Why a bank lockbox is the best way for a medical practice to handle payments and correspondence.

If you want to maintain a consistant office address for all insurance companies and patients to send payments and correspondence  with the least “hassle”, consider the benefits of using a bank lock-box operations.

What it is a Lock-Box?

The lock-box is a physical Post Office address, maintained usually by a bank, which has an associated depository checking account tied to it.

What is it for?

The receipt of payments in the form of paper checks and correspondence, including insurance company “Explanation of Benefits” (EOB’s).

Why would you use it?

a)      Protects you from fraud and embezzlement by office or third-party billing staff.    The bank has a fiduciary relationship and must be insured for this purpose.    You will be more protected from mishandling of funds, if those funds are handled by an independent fiduciary.

b)      the bank performs all “clerical” tasks such as opening the mail, removal of staples and clips, scanning of contents of the lock-box, making the bank deposits on a daily basis.

c)      the bank deposits the payments every day into your designated depository account, providing you with access to either the original bank deposit slips and checks, or with web-based access to the scanned images of these documents over the bank’s lockbox management system.

d)      Deposits are made much sooner than would be the case if payments were made directly to the practice’s office address.

e)      the bank’s staff can be relied upon to do the required work EVERY DAY, without concern for your own employees missing work or not being able to take off to go to the bank to make the deposit.

f)        your office staff does not have to tak the time to open the mail, copy the checks, make out the deposit slips, and transmit or deliver the contents to the bank to deposit or to the billing service to bill.

g)      the lock-box address can remain as the remittance address with all insurance companies in spite of changes of physical address by the medical practice.    This assures no interruption of cash flow or delay in receiving important notices from insurance companies, should the practice relocate or open additional offices.   Since the lock-box address doesn’t change, you would not have to submit “change of address” applications to every payor.

h)      The final and perhaps most important consideration of using a lock-box is …

to ensure a smooth transition, should you change from one billing service to another, or from a billing service to in-house, where you must ensure as of a specific date that all of the contents of the lock-box stop being delivered or transmitted to one party and begin being delivered or transmitted to a new party.   All you have to do is send a letter to the lock-box administrator, with your instructions.

How much does it cost?

The cost varies from bank to bank.   However, they usually charge a base rate, plus $.xx per check deposited.    You will need to provide enough details to your bank to get their best rates, which usually get lower with higher volume.   Check with several banks before making your choice.   The better lock-box operations offer web-portal access to both the scanned images of all lock-box contents to a third-party billing service or office.    They also offer on-line banking access to the depository account to confirm deposits.

The recent announcement of the acquisition of PracticeOne by AdvancedMD will allow eHealthTech to offer to its billing service clients a comprehensive package of services for practice management and billing offering the license to AdvancedMD as part of its service, while the client practice physicians can have the confidence that this AdvancedMD will provide them all of the CCHIT-certified EMR functionality they will require going forward.   Further, the PracticeOne EMR system will be tightly integrated, but sold and supported separately by AdvancedMD. The EMR qualifies for the government’s incentive payments. For more information see the full release statement:  Read the Press Release here

How CMS’ new rules regarding consults will affect the way Plastic and Reconstuctive Surgeons bill for office and hospital visits to patients in the Emergency Department, for Inpatients, and patients in “Observation”

Unfortunately for us who bill multiple payors for these services is the fact that Medicare has eliminated the consult codes, but  the other insurance companies have not not, at least not yet.   So you don’t use consult codes for Medicare and the Medicare alternative companies, but  you do use them for others?   Are your doctors going to make the decision of which code to use depending upon whether the patient has Medicare or not?  This gets even more complex when Medicare is primary and requires the new codes, but another payor is secondary and they do not use the new codes and you must bill differently for the same procedure(s) to each payor.

I am instructing my clients to continue to use the consultation documentation requirements for all consults, including requiring the referring physician name and NPI in case the patient has another primary insurance.

An excellent “flow chart” has been developed to help providers determine the appropriate E&M codes to use for what used to be a “consult”.   See  www.emuniversity.com/consultinfo.html

When you enter into a billing service agreement with a third-party medical billing or practice management services organization, optimism and euphoria of having finally found the solution to your billing and office management problems may overshadow an often overlooked question:  “What happens IF…

• I want to terminate my contract early?
• The vendor goes out of business?
• If I want to change vendors at the end of the contract term?
• If I want to bring billing back in-house at the end of the contract term?

While there is no one single answer, you should ask and have answers to several questions and position yourself the best way you possibly can to protect yourself.   Here are the top five things you can do to protect yourself:

1) Make sure you will be able to access the software and your patient accounts receivable database directly. If the vendor owns the license and provides you with access to the software as part of its billing service, make sure you have you own user ID and password to be able to view key management reports and perform analysis to independently evaluate their performance and verify financial reports they provide during the contract period.   In other words, it’s good to trust them, but better to “trust and confirm”.

