors or Omissions – These types of errors might be the most infuriating because they generally happen due to a lack of attention. If there is a missing name, address, date of birth, or anything else that is required from the payer, then the claim will most likely be denied or delayed.
- Incorrect Procedure Codes – This is probably the most understandable type of error, but one that is still avoidable. Billing codes change and while that might be frustrating it is still your responsibility to enter the correct codes when submitting a claim.
Now that we examined some of the most common billing and coding errors, let’s look at how you might be able to avoid these mistakes.
Four Things You Can Do To Avoid These Errors
- Proper Training and Retraining (if needed) – For a new employee to be successful they must be properly trained. Because of how important billing and coding is, training for these particular tasks takes on increased importance. Make sure you take the time to properly train any employee, new or otherwise, who might be handling the billing and coding responsibilities. If necessary, take the time to retrain someone.
- Continuous Training and Staying Up to Date – While we are on the topic of training, it is important to remember that billing and coding is an ever-shifting landscape. Continuous training and making sure your team is current with changes to coding is vital to limiting the number of errors being committed.
- Improved Communication – Effective communication is so important when it comes to anything regarding your practice. For billing and coding purposes make sure that you are communicating with your team regarding mistakes, successes, training, and anything else that you feel needs to be addressed.
- Outsource Your Billing – Billing and coding is complicated. The best option might be to outsource to a company, like Mednet, who specializes in ensuring our clients get properly paid for the services they provide. You might discover that you save more money than you spend.
The long-term success of your practice depends on your ability to collect on the services you provide in a timely manner. Too many mistakes will prevent this from happening and will result in lost time correcting mistakes or lost revenue. Neither are acceptable. By understanding which mistakes you are potentially making, you can begin implementing a solution that will help you take your practice to the next level.