2) Know what steps you would have to take to gain independent ownership and control of the software and your patient data, should the vendor terminate their service or you terminate the vendor. If you own the license and control access as a key administrator, it may be very simple to terminate the user ID’s assigned to the billing service.    If you want to allow a prior vendor access to records to collect the old accounts, but you want to start billing new services on a different system,  you may allow them to work out the old accounts for 90-120 or longer, accessing the old A/R system as necessary.   You should have a “post-termination” clause in every contract defining the responsibilities of both parties during this “wind-down period”.  If you do not own the license to the software the vendor has been using, make sure you can I contract directly with the software vendor to use the same system and access your own database.   It may be possible, but may require “permission” from the current vendor to transfer the database to you.  The database may be delivered in a format you can’t use.   If the vendor uses a web-based or ASP-hosted system it may be possible to sign a direct license agreement with the vendor, have the service company agree in writing to transfer the database to your new license without requiring an actual physical transfer of data or conversion.   For example, AdvancedMD is a web-based practice management system offered through eHealthTech’s billing service agreement.   eHealthTech purchases the license for its clients and accesses their database, which is hosted by AdvancedMD at its secure data center near Salt Lake City, UT.   eHealthTech provides its clients access to their databases during the contract period.   At the end of the service contract period, a client may request that eHealthTech authorize the transfer of their database “Office Key”, containing only their patient demographic and financial data, from which time the client would assume full responsibility for all fees related to the licensing, services, and support provided by AdvancedMD.

If your billing service is using a system that you do NOT own the license to AND you do NOT wish to assume responsibility for billing using that system, make sure you can trust the terminated company to continue to collect the remaining A/R for some period of time under a “wind down period” so you can move forward with new billing using either a new billing service or in-house, using a different practice management system.   This will have its challenges, as explained further.

3) Be aware that you may only have one remittance address at a time for your practice. If you change billing services companies or bring billing in-house, you must understand that the address to which insurance companies send payments and correspondence WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY CHANGE.   If your payments and correspondence have been going to a bank lock-box owned by your practice, it is very simple to nofify the bank of the change in billing service and give them a new address to which to send the contents of the lock-box and to terminate the former billing service’s on-line access to the lock-box on-line or web-based portal used to view the contents of the scanned files and to view the bank account itself.   NEVER contract with a third-party billing service who requires your payments and correspondence to go directly to their address or to a P.O. Box or Lock-Box owned by them!  If you want to close the existing lock-box or P.O. Box or otherwise change the remittance address, you must notify all insurance companies of the change of address, using the various forms or on-line portals as required by each company.    Know that these changes WILL NOT BE MADE INSTANTLY.    You will continue to have mail sent to the “old” address for some period of time after you notify the payors of the new address.    You may have to track down payments made to you that you never received due to the change of address.

4) You may only have one entity at a time be the recipient of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) data from most payors. If you change billing services or bring billing in-house from a billing service, you will need to send new Electronic Data Interchange forms to the various insurance companies like Medicare, Medicaid, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc. notifying them of the change.    When these companies process these new applications, be aware that this will re-direct all electronic remittance files, all claim edit reports, etc. that are processed by your clearinghouse or directly by that payor to the NEW entity.    This means the former billing services WILL NO LONGER RECEIVE ELECTRONIC REMITTANCE FILES OR CLAIM EDIT REPORTS.    If you had intended for the previous service to continue collecting the outstanding A/R during the “wind down period”, this will make is more difficult for them to perform their contractual obligations as effectively.   To overcome this, you must ensure that you or your new service FORWARD TO THE FORMER BILLING SERVICE all remittances and correspondence that is related to services billed by them under their contract.   This will create additional work for your staff, but is necessary and must be done expeditiously!

If all payments and correspondence has been coming to your practice’ physical address or your own P.O. Box, no change of address need be filed with the insurance companies or patients.

5) It will be VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE FOR BOTH THE OLD BILLING SERVICE AND A NEW BILLING SERVICE TO WORK ON THE SAME SYSTEM AT THE SAME TIME! Please understand that your decision to change to a new billing service should be made with a full understanding of the impact the change will have on both the new and former billing service to perform their contractual obligations under their respective agreements!

Interested in outsourcing your medical billing
or need a professional healthcare consulting company?

eHealthTech is here to help.                          

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Some California doctors are spending 45 minutes on paperwork for every hour of care they provide, a new study claims.It says they are awash in a sea of paperwork from insurance companies, with every insurer having a different form, which must be filled out in its own way, which leads to errors and oversights that must be corrected

It adds up to roughly $9 billion a year just on billing and insurance processing, says the report from the California Public Interest Research Group.

The report — funded by the California Wellness Foundation – says a streamlined health care billing system, similar to those in other states, could cut costs and provide better service to patients.

“California’s families and businesses know that health care costs are high – and rising,” says Mike Russo, health care advocate with CALPIRG. “And one reason is at doctors’ offices, one day of patient visits can create paperwork as thick as a Dickens novel.”

The University of Mississippi Medical Center has laid off 15 workers at its facilities in Holmes County. UMC officials announced the move Friday in a news release. The workers were employed at the Holmes County hospital and two associated clinics. The news release cited “continued weakness” in insured patient care and a spike in uninsured patients as reasons for the layoffs. The clinic in West will now only be open a half day each week,down from two days. And the clinic in Lexington will be moved to a new location near the hospital and will also have a smaller staff and reduced hours.
The workers are part of a staff of 118 in Holmes County. They will receive a month’s pay and cash in exchange for annual leave up to 30 days.

Privacy to personal information is the right if any individual at any part of the globe. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was passed in 1996 to prevent unauthorized access to patient information, and it is something by which all medical-related businesses should abide.

HIPAA is to be abided by all ‘covered entities’ and the term includes:

• Hospitals and clinics
• Insurance Companies dealing with health and medical policies
• Private Practices – General practitioners and specialists, dentists, chiropractors, etc.
• Psychiatrists and Psychologists
• Medical Billing Centers and Collection Agencies

Whether you have two people or two hundred working in the office which deals with medical health records, the security of patient information is important. It’s imperative for all employees to make sure sensitive data is not compromised and exposed to unauthorized people.

The medical information which is considered personal and private and which is not to be disclosed by healthcare centers as recognized by Federal law include and are not limited to:

• Prescription Information
• Medical History Records
• Appointment Logs
• Phone and Voice Mail Message Notes
• Insurance Forms and Claims
• Billing Information

While adhering to HIPAA rules, you need to destroy all the patient information which is outdated or no longer necessary. The destruction of records must be done in accordance to HIPAA regulations and it says that every sticky note, every printout needs to be shredded thoroughly. Simply throwing away papers does not guarantee security – as any unscrupulous person could sift through the garbage and have access to credit card numbers and addresses. One could also hire a professional to destroy documents.

A literature review of comparison studies for medical imaging methods, published in the May/June issue of the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography, puts ultrasound at the top of the list for accuracy and cost effectiveness.

“Accuracy and Cost Comparison of Ultrasound Versus Alternative Modalities Including CT, MR, PET, and Angiography” reports the results of research studies that compare the accuracy and cost effectiveness of ultrasound versus other imaging modalities, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), contrast angiography (CA), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT).

Alternate imaging technologies “are often considerably more expensive, include radiation exposure, are less portable, or have an increased risk of complications from contrast media,” write authors S. Michelle Bierig, MPH, RDCS, FASE, FSDMS, and Anne Jones, RN, BSN, RVT, RDMS, FSVU.

“Interestingly, the increase in spending by Medicare for alternative imaging services has been at a higher growth curve than the increase in the use of ultrasound,” the authors note.

Read the article online, free for a limited time.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced, May 28, the release of $81.7 million to expand services offered at the nation’s health centers.  On the same day—100 days after the signing of the Recovery Act—HHS also awarded $25.6 million in non-Recovery Act grants to expand medical capacity at 54 existing health centers, helping an additional 230,000 individuals in 25 states receive primary health care services, the agency said.

The grants, funded through the Health Center Program, have already helped more than 17 million individuals by providing access to high-quality, family-oriented, comprehensive primary and preventive health care. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within HHS, oversees the Health Center Program.

The Recovery Act provides $2 billion for grants to health centers over a two-year period.  Of that, $500 million will be used to support new health center sites and service areas, increase services at existing sites, and address spikes in uninsured populations.

An additional $1.5 billion will be used to support construction, renovation and equipment, including health information technology (HIT) systems, in health centers and health center controlled networks.

HHS has already awarded approximately $155 million in Recovery Act grant funds to support 126 community health center sites across the country. The 126 New Access Point (NAP) grants were awarded to applicants that were approved but unfunded in 2008.  These grants will provide access to health center care for 750,000 people in 39 states and two territories.

HHS also awarded $338 million in Increased Demand for Services grants for health centers. Health centers will use these funds to provide care to more than 2 million additional patients over the next two years, including approximately 1 million uninsured people, and create and retain approximately 6,500 health center jobs.

The non-Recovery Act grants awarded today include $25.6 million to expand medical capacity at 54 existing health centers, helping an additional 230,000 individuals in 25 states receive primary health care services.  The remaining $56.1 million will supplement all health centers’ base grant awards to offset rising costs associated with maintaining current service levels.